If you’ve been around the London metal scene for a while, you’ll be well aware of Zocalo.  If you’ve been to Bloodstock over the last few years, or have your ear to the ground of UK Doom in general, you’ll likely be aware of Season of the Witch playing.  Hell you might have met Bloodstock Metal to the Masses judge Peter Humphries, or even encountered him as ambassador for Stone Wolf Guitars.  Anyway, it’s time that any fan of high-quality Doom, Stoner, or Desert Rock sought out the first album by newly renamed Godless Suns, and we at Ave Noctum thank the band for taking the time to answer our questions.

AN: Firstly, congratulations on the debut album ‘Godless Suns’ which is a belter, and getting very positive reviews.  It’s your first album as Godless Suns, so how is the creative process different from for example, writing for Zocalo, or was it just a natural evolution?

Pete:  Thanks very much.  The creative process isn’t that different to be honest, I bugger off into my own space and write an unhealthy amount of riffs, then I cull them to a manageable amount and let Sarah and Dan sort them into songs, they’ll evolve over a few months then we’ll play them live. It’s a lot easier now there’s only 3 of us, with just one vocalist to consider.

AN: Since Zocalo has come up, how do the playing dynamics differ?  As a person looking in from the outside the change to a three piece with Sarah taking up bass as well as vocal duties tying her to a mic stand leads to a far more still presence.  Did this influence the change in sound, or was there a conscious change in style that the new dynamic moulds to?

Pete:  I think that when Zocalo wrapped up we both wanted to move into another of our favourite styles/genres of music and see if we’d be any good at that.  No point in flogging     the dead horse that was Zocalo, though that said it’s hard to escape the fact that there are tinges and flavours of Zocalo in what we do as we were both so integral in that band’s sound.

AN: This is your first album, which I imagine with the pressures of change in living style forced on so many creative persons by Covid did not go as originally planned; beyond just slowing down the recording process, did the pandemic lead to any unexpected change in direction?

Pete:  As frustrating as the pandemic was, it gave us time to be more critical of the songs, add to them both vocally and harmonically and teach us how to do it ourselves when it came to recording.  Funnily enough doing it ourselves (IE: no professional studio) has lent us a more raw, 70’s ish sound, which we think is refreshing in a world of over produced music.

AN: ‘Godless Suns’ is an album that tells a tale with a running narrative, something that you deliver in your live shows.  What is it that draws you to that style as opposed to writing individual stand-alone songs, not that each track doesn’t stand on its own merit, rather it fits part of a story arc?

Pete:  We didn’t initially intend for it to be that way, during the time we were called ‘Season of the Witch’ the songs were indeed all individual works.  I’m not sure how it came about, I think that Sarah conspired against me into playing prog disguised as stoner doom. That said, I’m glad we did it this way as it’s really good fun.  We plan to do the same for    album #2 as well.

Sarah: the running narrative idea was born from me growing tired of doing the old ‘stage banter’ routine. It can be so hit and miss as it’s dependent on the mood for the crowd, so I thought it would be much nicer for everyone to write a story for people to listen to instead. It gives us all some time to just chill and enjoy the moment.

AN: I know for a fact that Pete is a fan of old school Fantasy Role-playing Games, and trust me that is not a criticism because as I type this I am next to a shelf full of Chaosium games and books going back to the eighties.  Was that part of the reason for giving the album a setting in the realm of the fantastic, and are you planning future songs to have similar settings, or maybe even albums set in different genres?

Pete:  This album is set to a rough backdrop of humankind, in a pseudo-biblical setting, as if we were narrating, from afar, the rise of man from the yoke of a restrictive and vengeful god.  Kind of like the ‘Watcher’ from the Marvel  ‘What if…’ series.  The idea being that we as a band are ‘Watchers’ and we tell the stories of the Godless Suns, planets that either have fallen from the grace of their gods or are about to embrace gods for the first time.

This will be a thread through our next album certainly, whereas this debut album is about the fall of the gods and the rise of humankind into self-realisation, the next will be the reverse, man falling so far from hope that they invent their own gods in desperation.  Should be interesting, as there’s no source material to study, we’ll just have to make it up…..

AN: With a sound that encompasses “Stoner, Desert Rock & Doom” to quote your online profile, there will be some obvious influences, such as our rifflord and master Tony Iommi; what are other influences you could cite, and are there any bands or musicians that helped to form your music that might surprise fans?  If you’re at all embarrassed let me start you off by saying that despite being a dyed in the wool rock and metal fan who has seen live any number of guitarists who would feature in “Top 10” lists my all-time favourite guitar solo is from The Commodores’ ‘Easy’.

Pete:  Direct influences would be our lord and saviour Mr Iommi of course, others would be Pepper Keenan of COC, Kirk Weinstein of Crowbar, Tim Sult of Clutch, James Hetfield of Metallica and Dimebag of Pantera being the most obvious, less obvious influences would be players like Chet Atkins, Leslie West and Steve Cropper.  As for ‘Guilty pleasure’ artists I enjoy; Bjork, Ice-T, with one of my all-time favourite songs being by The Who.

Sarah: I was a big fan of Hawkwind as a teenager, amongst many other ‘classic’ rock bands, which certainly influenced the story-telling aspect of this band. I love how Stoner and Doom wears it’s influences on its sleeve and great that we get the chance to do this now too.

AN: As well as your album launch show are there any more dates or plans in the pipeline?  Also, since you’ve played both the Bloodstock VIP tent as Season of the Witch then the Jager stage as Godless Suns, so do you have any hopes or plans to play there or some more festivals?  Oh, and what made you change the name between those performances, as it’s something I’ve been wanting to ask?

Pete:  Our next show after the launch is at Sally Longs in Galway (Ireland) with Brigantia, Astralist and Clagarnac.  We’ve been wanting to get over to Ireland for ages as the scene is electric.  We initially wanted to play with our chums in Ten Ton Slug, but they were busy washing their hair or something. Seriously though, they have been so supportive and helped put on this show for us, hopefully as a prelude to touring with them sometime next year, other than that we’re currently booking some exciting stuff for next, you’ll have to check our socials to keep up    with that though.

As for the name change, Season of the Witch was always going to be a place holder, much like Zocalo was supposed to be and as the album developed we were just sat around in the rehearsal studio and one of us just said “Why not call ourselves Godless Suns?” and the rest, as they say, is history.

AN: Since Bloodstock has come up, a question specifically for Pete is about your involvement in the ‘Metal To The Masses’; I know that you’ve been part of the process of playing in the heats, and now have an input as a judge.  How did that come about, and is it something you might expand on, maybe adding a role in developing and mentoring other musicians?

Pete: Bloodstock has been an important part of my musical life for nearly a decade now, first playing it in as Zocalo in 2010, then being the first band to play the VIP section in 2014(?) I think, as an acoustic act, the first full volume band the year after again all as Zocalo, then VIP by request as Season of the Witch in 2018, then the world stopped, then in 2021 we got to play the Jagermeister stage as Godless Suns, epic journey, and proud as all hell to achieved all that.

As for the judging, I was a regular judge for the London heats around ’17/’18 and am now the Head Judge for the Kent region, last year was a roaring success and I expect this year to     be no different.

As for mentoring/developing others?  I mean, we’ve met  I’m not sure, it’s not something I had considered, but if anyone wants my advice they can have it.

AN: For those who may not be familiar with the band, two thirds of Godless Suns are a couple (Sarah and Pete on bass/vocals and lead guitar respectively); does that ever create a particular tension or dynamic in the band, especially with the peculiar cramped pressures that occur on the road, or in the creative process?

Pete:  To be entirely frank, no.  Not really.  For the most part we sing from the same hymn sheet if you like.  I have bullied riffs in here and there as much as Sarah has sneakily got me to write an almost Prog style album.  We can both be prone to ‘diva-esque’ moments, me more so probably than Sarah, but we just get on.  We’ve been in bands together now for nearly 20 years, it’d be silly to start now.  But if she messes with my brown M&M’s…… well.

AN: Finally, you must have to plough through a pile of interviews and the same old questions.  Is there a question you would like to be asked, what is it, and what is the answer?

Pete:  Interesting, OK:  Pete, you have been accused of crimes against music, judicious use of down tuning and unnecessary amounts of waffle during interviews. The punishment; Death by pop music.  What does your final meal consist of?

Pete:  Well, seeing as you ask.

Starter:  A large shrimp cocktail.

Main course:  Tonkotsu Ramen with belly pork, a side order of Cheese Gyoza and a Suntory High Ball to wash it all down.

Dessert:  Warm treacle lattice tart and honeycomb ice cream.

Drinks:  Kirin lager, Crown Royal whiskey and a good dark coffee.

AN: Thanks again for taking the time to do this, and for mailing across the album, and here’s to your continuing success.  The first album is released on 25th November 2022, and can be found by following the links below…

https://www.facebook.com/Godless.Suns

https://godless-suns.bandcamp.com/releases

Interview: Spenny