INTERVIEW: Surface Detail discuss origins and influences alongside new single ‘This Lantern’

Scottish progressive metal outfit Surface Detail have never been particularly interested in standing still. From beginnings in a high-school jazz orchestra, Marceline Hamilton, Adam Anderson, Andrew Carus and Elaine Masson have developed an increasingly ambitious sound where technical precision, theatricality and sheer heaviness collide.

Their latest single, ‘This Lantern’, pushes that experimentation considerably further. Built around a jagged 7/8 pulse, open-string dissonance and deliberately abrasive harmonic choices, the track moves between tightly controlled progressive metal and moments of outright chaos, with guest vocals from High Voltage frontman Robbie Horn adding another dimension to its volatile arrangement.

We caught up with Surface Detail to discuss the origins and influences behind ‘This Lantern’, and what else they have planned for the future as well.

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What was the first rock song or artist that made an impact on you?

Marcy: The first rock band I properly got into was Bon Jovi after watching the movie adaptation of Rock of Ages, I got really into the soundtrack from that & my mum noticed a Bon Jovi song in it and got me their greatest hits CD to put on in the car. The one that was in the Rock of Ages soundtrack was Wanted Dead Or Alive so I suppose that was the first song. It was that that made me want to be in a rock band.

Andrew: Creep by Radiohead was the first rock song that had an impact on me and it was the reason I began playing drum-kit.

Adam: In my early days when I was about 10 – 12 years old, I found myself listening to a lot of Iron Maiden. I enjoyed the more narrative approach to music and the more interesting parts the instruments were playing.

Who are some of your biggest musical influences within the rock genre?

Marcy: Well first of all Bon Jovi, some others include My Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy & Paramore. I absolutely adore MCR’s theatrics with their concept albums like The Black Parade & Danger Days & that’s definitely seeped into all my own work. I also take a lot of influence in my style singing-wise from Patrick Stump & Hayley Williams, they’re absolutely my top vocalists.

Elaine: I try to take a lot of my structure and concepts from Dream Theater, particularly with their Keyboardists (Kevin Moore, and Jordan Rudess) . I also like to pull from lots of NuMetal, or 2000s metalcore influences. Particularly bands like Linkin Park or Architects.

Andrew: Metallica was my first dose of a heavier genre of music, ever since i first listened to them and delved deeper into the genre and bands such as Opeth, Agriculture and Wounded Masquerade influence how I make music.

Are there any non-rock musicians or genres that have also influenced your music?

Marcy: Literally so so many, I really like some alt-poppy synthy type stuff like I Don’t Know How But They Found Me, and Little Dark Age is one of my favourite albums too. Jack Stauber & Lemon Demon are also some of my all time favourites. As well as that I grew up in musical theatre so I still take a lot of influence from that in my own music & the theatre training is still evident in my singing, that’s maybe part of why I was so drawn to the MCR stuff because a large part of that also stems from Gerard Way being a theatre kid too.

Adam: Daft Punk are one of my favourite artists of all time despite the disconnected from my rock/metal taste. Their work on Tron: Legacy and Random Access Memories being my personal favourites but I love pretty much everything they’ve done. Another influence is the music from my favourite video games, Michael Salvatori’s work on Destiny and Destiny 2 is some of my favourite music, and the music featured in Fromsofts Dark Souls series is incredible.

What is your main inspiration when looking to write new music?

Marcy: I usually just look to whatever’s going on in my life around me for inspiration when looking to write new music, I only typically write about things I actually have something to really say about. A lot of the time that usually ends up either really really miserable or really really political.

Elaine: My main inspiration when writing new music is usually trying to express myself. Often I’ll write songs, and what comes out is a reflection of my life at the time. I often write about my romantic problems or my difficult relationships with my family/friends. Sometimes that’t not what a song needs lyrically, but that’s what I’m good at.

What do you enjoy most about performing live and do you have any memorable live performance experiences you’d like to share?

Marcy: I suppose it’s sort of the place where you can see the real life results of the work you do, it’s super easy to just see the likes & the stats & the numbers on a screen and think ‘hey the songs doing pretty decently’ but it’s a whole other deal seeing people show up in person to sing along to the words or jump about to the riffs. It reminds me of why I make & realease the music in the first place. As for a memorable experience there was the time we played our first gig in highschool where we just stopped playing halfway through a song because several people didn’t learn the part properly, the silence went on so long the audience started clapping because they thought the song was over just for the confused applause to slowly die out as they all realise we’ve actually messed up. We eventually finished the song but that moment has haunted us ever since, that whole show outside of just that moment is a whole story in & of itself.

Elaine: My favourite part about playing live is being able to connect with the audience. There’s no better feeling than playing music for someone who came specifically to see you. I love that every show is just a little bit different, from the stage to the set, and to how we actually use the stage. It leads to new and fun things every gig. Unfortunately the most memorable performance stories are all of things going wrong… I’ve had a handful of occasions where we go to play a song and one of my keyboards breaks. It’s beginning to happen too often… first it was my Sustain pedal, then it was my synthesiser, THEN recently my whole keyboard stops working. So far I’m 3/3 for figuring out a solution during the gig, but we’ll see how long that lasts.

Adam: Playing live is what music culture was built around for over the history of civilisation. People getting together to enjoy and share music fulfils me in a very meaningful way.

Currently, my favourite memorable moment was when we played the King Tuts Summer Festival. It was our first festival gig and it felt like we were actually making a name for ourselves.

What has been a particularly rewarding moment in your musical journey so far?

Marcy: It’s only happened once or twice from just other people in the scene so on a really small scale, but the couple times I’ve been recognised from the band by someone I didn’t know, then they’ll say something about they saw us opening for someone at a show or they heard the new single. It’s just been a really cool little surprise reminder of how we’ve been perceived & enjoyed by people we don’t even know.

How would you define success as a musician?

Elaine: I define musical success as having an impact on people. A small group of dedicated fans is far more valuable than mainstream approval.

What advice would you give to aspiring artists who are just starting out?

Marcy: There’s so many people about giving so much advice everywhere all of the time, and all of them contradict each other & I just think there isn’t really a right way to start out, you just kind of go & pick things up as you go along. So I suppose I’d say just try not to let yourself get too overwhelmed with trying to find the “right” way to do things because then you’ll just get stressed out. I’d say being attentive & consistent is good but don’t burn yourself out. Be willing & open to learn from mistakes without putting too much pressure on to be perfect & flawless immediately.

Adam: Find what you love about music, no matter how small or how big that is, and chase it until you’ve got it… also try to make the sound engineers life easier, they’ll appreciate it.

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Listen to Surface Detail’s new single ‘This Lantern’ below.