Black Coast - 'An Introductory Look Inside Their Paradise'

British nu-metal/rock five piece Black Coast have intrigued me with their gritty, heavy-hitting new single 'Paradise' they unleashed earlier this month. What begins as a slower paced piece of alternative/rock music kinda turns a new leaf with the melodic guitars dialled right up, reminding us of grungey underground metal bands in the 2000s. Get to know these nu-rock upcomers in my chat with them about their latest release, 'Paradise' and what else to expect with their full-length later in the year.

Hey guys! First up, for those who aren’t familiar with your band, tell us how you all came together?

Hello, we’re Black Coast, a band from Stoke-On-Trent, UK. Initially we were all in different bands, Scott (Guitar) spoke to Joe (Guitar), then bought in Birdy (Bass) and Matty (Drums). Then l (Charlie) came in to the mix after a few practices. Now here we are, everything fit from the start and five years on we are still strong as ever.

Congrats on your latest single, ‘Paradise’. I got a big of a prog/alt/rock feel from it, similar to Australian rockers The Butterfly Effect. What was the inspiration behind your latest song?

Thank you!! We’ve been waiting and getting this music ready for a long time, the inspiration was a mixture of all the things we like. As selfish as it sounds, we started writing music for ourselves and didn’t hold back with anything. ‘Paradise’ personally for me was inspired by artists from the likes of Neighbourhood and Staind. Lyrically its a self reflective look at a world l had created for myself that wasn’t what it seemed.

Who are the biggest influences on your music?

l’d say our influences have changed a lot. We get inspiration from a lot of different genres and bands. Our staple band influences l would say are Alice In Chains, Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park, Ocean Grove, Deftones.

Yes! I definitely got that old school nu-metal feel with your music, and we love Ocean Grove here in Australia! With this being the first song off of your forthcoming debut album, what else can we expect to hear when the album comes out?

Going forwards, l don’t want to give away too much. l want people to ‘think’ they know what's coming and make the assumption that it’s going to be more of the same heavy traditional Black Coast. l want people to be surprised when they hear the evolution in our songwriting.

To celebrate the new song, where in the world do you consider to be your “paradise”?

l cant speak for the others but l'm pretty generic. l class it as being away on a beach or by the ocean - just exploring, hiking, being a standard tourist or relaxing, nothing wild.

What was your biggest challenge when it came to writing for an album as opposed to your previous EPs?

l don’t feel like it was a challenge, it was exciting! We had written, like you said, a fair few EPs before this and l think we were just ready and raring to go on this new music. With the help of our producer, Sam Bloor and having the time to really work at it we produced the best music we have done so far l think.

How has COVID-19 and the current world affected your perspective on music and continuing to write songs?

Covid has been difficult for the music scene and musicians in general, it's affected everyone across the board. We’ve been one of the lucky ones and somehow we’ve managed to be very productive and been given more time to focus on writing and creating content that we’re happy with. Perspective-wise, lyrically for myself l think it’s been very self reflective, and it became more apparent on a personal level towards the back end of the album process, stopping for a second and looking back. The album's been a journey to say the least and it definitely shows.

You’ve got some festivals lined up in the pipeline once restrictions ease up, which is great. Have you also thought about livestreaming a show to fans online in case things don’t pan out?

We have plans to put a live stream together, something we’re excited about as we are itching to get back out there and show people the new Black Coast.

Following the album’s release, what else is on the cards for Black Coast in 2021 and beyond?

We push ourselves to write and work as hard as we can, we’ve been doing this a really a long time and we don’t intend on quitting or stopping any time soon. Hopefully we get to tour this music a hell of a lot and also expect to release more music a lot sooner than everyone thinks.

Any lasting message you’d like to leave for your Australian fans?

Thank you to anyone who’s listened taken the time to read this, or found us for the first time. We have a lot more to come and we hope you can join us on that journey.

Interview by Tamara May (@citylightstam)

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