Interview: DYING VISION Bassist, Padfield

What got you into music, and if you had not gotten into music what would you be doing today?

I can remember a lot of this well so I would like to share a somewhat long story.

Earliest musical memories are being in the car as a toddler with my mother and her playing the Beatles, Sgt. Peppers tape. That music did not connect with me at the time - I was WAY too angst-ridden for the ‘peace and love’ thing at that age, ha-ha.

I think what hooked me in music was something with a bit of edge to it. Laughably (on reflection) that came from my Dad's Genesis tape. Particularly the song ‘Just a Job to do'. Somehow I had a notion that there was music out there with more ‘edginess’ but I had no idea what it was described as. The 90s pop charts ‘were very ‘squeaky clean' and I remember thinking ‘Michael Jackson on the ‘Bad' album cover at a friend’s house had the aesthetic but again the music was tame compared to what was in my head.

I remember the day I ‘found it’ aged 7 in assembly at school. The older years had to deliver dramatized performances and the idea was that they were representing some made-up political party that you would vote for. The ‘rock party’ won my vote. They played a classic metal song but I did not know who the artist was at that time. It did not matter – I had found it.

Along came ‘Nu Metal’ later (late 90s into early 00s) which filtered into charts so it was possible to purchase them in the major record stores (Virgin and MVC in my town). This I knew was as close as I could get at age 11 (so ~2000) and I could hear Slipknot’s first album played by the older kids’ at a summer camp). A little later there was a school art project and our assignment was to draw a CD cover. My poor mum was dragged into Virgin Megastores and I managed to persuade her to buy me Metallica’s ‘Kill ‘em All’ on CD. This was purely based on my favourite album art design (the blood puddle, hand and hammer silhouette – less is more). I had heard KoRn’s music since Nu Metal was inescapable but there was no way that an album titled ‘Kornography’ was getting purchased! One long car trip to see my uncle in Cardiff and my Walkman CD player had played ‘Kill ‘em All’ on loop many, many times.

Now the blueprint for the music that I wanted to hear was established – the vocal distortion of bands like Slipknot, the ferocity of early Metallica songs like ‘Whiplash’, ‘Jump in the Fire' and ‘Hit the Lights', and also the melody such as that found in Kirk's solo on ‘The Four Horsemen' and ‘Phantom Lord'.

Eventually I found sources meeting the blueprint. The first Kerrang album was widely available in 2001 and included Sepultura's song ‘Sepulnation' on disc 2 for instance. That led me to their

older album ‘Chaos AD', which had no parental advisory sticker so I could save lunch money and buy it! I remember being overwhelmed by ‘Refuse Resist' and everything else seemed tame next to that.

In my college years (16 to 18), faster internet was available and the rabbit hole just opened up. Alongside thrash I was also binging on the US punk stuff like Dead Kennedy and, Black Flag as well as a lot of death metal which was easy to access over MySpace music. YouTube came along in ’06 and the rest is history.

For what I would be doing today if it weren’t for music, it is difficult to answer that question because music is usually there to supplement even when I participate in other activities. In terms of an activity that I enjoy, I did Judo between ages 7 and 16 so perhaps something further with martial arts.

What do you like to do when you are not playing music and how does that influence your creativity?

Recently I got into hard science fiction novels and films. It was refreshing to have something grounded by being plausible but thought-provoking and beautiful simultaneously.

I have got into strength training following a home workout program. That improved physical and mental well-being with more energy to spare. I noticed that since then the music or lyrics that I have written has come along more intuitively with less ‘second guessing'.

How long has your band been around?

The band was formed in 2012, so 10 years.

Where are you based out of and how did that influence your music?

The band are from London and the Home Counties. Some members emigrated from Poland originally.

I cannot recall much that was unique to South East England in terms of influence. In fact the way the billboard charts dominated every mainstream music outlet made the access to metal music more difficult. If anything perhaps that increased my motivation, I don't know.

The Polish band members definitely enjoyed a broader musical upbringing with bands like Turbo that almost exclusively wrote I in Polish language alongside the more widely-available music in English language.

How did you come up with the name of your band and what does it mean to you?

The original bass player came up with the name so it is difficult to answer on his behalf. It certainly sounded intriguing to me when I first heard it back in 2014

Tell me about your most memorable shows.

As a fan: Slayer at Download 2007 – nearly being crushed at the front, just the sheer heat, uncertainty of survival and mayhem in that pit. Ironically to ‘Mandatory Suicide’.

The Death to All shows at the London Forum and Bloodstock have been special to me as I never got the chance to see Death perform live.

As a musician: opening for Evile with my other band at Leeds University.

With DYING VISION, our show at the Underworld, London with Nahemia and Turbo. It was eye-opening to see that part of the Polish metal scene.

What is your favorite venue to play at, and do you have any places you want to play that you have not already?

Having played many venues with limited PA provision and questionable backline, to be honest - if the monitoring on stage is good then I think we would be happy anywhere. Venue prestige is less of a concern when you cannot get the sound that you need to hear and give your best performance!

If you could play any show with any lineup, who would be on the ticket?

Easy – a show with Death headlining, Watchtower and perhaps a newer band like De Lirium’s Order also on the bill just to show how far this music has come.

What is some advice that you would give to someone who is just getting into playing in a band and some advice that you would give to your younger self?

I may be biased as a being a bass player and rhythm section member, but depending on the style of music, just make sure that you have excellent sense of time – play to a click track if possible.

Transcribe every part of the arrangement if possible (sometimes solos are improvised). This seems like a lot of work at first but is invaluable in pre-production to throw ideas around and when preparing for the recording session as a reference.

If you could go back in time and give yourselves advice, what would it be?

Pay attention to any aches or pains whilst performing. Not everything is a medical emergency but if anything lingers, think about getting it looked at. I am up to my third operation for Cubital Tunnel Syndrome now, and it is not a lot of fun.

Of your songs which one means the most to you and why?

Human Condition which expresses the real and negative impact that humanity has wrought.

Which songs are your favorite to play and which get requested the most?

This always changes. At our last 2 shows I enjoyed performing ‘Inner Wishing Well' because it had been a long time since we revisited that album. We also had the original keyboard arrangements live there too as a backing track for the first time since our keyboard player left. That certainly enhanced the song.

What is the creative process for the band, and what inspires you to write your music?

Normally one of the guitarists will email / ‘Dropbox share’ a song consisting of at least click track, left and right guitars. We then flesh that out in the rehearsal space and once we are happy with the structure, add lyrics to the song.

Like any other band, we are products of the music, literature and other experiences that we have enjoyed. Time is not spent trying to trace the exact sum of influences contributing but we know it is there.

What kinds of messages do you like to get across in your music?

The message often changes from song to song. Unless it is a very obvious one like Burning Shadows (remembrance of those lost in war), we prefer to let the listener add their own interpretation of the lyrics rather than prescribing ours. Keep things fresh, and songs can be self-contained in terms of a topic or theme. We are not the type of band that campaigns behind causes – political, religious or otherwise.

Do you ever have disagreements in your band, and how do you get past them?

We disagree at times because we have different notions of what best serves the band's interests. It is knowing that however, which keeps us focused. For the same reason there is no point in getting too personally invested in those disagreements either.

If there were no disagreements, then I would be concerned. It would probably mean that members were not engaging or paying close enough attention.

What are your plans for the future, and do you have anything that you want to spotlight that is coming up?

Having finished the Metal 2 the Masses, Kent series of gigs which concluded with us playing in the final, our focus is writing new music and continuing to perform at live shows.

We expect to begin recording for the third album at the start of 2023.

Teasers for new songs and updates on status are being posted on Facebook and Instagram from the band pages.

You can listen to and purchase music from both albums at

https://dyingvision.bandcamp.com

You can also find our latest album on a growing list of streaming and purchase services.