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The Eyes Of A Traitor: ‘Social media are essential for a band’

posted by: David on 11 October 2010

The British metalcore band The Eyes Of A Traitor (or melodic death metal band, whatever you like) is a good example of the new generation of musicians. These young dudes grew up with the internet and use it very intensively to spread their name and music around the world. Guitarist Matthew Pugh talks to AsIce.net about their new release ‘Breathless’ and how the band uses social media to promote it.

Do you consider yourself a metalcore band or a melodic death metal band?

I wouldn’t say that we classify ourselves as either genre specifically, but we certainly incorporate elements of both. We all listen to both types of music and I’m especially very much into melodic death metal bands. In Flames & Soilwork providing a lot of inspiration. I guess we are a combination of the two!

Does the way you are labeled by others influence the way you are perceived by your audience?

Yes, it does to an extent, I’ve seen people dismiss us on forums for being labeled a “deathcore” band because that’s what we were pigeon-holed with around the “By Sunset” EP. So people who aren’t into that style seem don’t seem to be as keen to rush and check out our new material, even though our style has changed considerably with each release since. On the whole though, the majority of our fans have followed us regardless of whatever labels we have had, or changes to our sound we have made.



How would you describe the musical evolution that you went through over the years?

Well, the EP was written when the band members were mainly around 15 years old, and was very heavy & featured a fair amount of breakdowns. And between that and the first album they had a lot of touring experience and matured a lot musically and as people in general. “A Clear Perception” focused mainly on the bands technicality, with a lot of intricate riffs and many different sections in each song. Which was great in getting everyone’s abilities up but by the time “Breathless” came around, we wanted to cut back on the unnecessary shredding and focus more on writing good solid songs with real structure. Songs that left more room for vocal hooks and allowed us to get more into them when playing live.

In what direction do you think you could still expand your style in the future?

I think after “Breathless”, we could go where we like really! There are a lot of different elements on that album that we could focus on for our next path. It could either go really heavy, or incorporate more of the singing chorus’ we featured on this one, or draw more on the melodic side, or maybe bring back more of the technical guitar aspects of the previous album. We’ve been listening to other types of music in the vans whilst on tour too, so perhaps they will sneak into our sound as well. Just have to wait and see I guess!

What is the biggest difference between ‘A Clear Perception’ and ‘Breathless’?

I’d say the structuring & cohesiveness of the songs in general. A lot of time was spent on making the songs flow well this time round, so it doesn’t seem like a collection of different riffs stapled together. Vocal patterns & hooks took a lot of priority on this album too. I’d say it’s also a much heavier album in comparison.

Which lyrical themes do you address on the new album?

Jack Delany wrote all of the lyrics for this album, and they are mainly focused on the breakup of relationships. Whether that be in some form of apology, or just how he was feeling & coping with things at the time of writing. There are other themes, “Nothing To Offer” is about self-important people, whose sole intention is just climbing the social ladder and putting themselves on a pedestal. And how he wants to knock them back down again.

The UK press is known for hyping UK bands and dropping them fast as well. Do you have experiences with this? How well are you received by the international media and fans?

So far, we have been supported by the UK media very well. They gave people a heads up for us as “ones to watch” when the first album came out, and followed up our new release with great reviews & some big features, which has helped out with the band’s exposure a lot on home turf. We get a lot of interviews for European based webzines, which is great for getting the word spread over there. We recently completed our first extensive European tour as opener for The Chariot & iwrestledabearonce, and went down a lot better than we expected to. So things are going the right direction for us out there! We are heading back out there around October/November this year with Maroon, After The Burial & The Agonist too, so hopefully we will see even more positive changes!

I never expected a band like The Eyes Of A Traitor to be signed to Listenable Records. Maybe it’s just me, but I think you’re a little too metalcore for Listenable. Were you surprised that they were interested in the band? Did they offer you better support than other labels?

We were quite surprised, considering the musical style of other band’s on their label. And the fact that we would be their first UK signing. They have done a lot in helping the progression of the band and helping us get our music spread beyond the UK scene though. Being on the same label as Gojira certainly put us in a good place to get the support slot for their UK tour last year, which has in turn had a huge impact on the sound & attitude of our band.



You are active on Twitter, Myspace, Facebook and probably more social media. How important are social media these days for a band?

I think social media is absolutely essential for a band these days, everything is based around the internet. Your music is uploaded mainly on your Myspace, the songs and music videos then also get uploaded to Youtube so people can see them from anywhere in the world. Most people these days have a Facebook or a Myspace and will post bulletins or links to material they like by a band. So the levels of online exposure for artists is enormous. By having our own profiles on each site, we are able to keep our fans up to date with new music, where we are playing, what merchandise we are offering and where you can pick it up. It also allows them to interact back with us so they feel part of the family rather than just a sound coming from their speakers.

Do you actually discuss your lyrics or music online with fans or is it just a way to connect on a more superficial basis?

For the most part, it is superficial on the band’s main pages because we don’t tend to get many questions about that stuff other than from the webzines. Although we do answer back when certain questions arise such as where lyrics/tickets can be found, etc. Although we all have our own personal Facebook pages and I tend to reply to anyone that messages on there when I get chance.


Interview by David.
Pictures taken from The Eyes Of A Traitor Myspace.

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Related bandprofile: The Eyes Of A Traitor