RESERATE Talk New Album, Musical Influences And More

Singapore metalcore outfit RESERATE have released their debut album ‘Introspect’. The band kindly chatted to us about their album, musical influences and more: 

Who is in RESERATE, what do they play and how did you meet?

Reserate is Linus Sebastian on Vocals, Kevyn Oliver on Guitar and Vocals, Ridwan Johari on Drums, Imran Harun on Bass and Coral Liaw on Guitars.

Linus, Kevyn and Imran met and originally formed the band with 2 other members. After the old drummer left, Ridwan was pulled into the mix and in 2023 after the previous guitarist left, Coral joined on guitars.

When did you begin songwriting?

Linus:
Started way early during my younger days when I was listening to bands like Slipknot, Sum41, My Chemical Romance, Thursday, 3 Doors Down etc. I did the usual singing/screaming in the shower and decided to form a band in my Polytechnic days. My first “real band” was in 2008 when we performed our first show in a school hall attic! It was hella cool and I told myself, I wanna continue pursuing this musical passion of mine. And here I am now, 16 years down the road!

Kevyn:
I started songwriting when I was 9 years old after hearing the Minutes to Midnight album by Linkin Park. I remember the first song I tried writing on GarageBand was inspired by Shadow of The Day off of that album. I only got as far as copying the drum beat.

What is your earliest musical memory?

Linus:
Bringing my acoustic guitar to Secondary school and jamming up to tunes with my group of friends. Thankfully music was introduced to me in the earlier stages of my life and I’ve never turned back since!

Kevyn:
My earliest musical memory is me singing and dancing to Michael Jackson in front of a TV in a mall because there’s a video of it lol

Your debut album ‘Instropect’ is out now. How did you want to approach the making of the album?

Reserate:
Our approach was to write a Metalcore album “without writing a Metalcore album”. (At least that was the initial intention before the tracks started coming together and we just went with the flow.) We will try as much as possible not to repeat previously written stuff but to also develop on tracks where we could add or change things to avoid sounding too much like other bands in the market and also to help us stand out more.

Where did you record the album and who produced it?

Kevyn:
I produced the album and it was recorded at my house.

One of the tracks is your latest single ‘The Longing’ is out now. What is the story/inspiration behind the track?

Kevyn:
I’ve recently started getting back into emo and screamo music and I really wanted a stadium sing along type track on the album so I wrote the instrumental to something that sounds like it would’ve come out in the early 2000’s – 2010’s but with a modern metalcore take on it.

Linus:
The lyrics are based on an emotive portion of my life, hoping that it is equally as relatable to others listening to it as well. I hope some of the lyrics are able to “hit a chord” with our listeners and with the accompaniment of music, take them on a ride just as much as it took us on a ride, writing this album.

The single is accompanied by an official music video. What was the thought process behind the video and who directed it?

Imran:
It’s more of a visualiser than a music video. It was all based on what we felt for each of our songs, whatever you see on the visualiser is what we felt and imagined the track to be.

What two things do you hope to have achieved once you have left the stage?

We hope to blow people’s minds when we are on stage and the afterthought of us “lingering in their heads” wanting to see and hear more of us is our biggest wish.

We also want them to be able to relate somewhat to our songs and tracks! Having them being able to sing-a-long or come to us after a show telling us how much they enjoyed our set is such a humbling feeling for the band.

Kevyn:
I used to read this series called The Last Apprentice when I was a kid, it’s this horror style kind of book, and I really love horror and dark topics so I think I would enjoy making a sinister and dark soundscape for something like this. I’m aware that it’s apparently been adapted to screen already, but I haven’t seen it.

Who are some of your musical influences? Do you have any recommendations?

Linus:
Bands wise, I’m listening to a wide spectrum of genres. Some of the bands that’s currently on my Spotify playlist are, Dayseeker, Left To Suffer, Gravemind, Unprocessed, Invent Animate, Make Them Suffer, Bad Omens, BMTH & Rain City Drive.

Kevyn:
My musical influences range from Metal to Kpop. It goes all over the place. Right now, if you were to ask for my recommendations, NewJeans, Bilmuri, BMTH, Electric Callboy, Porter Robinson, Knocked Loose, SeeYouSpaceCowboy.

Do you have any live dates planned in the UK/Europe in 2024/2025?

It’s in the talking phase right now, but we’re hoping to tour UK/Europe soon! We are hoping to be able to bring our blend of Metalcore overseas soon! Someone hit us up!

Who designed/created the album artwork?

Kevyn:
I designed the artwork and we finalized it the night I came up with the initial draft.

Was it a difficult album to write?

Reserate:
We wouldn’t say it was difficult to write the album as a majority of the tracks were already demos prior to even the thought of compiling them up into a full length debut. The hardest song to write was INTROSPECT as it went through so many different variations before the final version was made three weeks before our “self-imposed”deadline to finish mixing the album.

Overall, it was a fun album to write as we believe it showcased our different personalities as bandmates & friends, just as how each track showcased its own “personality” and has its own feel or sound to it.

What makes RESERATE happy and what makes you unhappy?

Linus: Playing shows, hanging out together and just having a good time as a family.

Imran: Indian Muslim food after shows is a ritual!