By: Tricia Callahan

We Were Lions, a five-piece tenacious rock unit from Essex, London, have been rising and their record, Horizons, is just the beginning. Finding their namesake from an early Charlie Simpson EP, When We Were Lions, they have evolved member-wise and have emerged with hard-pressed tracks that blast with sound and are littered with tender moments.

Their rehearsals embody their kinetic intensity in their music and friendships. According to vocalist Lloyd Coombes, rehearsals are “sweaty, but pretty productive […] when James isn’t playing random movie theme-tunes, and Phil actually plays bass.”

“The Terminator theme is a classic,” banters guitarist James Martin.

“Rehearsals are great; they remind me of spending time with the family at Christmas. There’s normally a lot of food and someone ends up sleeping on the sofa—me,” adds bassist Phil Lamont.

“There’s always excessive laughing and swearing,” continues Coombes, “conversations are never PG. If we have a gig coming up, we’ll usually play the set once or twice and polish up on any rough edges and then maybe work on a new track. Meanwhile, Phil will be sleeping on the couch or leaning against the wall trying not to sleep. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Phil when he’s not been yawning.”

Their fun, upbeat attitude towards each other results in a pretty kickass album. Horizons is chock full of pop-rock and it takes the heaviest hit with “Guadalajara,” which incorporates a hardcore breakdown and deep growls, proclaiming “fuck/you.”

Horizons takes a more traditional pop-punk sound with “I’m Not Angry.” With bright guitar and a strong chorus, the song holds the sentiment of being stronger once a relationship has hit the fan. The interlude breaks into a date with the singer and guitar, with wounded lyrics, “When you see me on your TV screen/Will you regret all those things you did to me/’Cause I know this song could’ve came off worse/I’m not angry/but it still hurts.” This is followed by an amazing guitar solo. With a music world that has disregarded guitar solos, it is refreshing and adds another dimension to the song itself.

When asked about Horizons, We Were Lions had tons to say. It has “a lot more intensity. As we’ve clicked as a unit, we’re bringing more to our live shows,” says Coombes.

Martin accredits their vibe to a wide range of band influences, which creates “a more rounded approach to our craft, whilst retaining the energy and excitement we feel when we wrote and rehearsed.”

Lamont makes a promising statement for the future, saying “We’re busy writing the next release that I honestly think will surprise a lot of people. Already we sound bigger, heavier, more confident.”

One thing for certain is that when they land their U.S. show, you can count me in!

 

Some Fun Questions:

Snack or drink you are obsessed with?

Lloyd: Zero-Calorie Energy Drinks

James: Lloyd’s guts are rancid due to this and he has the teeth of a meth addict. It’s not good!

Phil: I’ve recently found Snyder’s pretzels. The Honey Mustard ones are probably going to be responsible for my untimely demise.

Rob: Pizza.

 

Band you listen to when you are just trying to relax?

James: God Is An Astronaut or Explosions In The Sky. Placebo and Sigur Ros are also in there.

Phil: Pink Floyd (The Wall) and a bottle of whisky. Every time.

Rob: I don’t listen to calm music to relax, so I’m going with Alter Bridge, ADTR, Shinedown, RED and A7X.

 

Do you have any pets? If so what are their names?

James: Between all of us: 4 dogs, 2 lizards, 1 snake, 1 cat, 3 tortoises (land turtle) and one drummer.

 

Fender or Gibson?

James: Epiphone. I wouldn’t buy a modern Gibson. I much prefer Epiphone, though I do have my eye on a sexy ESP LTD Eclipse at the moment.

Rob: Well I’m a PRS player but I also have a Telecaster. I don’t gig with it, but it’s pretty cool, so I’m going with Fender.

Phil & Lloyd: Fender!

 

Final Thoughts?

Phil: Once the zombie apocalypse arrives, what will we do for fast food?

James: There’ll be a McDonald’s open somewhere, but the Big Mac will be sourced from questionable meat sources. And Andrew Lincoln will be around to sort things out.