Phoenix Lake Talk EP, Hometown And More

Melodic four-piece metal band Phoenix Lake are definitely ones to watch and with a set lined up at Maid Of Stone Festival 2024, we at JLTT wanted to have a chat and learn more about them and their music:

Who is in Phoenix Lake and what do they play?
Phoenix Lake is a 4-piece consisting of Vocals (Lana), Guitar (Ash), Bass (Zak) and Drums (Joe)

What two things do you hope to have achieved once you have left the stage?
We hope to have made some new fans and played such a killer set to have made it worth
spending their hard-earned money.

Your new ‘Beyond The Flames’ EP is out now. How did you want to approach the making of
this record?
We had been sat on some new material for some time during covid, when it was time to release,
we wanted to do something bigger than we ever have done before.

It was a years’ worth of planning, recording and we really wanted to make our stamp with our
debut EP.

We would have made this into an LP but wanted to waste no time as gigs stacked up, we wanted
to give fans something in the meantime while we began work on our debut album.

Where did you record the EP and who produced it?
We recorded the EP with Tristan Hill at 7hz Audio, our long-time friend and collaborator within
the realms of production.

Do you have any favoured stage instruments, effects, pedals etc?
ESP guitars
PRS Guitars
BC Rich Bass Guitars
Headrush Pedalboards
The list goes on!

Where is your hometown and could you please describe it in five words?
Our bands hometown is Nottingham, apart from Joe who is from Castleford. Nottingham is
Historic, Vibrant, cultural, academic & METAL.

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

We had a long day recording and Lana was deep into a mesmerizing vocal take on Faithless.
Unbeknown to her, Ash got a bit too cozy and succumbed to the studios chilled out atmosphere
and drifted off asleep, suddenly amidst Lanas’s vocal take a loud rhythmic snoring began to
echo through the control room speakers. Shouting Ash several times Lana couldn’t wake him
and shouted, “I didn’t realise my voice had that effect on you” and everyone just burst in to
hysterics.

You have also previously released the single ‘Fractured Wings’ . What was the
story/inspiration behind the song?
“It deals with the effects of depression and how it can make people feel trapped in a negative
mindset. A lot of the time the symptoms are being hidden, so that other people are not aware of
the self-destructive consequences the illness is causing. It can leave you feeling isolated even if
you’re surrounded by others.” 

Do you have any plans for live shows in Europe/UK in 2024?
Yes, we are playing a handful of exciting festivals & local shows this year, however, we’ve been
taking a measured approach to our gig schedule as we’re busy in the studio recording our debut
album!

How do you look after your voices?
Before shows and recording sessions Lana warms up, avoids drinking excessive alcohol and
makes sure to stay hydrated and drink a lot of pineapple juice. When needed also goes on vocal
rest. The rest of the band do the complete opposite!

Which tracks hear you at your a) happiest, b) angriest and c) most reflective?
Come Alive is probably our most upbeat in terms of mood, angriest maybe False pretences,
most reflective is probably Saviour Or Fractured Wings.

Who created/designed the EP artwork?

Our EP artwork is designed by our art collaborator “Mark Leary” from AsylumSeventy7

Who are some of your musical influences? Do you have any recommendations?
Ash: Parkway Drive, Bullet For My Valentine, Black Veil Brides, Within Temptation
Lana: Alter Bridge, Halestorm, Nightwish, Within Temptation, The Raven Age
Zak: Metallica, Pantera, Megadeth, Parkway Drive, Trivium
Joe: Foo Fighters, Fightstar, anything with Fight in the name basically

I really enjoyed the music video for ‘Fractured Wings’. What was the thought process behind
the video?

We wanted to create something very striking that tied into the song, The song has a very deep
message within, such as battling depression and feeling trapped hence the cage scenes. We
wanted to set the video as a dark atmosphere based on an underground illegal auction type
event for cinematic effect.

What makes Phoenix Lake happy and what makes you unhappy?
We love to play great shows, recording new songs anything in between.
Seeing the amount of fantastic grassroots venues closing down and shows having to be
cancelled due to low ticket sales etc. makes us very unhappy as without these venues bands
don’t stand a chance.