East London-based rage-propelled quartet Saint Agnes have just unleashed Bloodsuckers, their ferociously therapeutic Spinefarm debut. A largely self-produced record, it combines metal fury with punk attitude, industrial intensity and raw emotion – in particular This Is Not The End, an extraordinarily powerful piece recorded in the wake of the sudden, unexpected passing of vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Kitty A Austen’s mother.
We caught up with Austen and Jon James Tufnell (guitar, vocals, bass) recently to discuss the on-going passion of Saint Agnes. A matter of life and death? It’s way more important than that.
They don’t shoegaze
Saint Agnes’s creative core came together as a direct reaction to the sonic complacency of the prevailing rock scene. “We were two lost souls,” says Tufnell. “In different bands, looking for a musical match. We got chatting and discovered a shared passion for bands with real intensity.”
“It was ten years ago now,” Austen adds. “It was all psychedelia and shoegaze back then, and while there’s a place for that, we both wanted to be in a bombastic, balls-out rock band.”
“It felt really rebellious to do that in London back then,” Tufnell says, smiling. “We had to tell people we were a psychedelic band to get gigs.”
Anger is their energy
Austen has no doubt what feeds her scream: “A lot of anger. I’m an angry person, and there’s a lot in the world to be angry about. I’ve had a difficult time, particularly over the last couple of years. I’ve had some mental health problems, and my mum passed away unexpectedly. All that stuff channels into a rage that’s all over the new album.”
While Bloodsuckers is a very angry record, it’s also very joyous.
“When you’re facing the worst times,” Austen continues, “you enter a headspace where you’re also experiencing strange euphoric highs. So while the record is really, really angry it’s also full of hope.”
What you see is what you get
Austen the performer and Austen the interviewee might appear to be polar opposites, but the transformation that takes place at the microphone is more instinctive than deliberate.
“I never adopt a persona, that’s just the part of me that comes to the fore when I perform. As soon as I hit the stage, the cocky, arrogant, angry and powerful part of me comes out. I’m always the best version of myself in that kind of do-or-die situation.”
“I see this happen up-close,” says Tufnell, “And it’s an instinctual part of entering the mind-set necessary to delivering this music. The music and the band matters so much to us that it is do-or-die. You simply have no choice but to run in all guns blazing.”
All the world’s the stage
Getting back on the road isn’t just about going back to work for Saint Agnes (the line-up is completed by drummer Andrew Head and bassist Ryan Brown).
“That bit on stage is the part where we’re actually living.” Austen states bluntly. “I’m just treading water until I get to do it again.”
“It’s our world,” says Tufnell. “We’ve created that world: we’ve created that sound; we’ve created the songs; we’ve created the lighting. It’s our world and we get to live in it. In normal life you’re living in someone else’s world, but we get to be in our world and thrive.”
They’ll drown you out
“In my family I often felt like I didn’t have a voice,” claims strictly non-nepo baby Austen, the daughter of an “unfortunately unsuccessful” musician. “I was a small person in a family of big, strong characters, so singing and playing guitar was my way of having a voice within my family.
"I was a strange kid at school. I struggled to make friends, had quite a difficult time, but now, being on stage, it’s my stage now and no one can take it away from me. I think that’s why I’ve done it, just to have my voice amplified. Now I’m speaking through a PA, you literally have to listen to me.”
Bloodsuckers’ defining strength in adversity? Artist’s own.
Bloodsuckers, crafted in the depths of bereavement, is unfiltered catharsis.
“I was in a surreal, otherworldly state, my emotions absolutely raw,” says Austen. “Me and my mum had a very difficult relationship, and when she died, god… Our relationship at that point cannot now be changed. Or improved. I had no control over that situation, but what could I control? The record. Which is why I tried to create something that would connect with people, to draw some light out of all the darkness, to honour our relationship.”
Bloodsuckers is out now via Spinefarm Records.
