London’s After Smoke Clears is back today with their crushingly heavy new track, “Obsessed”. Frontman Nick Hurford sat down with me to talk about “Obsessed” as well as what the band has been up to and more!
About After Smoke Clears & “Obsessed”
While we’re still coming off of one of the most difficult years in recent history for musicians, After Smoke Clears has been kicking ass and taking names. Last year, the London based metal quartet released their debut album, Edification. And from that fully self-funded and self-managed album release, the band accrued 200,000 streams across digital platforms. They’ve also received positive feedback from major industry publications like Metal Hammer and Metal Injection.
After showing the world that this independent band is a force to be reckoned with, you’d think they would take a break. But After Smoke Clears has been busy in 2021 too. In June, they released their first new single, “Fuoco”, which you all voted as one of the best songs of 2021 so far. Today, they’re back with another banger, “Obsessed”.
“Obsessed” has all of those elements that After Smoke Clears does so consistently well. The down-tuned, catchy riffs, explosive vocals, and booming drums are all there. However, “Obsessed” also features some semi-melodic and progressive elements. And that’s all in addition to it including their first experimentation with a very mild touch of clean vocals, an unexpected but stellar change of pace.
Art Imitating Life
The lyrics deal with frontman Nick’s real life experience with obsessive thoughts and how this affects his reality. It’s about the benefits and the drawbacks of dealing with this in everyday life. The band says, “The moral of the track is ‘Don’t feed the beast’ – using the analogy of a wild beast to highlight that the more you commit to obsessive behaviors, the harder it is to stop, and that it’s possible to keep the beast asleep with discipline.”
After Smoke Clears also released a video for “Obsessed”, directed and produced by Faded Neon Films, that depicts this message. Watch the video and read my chat with Nick below!
After Smoke Clears Frontman Nick Hurford Talks New Single “Obsessed” & More
VV: First and foremost, congratulations on the success of your debut album Edification! You guys have been quite busy throughout 2020 and 2021 with the release of that and your latest singles. What has it been like trying to not only release new music, but write and record during such a crazy time?
NH: Thanks! It’s been a challenging time over the last 18 months, but we’ve risen to it and written a lot of music, developed our style and raised our profile across all online channels. Our writing process for Edification and the 2021 singles was all done remotely. We’ve each invested time into learning how to use recording software, which has resulted in a more streamlined songwriting process and ultimately better quality of demos for pre-production. Releasing new music without being able to perform at shows has been a shame but we’ve maximised the reach of each release online and got new followers in the process, so overall we’re pretty happy with how it’s gone.
VV: Your new song “Obsessed” deals with your own personal experience with obsessive thoughts and how this affects your everyday life. I love that you’re bringing attention to a topic like this because I think so many people struggle with this, but few talk about it. What would be your advice to someone going through this experience?
NH: While I’m no mental health expert and every person/situation is unique, I would advise talking with a therapist as they can help you to understand the way your mind works, and work with you to create a plan to manage it. Also learning to accept yourself for who you are is hugely valuable, as negative self judgement can use up a huge amount of energy. Reducing that gives you more energy to direct into positive actions. A consistent yoga practice is very helpful for keeping the mind calm and helps you to slow down if you’re trying to operate at a million miles an hour.
VV: ”Obsessed” is also the first time we’re hearing you experiment with a touch of clean vocals. Is that something that fans might hear you experiment more with in the future?
NH: Yeah, progressing my cleans is something I am very excited about and it’s an ongoing process. Most of the music we’ve written so far is more suitable for harsh vocals, but we’re starting to include more melodic aspects into our music which is more suitable for adding cleans to. I still have a long way to go before I can consider myself a proficient singer, so it’s going to be a primary focus over the next 6-12 months.
VV: After Smoke Clears is set to play its first live show in 18 months soon. I’m sure you’re very excited to finally be able to perform both the new singles you’ve released as well as tracks off of Edification. But if you could only pick one, which song are you most looking forward to perform with a live audience?
NH: We are extremely excited about the prospect of playing our first show in such a long time. This show has been postponed multiple times before due to covid restrictions, so we’re pumped to finally play it. We’ll make sure it will be an unforgettable show. We’re looking forward to meeting new fans that found us online over the last 18 months and seeing old friends that have been with us from the start. Personally I’m looking forward to playing both “Obsessed” and “Fuoco”, two of our new singles that will be played live for the first time.
VV: You guys truly showed the world that there is nothing an independent band can’t do with Edification. What would be your biggest piece of advice to other independent bands that are self-funding and self-managing their releases?
NH: This might sound obvious, but have a comprehensive plan for promoting your music and make sure all members all agree with it. Make sure you have a sizeable budget and all members can contribute financially to it. If you’re at grassroots level, make sure every song you record is released as a single, this gives you an opportunity [to] grow your fanbase and reach with each single.
VV: What can fans expect next from After Smoke Clears?
NH: We are deep into the writing process again and will be recording a new batch of songs early next year. Our next show will be on 27th August in Camden, London at the Black Heart (Get your tickets here). We’ll also be getting out on the road in the UK in early October in Southampton, Bristol, and Derby with our friends in Jonestown. There are some other planned UK dates for later in the year – announcement on that coming soon.
Where to Keep Up With After Smoke Clears
Keep up with After Smoke Clears and listen to their previous releases on these platforms:
Website| Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | YouTube | Spotify | Apple Music
For tickets to the band’s show at The Black Heart in Camden on August 27th, check out The Black Heart’s website.
Looking for More Heavy Music?
Check out what I’ve been jamming to lately here.
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