One of the greatest things about Southampton is its thriving local music scene. The city has a plethora of local venues which all play host to an incredible variety of talented artists from every corner of the globe, and whatever genre of music happens to be to your taste, you’re likely to find something to suit you here. Whether you prefer listening to some ferocious heavy metal, gentle folk music, or anything in between, at some point there’ll be a band or artist for you passing through this unassuming city. Of course, with such a variety of influences performing here, it stands to reason that Southampton’s local music scene will not just play host to talent, but also produce it. This was certainly the case recently, as there was a showcase of young local acts at the Joiners, supporting popular Southampton band A.R.K. The Edge caught up with main support act Insomnia to find out a bit more about them and their music.
How would you describe your music to someone who’s never heard it before?
Aidan [bass]: Well, it’s progressive and experimental.
Jack [piano/vocals] Yeah, our sound covers a little bit of everything really, we can’t quite classify it! That’s probably the closest we can get [laughs]
How did you all get together as a band?
J: Well, it started off with one of our older bands, which Dan [drums], Aidan and I were in, but that one didn’t work out, so we decided to reform into a different band. We found Dom [guitar]on a website called joinmyband.com and then we trialled a few male singers, and none of them really worked out for us, but then we found Megan [lead vocals]at school. We weren’t originally going for a female vocalist, but it just ended up panning out that way, and we adapted our songs for the different style of vocal then.
What do you think of the Southampton music scene?
Dan [drums]: It’s good, there’s quite a lot of rock.
Megan [lead vocals]: Yeah, there’s quite a bit of variety. You have stuff that’s really heavy metal and the lighter kind of music as well.
J: There’s a really big range, but there’s no one massive band from Southampton.
What sort of music do you enjoy, and what inspires your music?
Dom [lead guitar]: AC/DC! Woooo! [laughs]Seriously though, we all like very different things. I do like the old stuff though, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, all that kind of thing.
M: I like Evanescence, Pierce The Veil, bands like that. And a bit of Guns N’Roses as well. I think each individual person has different music they enjoy, we’re not inspired by any one thing, as a band as a whole.
Dan: I like anything and everything really, as long as it makes a loud noise!
A: Oh, I like a weird variety of stuff! My taste can go from Chic, to bands like Metallica! To be honest, if you just got a bunch of different pegs, and threw them all together, that’s our band!
Why did you choose the name Insomnia?
A: Because it’s the only name we could all agree on! [laughs]
J: I really wish we had a more intellectual or interesting answer to that, but there it is!
M: The name went through a couple of different variations, we were The Insomniacs, and then it just became Insomnia.
What made you want to start playing music?
Dan: Well, personally I always wanted to play guitar, but then my mum said to me, ‘Nah, you’ll quit that, do drums, it’s easier!’ [laughs]
A: I started playing because my mates convinced me it was a good idea!
J: Yeah, we needed a bassist for a band we were doing at the time, so we told Aiden he should probably play bass! I started playing because one of my friends in primary school played piano and I thought it was kind of cool, it all went from there really.
Dom: I think I started playing guitar to impress a girl. It didn’t work though!
M: I just grew up singing really and my dad has always liked music, so I just listened to what he listened to, and got into that, and that made me want to perform.
So, what plans do you have for the future of the band?
J: I think that main thing we want to do at the moment is to play gigs in loads of different venues. We’ve got a gig at The Railway coming up in Winchester, and eventually we’d like to release an album. We’ve already done an EP, but we’d really like to do more.
A: To summarise, if you give us a gig we’ll be there!
Insomnia are playing at The Railway in Winchester on February 21st and tickets are available here
