A Chat with In Peril (16.12.20)
Hailing from the UK, Northamptonshire-based In Peril merge alternative rock and indie-rock with punk undertones. We speak with this group about their new single ‘Your Decision’, bad advice and future plans.
OSR: How did In Peril form and what inspired In Peril to come about?
In Peril: Hayden, Gary and James have all known each other for somewhere around 15 years – all met while playing in a previous band Dry Til Friday. That band died out and all three got back together several years later for this new project – originally with another lead guitarist, who eventually had to leave due to personal issues. Matt ended up joining around 18 months ago and it’s been all sweet since!
As for the name: we were originally going by another name (52i) for a while, but we decided to change it up for something with a bit more bite. We threw loads of names around over multiple Zoom calls during the first 2020 lockdown eventually settling on In Peril. We found that we could do a lot with it graphically and it just sounds pretty cool, we think!
OSR: What is the backstory to ‘Your Decision’?
In Peril: This is a tune which Hayden wrote around 15 years ago after he caught his girlfriend at the time sucking off some dude under the stairs at a party! Shit kicked off and all of a sudden Hayden’s single!
OSR: What was the writing and recording process like?
In Peril: We played it a lot as Dry Til Friday, but we’ve never recorded it before…until now. We figured Hayden’s story needed sharing with the world! So, when we hit the studio in early October 2020 this was always going to be one of the tunes we laid down. It’s such a basic tune and it didn’t take long to record. Chris at Fit Dog Studios in Northamptonshire was great to work with as he made the whole process so smooth and productive. This really helped us to get the most out of our sound.
OSR: Does the single have significance for you?
In Peril: Given that it’s a solid tune from when we used to play together all those years ago it was always going to be the first tune we jammed together when we started this new project. It just gets us going.
OSR: Describe your sound in one sentence.
In Peril: None of us really think we have a ‘sound’. Some of our stuff has been called a bit goth-rock, but we’ve also got some really punky stuff coming out soon too. We just throw riffs around in the room and if it sounds right, it stays! Yeah, I know that’s more than one sentence!
OSR: What advice do you have for any emerging bands?
In Peril: Above all, have fun! Just enjoy the music. It’s great fun just getting to jam together. If others appreciate what you’re playing that’s just a bonus.
OSR: What is the worst piece of advice you have ever received?
In Peril: Eat the yellow snow…
OSR: Where would you like to be one year from now?
In Peril: A year from now? Rock stardom, obviously! It has to be every musician’s dream, right?!
OSR: I am useless with apps. Do you find any modern tech difficult to use?
In Peril: All of us, except Gary, are pretty tech-savvy. Hayden’s pretty handy with computers and networks and shit, and Matt’s day job is a racecar mechanic! So modern tech isn’t an issue for us.
OSR: What are your future plans?
In Peril: World domination!! But seriously, we have some festival slots lined up for summer 2021 and we’re in the process of trying to get as many gigs scheduled as we possibly can – ready for when the live music scene gets going again.
While everything’s shut down, we’re still mixing and mastering some of the tunes we recorded in October. These are almost ready to be inflicted upon the world! Keep an eye on our Spotify and Facebook streams for new tunes when we released them.
Thanks to In Peril for speaking with us. For more from In Peril check out their Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and Spotify.
