Bring Me The Horizon

UK metal titans Bring Me The Horizon are gearing up to release Sempiternal, their biggest album to date. We caught up with keyboardist Jordan Fish to talk about his introduction to the band, touring and the leaking of the album.


Music News: So how’s it going?

Jordan Fish: It’s going well thanks, we did a Radio One Session for Zane Lowe yesterday so we’ve been really busy with the album coming out on Monday.

Music News: Are you looking forward to the album actually being released?

Jordan: Yeah, I’m looking forward to actually having a physical copy because obviously it’s been out for a while effectively with the leak and with us streaming it, so people have been able to hear it for a while but it’s going to be good to actually have a physical copy. Now we can start play all of the songs off it when we tour so we’re all really excited it.

Music News: How do you feel about the album being leaked early?

Jordan: To be honest at first we were a bit bummed out about it but we kind of knew that it was going to leak, we said it quite early on and we were prepared for it but obviously when it does happen you’re a bit gutted. We were in Australia at the time on tour, I found it because someone posted it and when I pressed play I got that feeling like ‘Fuck, that’s it now’.
As soon as one person has got it then you know it’s only a matter of hours before it’s everywhere. So yeah for the first evening we were a bit bummed out but the next day we met up with our management who were out with there us. We put it up ourselves because we thought if we put it up ourselves so people can see the artwork associated with each song. I think at the end of the day, everything leaks nowadays so as a band there’s not much we could about it other than try and encourage people to buy it if they like it.

Music News:At least it’s been getting great reception from the people have downloaded it as well…..

Jordan: Yeah exactly, I think that once people started messaging us saying that they’d heard our album and it’s really good, even mates of mine were like ‘I’m really sorry, I downloaded your album illegally but it’s fucking brilliant, I’m going to buy it’, that takes the edge of it. In a sense it was a bit of a relief because we knew it was going to happen, it’s done now, we can enjoy the response to it. We were amazed at how good the response was because it is quite different to stuff the band has done before.

Music News: You only joined the band recently, what impact did your introduction have on the band?

Jordan: That’s not really for me to answer because I don’t want to blow my own trumpet but I like to think that I helped I wrote the album with Oli (Sykes, Vocals) and Lee (Malia, Guitar) at Oli’s house so it was a different way of writing for the band and we worked really hard on the songs to try and make them as strong as we could. We wrote for three and a half months constantly and we’d revise the songs again and again to make sure every hook and melody was really strong. It is different, it’s a much more melodic album than the last two releases and obviously Oli’s singing has added another dimension to the band as well.

Music News: How was the actual process for you with it your first Bring Me The Horizon release?

Jordan: We demoed it to quite a high level so when we went into the studio we knew pretty much how we wanted it to sound. Also me and Oli had worked on his vocals so much because when we got in with Terry Date (Producer) one of the first conversations we had was about what we were going to do about vocals. He’d watched us working at Oli’s house and I think he suggested that I recorded the vocals for the album so that’s what we did. We had the main studio with a room off to the side and me and Oli just set up in there with a vocal booth and my computer. I recorded all of the vocals with Oli so we could start on it straight away when we got into the studio. I think the vocal performance on the album is really, really strong.

Music News: How did you actually get involved with the band?

Jordan: I used to play in another band called Worship, not a very big band, kind of an electronic/indie rock band and someone played it to Oli and he really loved it and loved the band, he used to come to our shows. I got to know him through that, we spoke a bit and he always used to post to stuff about the band and helped us out a few times like letting us crash at his house when we were touring. So I kind of became mates with him through that and when they began writing the album he said it would be cool to get me to do some electronics on it so I went up to his house to work on a song and it just went really well. I kept going up to Sheffield and it gradually became more like co-writing, I wouldn’t just be adding stuff to what they’d already written, I was writing with them and putting in my own ideas, it kind of happened naturally. At the end of it I felt like part of the band and everyone else in the band sort of felt the same.

Music News: How was it for you to jump from a smaller band to a band as high profile as Bring Me The Horizon?

Jordan: It took a bit of getting used to but not much, the first show we did was a warm up show and then Warped Tour UK so that was November and like 8000-10,000. So that was like a big step up for me, I’ve never played to that many, I’ve played to a couple of thousand but to jump to 10,000 at Alexandra Palace I was fucking terrified. It was fine though, one thing I noticed that’s different is the adrenaline after you play, when you play to people that love the band and sing along and you’ve got proper fans it’s a really different feeling when you come off stage. I always thought I knew what it was like to have that buzz but I never had and when you play with this band and come off stage you really do have a lot of adrenaline, you just feel like you want to punch someone in the face.

Music News: You’re back on tour next week in the UK, what are you expecting from it?

Jordan: We’ve got four shows from the 1st to the 4th, sort of intimate dates and then the full UK tour a few weeks later. We have a new guy playing guitar for us this UK tour so we’ll see how it goes, we’re going to be doing a load of new stuff obviously. I think it’s going to be really good. This UK tour is also sold out so I think that crowds are going to be good, I’m interested to know really because my first real experience of touring with the band has been Australian, Philippine and South African crowds and they are all different. I’m interested to see what the UK fans are like on this tour, I’m sure it will be great because we played Warped Tour UK last year and it was amazing.

Music News: The band are playing the American Warped Tour next summer, are you excited for that?

vYeah I can’t wait, I’ve never been to America so it’s another one on my list of places I’ve always wanted to go so it’s just the perfect tour if you want to experience places. It pretty much goes everywhere in America so when you’re done with it it’s like I’ve done America, I’ve done almost every state. I’ve heard lots of stories about Warped Tour, everyone says it’s amazing and one of the most fun festivals to play so I can’t wait, it’s going to be sick.

Music News: What’s your favourite track off of Sempiternal if you had to choose?

vIt’s really, really difficult, I don’t really have a favourite but I really like the first track ‘Can You Feel My Heart’ because it’s such a different song for the band and I think it’s a good introduction to the new album, to Oli’s singing and to the fact that I’m in the band. For me it sounds really different and fresh so I’m proud of that one. Empire as well, I love that track, I really like the groove of it, it’s heavy and I love the vocals. To be honest I like the whole album, I don’t want to sound like a dick but I’m really proud of it.

Music News: So what are the plans for the rest of 2013 once this UK tour is wrapped up?

vIt’s going to just be non-stop touring I imagine. We’ve got Warped Tour and Reading & Leeds Festival where we’re doing main stage, that’s like a massive thing for me because I’m from Newbury which is like 20 minutes away from Reading so it’s almost like a home town show and I’ve been to Reading Festival so many times so that’s a big thing. At the end of the year I think we might be going back to Australia, there’ll be a big UK tour at the end of the year because the one we’ve got coming up is all quite small shows so there’s a lot of people that couldn’t get tickets to those shows so the one at the end of the year will be the big UK tour. Hopefully I’ll get to see more of the world, that’s what I’m excited about, there’s a talk of us doing Japan and I’ve never been there before. So just more touring and then all of next year will be touring as well so yeah touring, touring, touring.


Bring Me The Horizon release 'Sempiternal' on RCA on April 1st and the band will be touring throughout the month