Sons Of Liberty Talk New Album, Music Video And More

Southern Rock band Sons Of Liberty are releasing their new album ‘The Detail Is In The Devil’ in February 2024 with a March UK Tour to support it. We spoke to the band to get the lowdown:

Who is in Sons of Liberty and what do they play?

Russ – Sons of Liberty are a UK Southern Rock 5 piece band that play in your face, happy, melodic, ,forever music. We’re all about the live shows, and the fans and having music that resonates as much as possible with people. We’re full of energy, full of passion and just love being able to do what we do.

Russ Grimmett – Lead Vocals

Fred Hale – Guitar

Andy Muse – Guitar and Vocals

Mark Thomas – Guitar and Vocals

Steve Byrne – Drums

 Your forthcoming album ‘The Detail Is In The Devil’ is released in February 2024. How did you want to approach the making of this record?

Fred – We knew where we wanted to record it and who we were going to work with; and we all agreed from the start to not simply re-make the previous album, ‘Aces & Eights’. Basically we set out to write an album of really ‘big’ songs, to try and capture some of the magic and excitement of those records that we treasured when we were first listening to music. An album with light and shade and dynamics that you want to listen to from start to finish, then put it on again. The approach was to put as much time and effort into it as we needed to get the best possible album we could create at the time.

 Where did you record the album and who produced it?

Russ – We recorded it at Momentum Studios in Plympton. It’s owned by Josiah J Manning (Kris Barras band) and he has been involved from the get-go. The guys started working on the album before I came along and had it to a point of the vocals needing doing. When I joined the band we had a short, sharp need to get it done and wrap it up ready for getting out to the world. Luckily I had been working hard on the melodies and pre-production with my best mate Pete Newdeck who really helped develop a lot of the melodies with me, this really helped with the need to get it done. Josiah is an animal and really knows how to get the best out of you in the studio. What we’ve come away with is fantastic and feels like it’s been worked on with passion. It’s certainly the best I’ve ever recorded and released.

 Do you have any favoured stage instruments, effects, pedals etc?

Fred – We do indeed. Moose, Mark and myself all have our special guitars that we connect with. Moose and I are mostly Gibson Les Paul users and I have my special #1 1999 Standard and Moose has some lovely Custom Shop Re-issues and older Les Pauls (he has a lot). Mark always uses his trusty #1 Tobias 5 string bass. Steve loves his huge Gretsch double-kick kit the most, although we don’t like transporting it about too much. Amps wise I use Victory RK50 amps, Moose favours his Cornford Hellcats and Mark uses Hartke Bass gear. Pedal wise for me it’s a Dunlop Wah and my Tech 21 Delay pedals, Moose uses very few, probably his Tech 21 OMG boost and drive pedal.

 Where is your hometown and could you please describe it in five words please?

Russ – The boys are centred in sunny Brizzle (Bristol for non-bristolians) and I reside around 45 mins further north in Tewkesbury. How do I describe Bristol in 5 words… I will leave that to Fred – – Tewkesbury however, Tourists, Rivers, Floods, Abbey, Curry.

Fred – Bristol is Boats, Vibrant, Dubious History, Brunel, Expensive (that’s 6).

 Do you have any interesting, funny or memorable stories from the album recording sessions?

We all stay in a big holiday lodge near the studio whilst we’re recording so you can probably imagine there are a few late evenings with a few too many sherberts that lead to lots of laughter and a few unrepeatable moments. On a day off Moose and I decided to go for a walk along the coastal path to the next village. The weather had been atrocious so there was a lot of mud and standing water…. and we only had our trainers and casual ‘rock star’ jackets. There we were sliding along and falling into the bushes and all these seasoned hikers were going the other way with full arctic survival kit, boots and poles, they seemed shocked to see us idiots scrambling along the path, what were we thinking?! Also, Russ and the ‘medium’ Nepalese curry incident was quite funny, for the rest of us.

In addition, your latest single ‘Light The Fuse’ is out now and accompanied by a comic book lyric video? What was the story/inspiration behind both the song and video?

Russ – For me it was about doing something different to the normal (which

we try and do anyway) given it’s all about a bully and them getting their

comeuppance, I thought it lent itself quite nicely to a comic book type feel but

something a little more advanced than a basic comic, if that makes sense?

 Do you have any plans for live shows in Europe/UK to support the release in 2024?

Fred – Yes we have a 10 date UK album launch tour in March with The Mike Ross Band opening for us and we’ll be touring the album again in the summer and in the autumn, getting to the places we miss in March. We also have a lot of UK festivals lined up again this year and plan to include a couple in mainland Europe as well.

 How do you look after your voices?

Russ – with great care! It’s a good questions this, given what happened recently. We unfortunately, had to pull a show supporting Wayward Sons at a local gig. My throat was knackered and I couldn’t start a note pitching correctly, so it was a no brainer that to attempt to sing and wow new fans, wasn’t a good idea. Dad had a proper go at me many years ago for thinking I was invincible and singing with a cold and sore throat. When he was younger he damaged his vocal chords quite badly doing the same and it cost him thousands to have them repaired, luckily he was able to sing as good as he did afterwards, but was a huge risk. As for looking after it (which was the main question) well over a month in advance of starting a tour or a run of shows, I smash the vitamins every day, I sing as often as I can, I tend to push my limits as much as possible to make sure I am over prepared without having to stretch on tour. Vocalzone Tea is a lifesaver at shows.. always have one before a gig (with a shot of whiskey 😉)

 Was it a difficult album to write?

Fred – It was certainly different as we went through a few line-up changes during the writing period, so we had to regroup and reset the band a few times. We had amazing support from Josiah in pre-production with the song structures but we didn’t have any vocals. I had to go out of my comfort zone quite a bit to write lyrics for the songs, so we could keep things moving. As soon as Russ joined he brought all of these amazing melodies to the songs and we also had some great input from Pete Newdeck with vocal pre-production ideas. Once Russ brought his talents to the table everything came together really well with the lyrics and harmonies. So it was an unusual album writing process for us, but one that somehow worked out amazingly well in the end.

 Which tracks on the album hear you at your a) happiest, b) angriest and c) most reflective?

Russ – A) Time To Fly.. It’s all about reaching your dreams, getting those goals and going through the shit to get there to be the best version of you.

B) I don’t think any make me feel angry, gun to my head, toss up between Light

The Fuse which is all about the bully getting their comeuppance or Hawk Men Come which is a hymn about the Russia/Ukraine war, angry because it’s sad to have happened.

C) Definitely Hawk Men Come, as just mentioned, it’s about the Russia/Ukraine war and it is without doubt the most emotional song I have ever recorded.. so much so, I cried recording it in the studio.

What makes Sons of Liberty happy and what makes you unhappy?

 As a band we just love performing live, touring and meeting all our friends everywhere. Also we get to work with so many talented people like Josiah, Kris Barras (Ignite Productions), Andy Pilkington (Very Metal Art), Stardelta Audio Mastering, Pete Newdeck (Powerstation Music), they all make us happy. I honestly don’t think we can be unhappy with anything, we are so privileged to be able to do what we do, it is just a joy.

Photo Credit: Supplied By Chris Hewlett PR

Sons Of Liberty’s new album ‘The Detail Is in The Devil’ is released on 23rd February 2024. You can pre-order the album and purchase tickets to their March 2024 UK Tour here: https://sonsoflibertyband.com/