I
firstly had to clear up some confusion about who I was actually
talking to as the operator had said I would be talking to Sven from
the band.Segression interview / story
Wollongong 4 piece Segression have certainly gained themselves a pretty decent following, accompanied by a measure of success in sales of their albums. The band recently released their 3rd, titled Smile, which despite a bare minimum of promotion, has already sold quite well, sales no doubt assisted by the band's recent support during the Australian tour of Slipknot.
I recently caught up with Chris Sellin, guitarist from the band, who seemed pretty vibed, no doubt this coming off the back of their tour with Slipknot & now turning the band's attention towards the promotion of the album itself. For those unaware, the band already have a couple of albums behind them, firstly the debut Lessons In Aggression & Fifth Of The Fifth.
I
firstly had to clear up some confusion about who I was actually
talking to as the operator had said I would be talking to Sven from
the band.
"Yeah sorry about that. There's 2 Chris's in the band so I decided to call myself Sven to save some confusion, but it obviously hasn't worked out quite as well as I'd hoped."
That cleared, I got straight onto the album, which I'd reviewed not too long ago.
"We're really happy with the way it sounds. We produced it ourselves this time around. The last couple we did with a producer & there were things we wanted done, but just didn't happen, so like the old saying goes, if you want something done properly, do it yourself."
It must have been quite a change in pace for the band, producing as well as doing the playing, Chris replying with ease on this question.
"Well, we recorded it in 8 days & the final mix was put down after 14, so it was pretty full on. They were long days, but we're more than happy with the way the album sounds & the songs we got onto it, so we think the hard work was definitely worth it."
On the subject of the recent support of Slipknot, Chris was very happy the band were able to take part.
"Sure, they're a great bunch of guys & I really think we got some good publicity by playing. We've actually had people say after they'd seen us, then Slipknot, that they reckoned we were better, which we really took as a compliment, especially with Slipknot, because those guys certainly are no slouches & they're a very tight unit & professional."
The band have an established website, which since the tour with Slipknot, has attracted more visitors, Chris elaborated on what the band had expected from the site.
"Well, I maintain it. First off, we thought it was a great way for fans to find out more about the band. We just got ICQ, so what we're doing with that is sitting down one night a week & chatting online to people who want to talk to us, which gives the fans that bit extra."
Not having visited the site for a fair while, I asked how the band were dealing with issues like downloadable music.
"At the moment, we've got samples in MP3 format & others & we're in the process of registering with big sites like UBL & the like, who can provide some form of licensing protection when we put up a full song on their site. There's some risks involved with that, but we think it's worth it for that bit of exposure."
Finally, a lot of fans are no doubt wondering what's next for the band & I was able to find out a lot easier than I'd expected.
"When Slipknot were here, the band & their management talked to us & our management about touring overseas with them, firstly the US obviously. We really want to break it big overseas, so obviously that's the next step for us. We've got the tour here for our label, who work really hard for us & then we're hoping by like, October or maybe earlier if possible, that we're on our way to the US to tour with Slipknot again, which will hopefully help us out with exposure."
Check out the band's new album Smile out now through Roadrunner.
