Altered Sky
High-energy Scottish rockers and hardcore T.U.K. fans Altered Sky celebrated their 7th birthday this year and are about to venture on their biggest (inter-continental!) tour yet! We caught up with them recently to find out about what the rest of 2017 has in store for them and what it takes to be a memeber of Altered Sky.
|
So we spoke to Ana last year, what have you guys been up to since then? Ross - We've pretty much spent the last 8 months or so playing as many shows as possible to cement our new guitarist, Tara, into the line-up. She's filling in as live guitarist as Richard departed towards the end of last year |
|
What’s been Altered Sky’s highlight of 2017 so far? Tara - My highlight for this year so far would have to be the small UK tour we did in March, for me it was an opportunity to connect with the band professionally, prove my worth and grow closer to the guys in a personal way! It'll surely pale in comparison to when we hit Asia though. Ryan - For me would have to be playing on the O2 ABC main stage in front of 1000 people when we supported Single By Sunday. It was such an amazing opportunity to play such big stage and we had a lot of fun, but I'm already anticipating that the Asia tour will be THE highlight of the year! |
|
What are you most looking forward to during your tour of Asia later this year? Ross - Meeting new people! Speaking to the show organisers over there, apparently there are a lot of excited fans anticipating our appearance so it's going to be amazing to be able to meet and perform for them. |
|
What’s the best thing about being a member of Altered Sky? Ross - The fact that I get to create music with my best friends, while travelling the country/world to perform the music we've written together, there's nothing quite like it in my opinion! |
|
How many hours do you dedicate to rehearsing/song writing each week? Ross - We probably spend 2-3 days a week in studio rehearsal sessions that can last anywhere from 2-6 hours, this is mainly used for practising the live set and working on any show production we have planned. Songwriting is generally done with any free time Ana has through the week whether she's at home or out and about; recording vocal melody ideas into her iPhone voice memo app is one of Ana's preferred methods of writing! |
What’s your song-writing process like? Ana - Every song starts off with a theme or story in mind. I get inspired by weird / wonderful things like the Gulper Eel for instance! I'll then sit at the piano for a while and play it until I get the right feel and mood I'm trying to convey. After all the parts of the song are done, I take it to the studio and we play altogether!
Is Altered Sky your fulltime focus or do you guys study/work alongside the band? Ana - We all have secondary jobs to help maintain Altered Sky. Our main goal is to be able to leave our jobs and focus entirely on music as it is a huge part of who we are! We want to take it to the limit and are so close.
Where do you find inspiration for your songs?
Ana - Literally ANYTHING!! Either a moment in time, another song, an animal or even just an idea. It's almost like the music video is finished in my head and then I write the music as it plays.
What’s your go-to song/playlist/album at the moment?
Ross - I'm finding myself listening to a lot of 70's and 80's pop like Abba and A-ha at the moment...I think because a lot of it was influenced by the prog-era that preceded it; a lot of it is super catchy but at the same time technically and musically brilliant
Ana - Totally into Sonic the Hedgehog music again and Hans Zimmer!
Amy - I've been listening to a lot of Fleetwood Mac, Heart and Journey recently. Remembering how much I love older music and how it seems to be influenced by other genres as well as its own class. I've also been listening to Yellowcard and Blink 182 consistently as they're two of my main influences.
It’s a summery Sunday afternoon – what are you guys doing? Ana - Sitting with lots of duvets ordering food from Just Eat like Sultans.
What are your goals for the rest of 2017? Ana - We are leaving Europe for the first time to visit Japan and the Philippines. I would LOVE to connect with our fans over there and we can't wait for Altered Sky to leave a mark! When we come back ... we will be finishing our second album! Goals, goals, goals!
Everyone’s got a nickname – what’s yours and how did you get it? Ross - I actually don't think I do have a nickname. Certainly not in interesting or creative one; I got called Archie at school due to my surname. Ana - I don't have a nickname but I call everyone Fish, Cat or Kettle ^_* Amy - Hilariously, back at the start, the closest thing I had to a real nickname was 'Drum Machine'... it didn't really catch on. However, Ana calls me Amur, which seems to have stuck!
If you could meet anyone, living or dead, who would you choose and why? Ross - I've always wanted to meet either Stephen Fry or Derren Brown, or both at the same time... that would make for some interesting conversation. Ana - Would love to meet Lady Gaga because she is QUEEN
How would you describe your style? Amy - I would describe our music as Rock with a bit of an edge. It's hard to pigeon-hole ourselves into one style of music. Like to think of it as us creating our own.
How many pairs of T.U.K.’s do you have and which ones are your favourites? Ana - I actually have around 10 pairs. I love the rose trainers with the furry outline! Use them everyday when doing a Poké walk. Absolutely can't live without my purple creepers and blue creepers that I wear together... they make any outfit like, 4738 times better.
What’s your favourite way to style your T.U.K.’s? Ana - Probably with a pair of crazy coloured leggings and some black trainer socks. They really complete any stage look for me!
Which T.U.K. styles have got your eye on for the future and why? Ana - I am in love with all creepers. Would love to see one pair all glitter / rainbow or some mermaid inspired ones!
 |
 |