Whilst Quest Fest was a little over two weeks ago now, people are still buzzing about it as if it happened only yesterday. One of the bands that performed was the new warrior clan HEROES OF THE GAUNTLET; they rose to that daunting challenge of being the opening act and conquered it triumphantly. After their set, Rock Out Stand Out’s Lotty Whittingham caught a quick chat with them about their sound, mental health, and which video game characters they can see playing in a band. Here’s what happened.
We’re at Power Metal Quest Fest where you have just opened up the festival. Your set was fantastic, in general; what bands are you looking forward to seeing today?
Marco: I’m fanboying over Dawn Of Victory because I’m from Trieste, Italy, where Rhapsody are originally from, and as most of us know, Fabio Lione used to be the lead singer for that band. I just met him, and we had the opportunity to see them doing soundcheck, which was amazing.
I think I heard one of the volunteers say the same thing earlier about Fabio sound checking. What about you two?
Anna: Fellowship and Sonata Arctica; Fellowship are sort of more in our vein so it will be nice to see what they do.
Mark: I’m kind of looking forward to all of it to be honest, I first saw Sonata Arctica in an issue of Metal Hammer magazine over twenty years ago. So to be supporting them is pretty special so looking forward to them and also Seven Spires.
Let’s talk more about your sound; if I’m not mistaken, you’re fairly brand new.
Marco: We are brand new. We started in 2021, if I remember correctly. It began as a solo project of mine. It was after the pandemic, and I wondered what we could do, so we went to a concert; it was Gloryhammer and Alestorm in Manchester. I wasn’t really into power metal before, but I saw this and thought, “Ooh, that sounds cool; let’s play some power metal.”
So I started it as a solo project with Anna helping me; I then started looking for a singer to collaborate with, so I posted on Reddit. I began this collaboration with people from the US, and we had written a few songs here and there. Then, last year, we released the EP Tales From The Maze, and a few months later, Amie [Chatterley] from Quest Fest contacted us to ask if we wanted to put a show together. At the time, it was still a solo project, so I started contacting friends of mine; we were lucky to have Mark on board.
Mark: I’ve been with the band for six weeks. We had our first gig last week so I had five weeks to learn all the songs. We got there in the end.
You managed to get the crowds going and everything. So that’s great for your second ever show.
Marco: We’re still amateur and new to the scene, if the crowd found it fun then that’s awesome.
Going more onto your sound, who are your influences?
Mark: Iron Maiden, I’ve idolised Bruce Dickinson as a singer and a band for fifteen years. As soon as I heard their Greatest Hits album, that was it. Then you dive down a rabbit hole of metal screams; I listened to Amaranthe, where they mix singing and screaming.
Anna: Some of the melodies are inspired by the video game Gauntlet. I sing a lot around the house, and it has a catchy theme tune, so I’ll be humming that. Marco will start playing it on guitar, and that’s how the songs came to be.
Marco: There’s bits in the songs that are recalls to the themes of Gauntlet and the lyrics are based on the game as well.
When it comes to recording a song, what do you start with first?
Marco: We start with the drums first because the drums have to set the mood. I plug in the drums and see what I can play along to, is it aggressive? Is it soft? Is it melodic?
Does that then inspire the vocal parts?
Mark: For me, everything was already written before I came in. So I was learning the songs from Spotify the best I could and then putting my own spin on them. Marco would let me know how he thought they should be sung; once we got it all together, we could hear the songs, the essence, and the mood Marco originally wanted them in.
What challenges do you face being a solo project?
Marco: I think being self-referential, that’s the biggest issue. I’m lucky in the sense that I played a different kind of music in metal before, and I am also a big fan of pop, so if I get stuck, I know how to go in a more poppy or more aggressive direction. So that’s my way of being less self-referential.
Not having any immediate feedback is sometimes an issue because when you’re in a room together, your bandmates can say, “I didn’t like this; can you change that?” So I have to do it by myself.
Finding a drummer has also been a challenge; drummers are hard to find in the North West. We had a couple lined up, but they couldn’t do it. So at the moment, we have gone without a drummer.
One of the things on our website we talk about is mental health. Particularly normalise talking about it; looking after your wellbeing and your mental health on bad days. What’s the biggest lesson you have learnt when it comes to looking after your wellbeing?
Mark: I went to university and got a Master’s in Psychology. I grew up seeing lots of people going through mental health issues; I’ve always been fascinated with psychology and the human mind. I always found that when I was struggling and when other people struggled, music was one of the best medicines. You dive into your favorite bands and just lose yourselves in the world and the stories behind the albums and songs. At the end of the day, I recommend to anyone that if you’re struggling, put on your favorite bands and find more favorite bands, and jump down that rabbit hole. I like to think that our music is happy and fun. I hope that through our music, we can help people enjoy life a little bit more.
Following on from this, what bands do you turn to when you need to unwind?
Mark: Parkway Drive if I need to blow off some steam. If I’m in the gym and throwing weights around, that’s what I would turn to.
Rich: Classic Carcass.
Anna: Sabaton and Dominum
Marco: Can I say Britney Spears?
Yes, of course you can.
Marco: I’m a big fan of Britney Spears, her music is one thing that really relaxes me.
Mark: We need to do a cover of a Britney track. A metal version of a Britney song, I’d be well up for that.
Which ones do you have in mind?
Marco: I think Cinderella, it’s not a well known song. It’s off her third album and it’s a banger.
So we were talking about video games earlier, which video game characters can you see in a band together?
Mark: My character on stage is basically based on alpha male, warrior type figure like Kratos from God Of War. I was a Dark Souls fan as well.
Rich: I’d say someone like Sonic the Hedgehog, just tearing across the stage.
Anna: If I were to take a break from the Valkerie, I would say Lara Croft.
Marco: I’m struggling to come up with one, I like to be myself on stage. If I were to pick, I would have to say Sonic or Super Mario.
Mark: Mario would just be throwing bananas over the stage [all laugh]
Anna: Thank you little bots.
Find HEROES OF THE GAUNTLET on Facebook.
