With „Guardians“ Andy Marshall and his Celtic Metal solo project SAOR took us on an atonishing journey into the Scottish Highlands for the third time. The album even made it as our album of the month of November 2016. In the following interview you will learn more about the guest musicians heard on the album, in which way „Guardians“ surpasses its predecessor „Aura“ and if one day you’ll be able to see SAOR live despite contrary stetments in the past.
To get started, I’d ask you to introduce yourself and your solo-project SAOR to our readers, just in case some of them aren’t familiar with it. How would you describe your music and what do you want to express with it?
I started SAOR in 2012 and I’ve released three albums so far. My latest album „Guardians“ was released in November 2016. I like to describe my music as “Atmospheric Celtic Metal” or “Atmospheric Metal with Folk influences”. It’s a mixture of various metal styles, Celtic/Scottish folk music and elements of other genres such as Post-Rock. There is a big Scottish vibe in my sound. My lyrics cover subjects such as heritage, history, nature and emotions. I use a lot of traditional Scottish poetry in my lyrics.
What are the biggest influences on your music? As far as I know, you are mostly inspired by older bands. But are there also some modern bands that have an impact on your musicianship?
I like a lot of Metal, Folk, Rock, Classical, Post-Rock, Shoegaze, Ambient… the list goes on. The biggest influences on SAOR would be metal, rock and folk music. I can’t think of any modern bands that have had a big impact on my songwriting. I’m mainly inspired by older bands as you said.
The landscape, history and heritage of Scotland are the biggest influences on my music. I’m also inspired by films, art, books and people more than other bands/music.
„Guardians“ is already the third album of SAOR and it’s quite an overwhelming one indeed. In comparison to „Aura“, there seems to be less tin-whistles and clean-vocals, however, this time you make more use of strings and even bagpipes. How did this new approach come about?
I wanted a more symphonic sound, so that explains the strings. I think the main difference between the two albums is that on “Guardians” the Folk instruments are more at the forefront of the mix. The bagpipes were one of the last things added to the album and I thought they sounded really epic and sorrowful. I don’t overthink these things; I just go with the flow.
Once again you have gathered some talented guest- and session-musicians around you to record the album. How did you happen to get to work with Meri Tadic (Ex-Eluveitie) and John Becker (Austaras)?
John is a friend and was also on “Aura”. I got in touch with Meri through her new project Irij and I asked her if she would be interested in playing some fiddle parts for my new album and she agreed. They are both amazing musicians and I’m glad they agreed to play on it.
This time, Bryan Hamilton took care of the drumming instead of Austin Lunn. Why is that so?
Bryan is one of my best friends and he also played live with SAOR, so it felt natural. I also feel his drumming is more suited to the sound I’m going for.
Even though there are other musicians involved, SAOR is still your solo-project, so you have to handle many different tasks in order to write and record an album. What do you think is your biggest weakness in that matter?
I think writing lyrics is my biggest weakness and it’s something I’ve never liked doing. I prefer using poetry because it describes things better than I ever could.
Which one of the tracks off of „Guardians“ is the most important to you and why?
Probably “Hearth”. I think it’s the best song I’ve written so far and I love the lyrics. I like all of the songs on „Guardians“ though.
One of the few low points of „Aura“ was its rather poor production. „Guardians“ however sounds much better, up to date but far from being overproduced. Why is the sound so much better this time?
I agree that the production on „Aura“ is pretty bad. I would really like to re-record it in the future. We took a lot more time mixing and mastering „Guardians“ so that’s why it sounds better.
Let us look back on „Roots“ and „Aura“ and then think of „Guardians“. How would you describe each of these three albums in a few words?
“Roots”: The beginning.
“Aura”: I really like the tracks “Aura” and “Pillars of the Earth” but I don’t really like any of the other songs on it anymore. I think the production is pretty bad and a lot of the playing is sloppy. I’d really like to re-record some of it in the future.
“Guardians”: The best album out of the three… but I guess every musician would say that their latest work is the best.
This year you also brought Fuath to life, another solo-project showing your darker side. Are you still satisfied with the debut „I“ and will there be more albums of Fuath in the future?
I don’t really listen back to music I’ve released, so I don’t know. There probably won’t be any future albums, I want to focus on SAOR in the future.
Some time ago you announced that you are planning to continue SAOR as a sole studio-project, so there will be no more concerts. You said that was partly due to the fact that you do not enjoy and/or see no purpose in doing gigs. However, do you still visit concerts as a spectator?
We’ve decided to play a few exclusive live shows this year to see how it goes. A lot of people really want to see SAOR and the other guys convinced me to continue playing live. I don’t particularly enjoy it, I find it pretty stressful and I get quite anxious on stage. We had a run of poorly organized shows last year and I really couldn’t be bothered with it anymore. We will see how these shows go in 2017 and then I will decide from there if we will continue. I sometimes go to concerts but only about 3-5 times a year. I don’t go to many gigs but if I really like the band, I’ll make an effort to go and see them.
So, we are now reaching the end of this interview. At last, I’d like to ask you to take part in our traditional Metal1.info-Brainstorming. Please tell us what comes to your mind while reading the following terms:
Winter: My favorite season
Brexit: Complicated
Symphonic Metal: Epica
Best Scottish Metal band: SAOR, obviously.
Patriotism: Saltire flag
Haggis: Tasty
Alright, thank you again for this interview. The last words shall be yours:
Thanks for the interview. Cheers!
27. Januar 2017 Stephan Rajchl
An saor forgotten paths Musik ist gut die Aufnahme ist schlächt