Interview with Sullen Guest Posted on 3-3-21

 

1.Hello please introduce yourselves to the readers?

Songwriter and guitarist Tenebra representing Lithuanian old-school death/doom band Sullen Guest

 

2.When did you first discover death and doom metal and who were the first bands you heard?Who are some of the current bands that you have been listening to?

 Journey to metal began with father's vinyl of Black Sabbath records. But the main shift was inspired by these 3 albums I heard Novembers Doom - Amid Its Hallowed Mirth, Opeth – Orchid, Paradise Lost - Lost Paradise.

Nowadays I like a wide range of music genres with the bands like Nile, Deinonychus, Villagers of Ioannina City on top. Furthermore now I listen to minimal techno quite a lot too.

3.Sullen Guest was started in 2013 when did you all get the idea to start this band? How did you choose Sullen Guest as the name of the band and does it have a special meaning?

 After I finished university and started to work had a lot of free time, so decided to invest it into my feelings expressions via music.

We owned a studio in the street whose name begins with SG letters. So we stuck with the idea that the band name should begin with these letters. There is a meaning behind Sullen Guest, as dark emotions or thoughts do visit every person, every member in our band is the personification of those thoughts, states, or emotions, and has a Latin name of their choice to reflect that.

 

4.What is the current line-up of the band? Who would you say are the bands biggest influences and have they remained the same over the years?

 Influences left the same(Novembers Doom, Opeth, October Tide). But from the very I beginning had a clear vision of how SG should sound, and only in the last album(Chapter III) we reached this goal. I think we have some kind of own style of sound comparing to generic death/doom canon.

5.Chapter III is the band's newest full-length release which is being self-released by the band would you like to find a label to work with one day or do you prefer self-releasing your music?

 When your band is under a well-known label flag it become next-level player, without a doubt we want it and I'm sure that someday it will happen 😊 But now we have great support from “Metallurg Music”, and we are very happy about it

 

6.Does the whole band take part in the writing process or does one member usually write all the music?How long does it usually take to complete one song?

 I write songs by myself alone but in rehearsals band members sometimes add some corrections. One song creating took about 2 months and I only write one song at a time to keep concentrating on it.  Then I make a demo recording of a song, if band members like it, the next phase is to write down all instrument tabs. 

7.Who usually handles writing the lyrics for the music and what are some subjects written about on the new release? Which usually comes first the music or the lyrics?

 The vocalist Inanitas covers this mostly, lyrics are never written beforehand. The method is rather strange, we play the music during a rehearsal and the vocalist growls random words, trying to see which sections of the song should be left alone or accompanied by voice, and matching the vocals to the atmosphere of the song using low, mid or high growls and interchanging between them, once decided, we know where vocals will be present and what kind of final sound we expect. Lyrics are written last, but according to the emotion the song itself is radiating, there are no pre-conceptions, the singer tries to express the meaning of the words with his tone and voice, so even if the listened cannot understand the lyrics, they can feel it through emotional expression.

 

8.Where can the readers purchase the.Chapther 1   release  and are the bands previous releases still availible to purchase?Besides physical releases does the band have any other merchandise currently availible for the readers to purchase? If yes what is availble and where can the readers buy it?

 All 3 releases are still available on Bandcamp. There also you can find T-shirts, patches. Our “Chapter III” cover art masterpiece by Arunas Staugaitis is on sale at Vilnius gallery for 1275eu. https://www.paveikslai.lt/en/fantastic/37571-.html

9.Has Sullen Guest  had the opportunity to play very many live shows over the years or do you prefer to work in the studio?What have been some of the bands most memorable shows and who are some bands you have shared the stage with?

 Last year(2020) was terrible, we had only 2 gigs because of Covid-19 and we missing them so badly. The day before our new program live show, our vocalist get big troubles with his voice, so we decided to play a whole show without vocals, it was a weird interesting experience. We played once with Mr Marcaille – crazy dude.

 

10.Sullen Guest  comes out of Lithuania's death,doom metal scene what is your opinion on the scene in Lithuania over the years?

 The metal genre, in general, is diminished compared to other music styles from 2000 till now. In Lithuania, the most popular style is black metal at the moment and just a few bands of the other metal sub-genres.

 

11.Who are your all-time favorite bands coming out of Lithuania and are there any new bands you feel the readers should check out soon?

 To be honest I'm not a big fan of the Lithuanian metal scene. Au-Desus and Awakening Sun are the biggest names in Lithuania at the moment. But personally, I prefer a more old-school sound like Stormgrey.

 

12.Besides working in Sullen Guest do any of the members currently work with any other bands or solo projects?

 All members apart from me have side music projects.

 

13.When you need to take a break from working on new music or band business what do you like to do in your free time?

The second passion for me is travel, but the cause of covid have to stick with local revels like riding a motorcycle, running, pc gaming - nothing unordinary 😊

 

14.Thank you for taking the time to fill this interview out do you have any final words for the readers?

There is no light in your window anymore - you have been visited by Sullen Guest.                                  Band Contacts                                                                                                                                                https://sullenguest.bandcamp.com/                                                                                                              https://www.facebook.com/SullenGuest                                                                                                      https://www.instagram.com/sullen_guest_official/                                                                                     https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCv0xbKnDWrgJDFkgyqgwa6w?reload=9