Bandcamp: https://thesesepticstars.bandcamp.com/album/the-test-ep

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheseSepticStars/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/septicstars

These Septic Stars know how to party, but when I meet Sav (vocals) and Fish (bass) at Southampton's Alexander Beer Emporium at one o' clock on a Saturday, it's soft drinks all round thanks to a night of heavy drinking. It's not like they don't deserve it either: their performance at the Joiners Arms earlier in the week is one that's worth celebrating.

Playing the opening slot as a support band can be challenging at the best of times, but having been the most memorable band of the evening and practically overshadowing those that came after them is something worth investigating.

I tell them that the evening seemed to run backwards, with their opening slot being more energetic than the headliners, and they seem flattered.

Sav laughs, "that's the thing: I think if you want to make an impression of any kind even if you're the opening act you have to get up as if you're the headliner.

"We're not cocky in any way, that's totally anti-us and we have no ego or anything like that. But the way to stand out is to be unique, and if you don't fit in you stand out."

Fish chimes in "we often don't fit a line-up, and this time you've got us doing quite a brash, in-your-face set, then Monarks doing a tone-heavy and chord-heavy set. It was a strange night for us because I always research bands we're playing with beforehand and we had these bands that just didn't sound anything like us at all!"

But then, most bands don't sound anything like them. Each member of the five-piece band has vastly different musical tastes and influences, meaning that when it comes to writing the process can sometimes be somewhat slow.

"We are honestly five of the most eclectically tasted musicians I've ever met. I was raised on R&B, hip-hop and Michael Jackson, whereas Fish loves his Primus", says Sav.

"Yeah, I'm a big 90's metalhead. Nu-Metal too, and local bands. I used to go and watch a local band called Toupet at the Joiners and they played a lot of slap-bass, which made me want to give that a go" explains Fish.

"We've got so many different influences but everyone brings a different element to the band. Tom is really into genting and ticking over chords, Wayne is a massive Metallica and Machine Head fan, and then Kyle is in a Duran Duran tribute band as well as a Pink Floyd one. He loves Country music, he's making an album now in fact. He's a big Progressive Metal fan too: Breaking Benjamin, Red, he loves all that.

"It actually makes it quite hard for us to write. We've been together as a band for about three years and we've got two EPs out. We've had line-up changes too though, so there's been periods where we've written something and it's just been thrown away."

Sav, who spends much of the conversation praising his bandmates, believes that the band's 'uniqueness' comes from their range of styles. "I think our eclectic mix of what we like slowly bleeds into the writing. Kyle's tech-playing, with Tom's rhythm mastery and Fish's slap-bass have to come together lyrically and that can be hard.

"I think that's important really if you do want to create something new, you need that amalgamation of different influences."

As the three of us sit there in the sun with our coffee and our J20s, vaping, there's a strong sense that these are two of the most chilled guys you could ever meet, that nothing phases them. But perhaps that's because of what they've already been through.

I take the opportunity to ask Fish why he wears a gas mask in his performances, and his answer suggests that nobody will ever really know.

"I don't really like talking about it to be honest because it's kind of a personal thing, but there's a saying that goes 'give a man a mask and he'll show you his real face', and I think that's all I need to say really. It's nice to have a mystery; I know what it means, and people can keep guessing and if someone gets it right they'll get a thumbs up."

It's clear that their past has an affect on the music they write too, as well as their stage presence.

"For us to listen to 'The Test' back is a story of how our band formed. The first song I ever wrote for the band lyrically was Seagulls. At the time Fish had lost a friend, and I'd known him for a couple of years at this point so I could see it really hit him hard.

"It changed his demeanour, and I wanted to pay homage to that so I wrote the track around it. A year later I lost two of my friends in a similar vein to suicide, so as we started to perform that track it became all the more poignant.

"When people listen to it, it may not relay all this to them, but that's what music is; when you listen to a track you get your own thing from it."

When the band plays the song live, Sav dedicates it to three people. He maintains that he has and will continue to do this every time.

"That song takes from the experience but not in a nasty way, just as a homage!at that point in time it was almost chokey to sing it, but now I can get into that headspace and come off stage without dwelling on it. "

The conversation turns to the future for the band, and what fans can expect from them in terms of new music.

"We're in the midst of getting our album together. That's one of the things we could use help with, because parts of it we don't really understand. We don't work with management or anything so we have a DIY approach to everything.

"We said after we released Beauty of Snakes that we'd concentrate on live shows before we get another album going. We're 60-70% of the way through an album now, so hopefully that'll be coming later this year.

"But generally we much prefer doing the whole live thing: it's nice to go and record and back up what we do that way, but we see so many local bands go and record a single and then they'll put so much money into advertising on Facebook for just that one song, and they've only done one or two gigs. You need to go out there and get experience, and that's how you get people's respect too.

"Westquay Studios approached us last week, who've worked with Band of Skulls and Royal Blood, and they said they wanted to take us to a wider audience. We're just making sure we've got our shit together before we pick and choose, we don't want to go in there half-cut and waste the time.

"Both our EPs have got this certain tone to them; there's always a slap-track, and the song names are always one-word. Our goal is to stay with the zany unexpectedness of it but to try to keep our individual tones, so hopefully it should be a progression of what's there already.

"In our last EP there're some electronic influences, and there's definitely more of that coming. That's partly inspired by some of the bands we play with, like UKID who do live drum and bass. That along with the slap-bass throws a bit of a curve-ball to audiences, which is nice."
Whatever happens, the hour-long conversation with These Septic Stars proves that they're not interested in slowing down anytime soon, and if anything we should be looking to the near future in anticipation for a new release.

What's clear to anyone who's heard them is that this is a band that's truly unique, and it's hard not to wish success on them. If Westquay Studios want to take them to a wider audience, that's an idea we should all be getting behind.

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