The Amber Herd talks about their new EP release "In Cascade"

The Amber Herd is a band formed in Nottingham in 2007 and consists of members from all over the UK that all converged on the East Midlands. The band's influences include thrash metal, traditional folk, post punk and alternative rock. The Amber Herd is releasing a new EP entitled "In Cascade" tomorrow, so it is only right that we connect with the guys to get more background into the release, find out where their unique name originated, and much more.  

Carlton Boyd

I'm sure you have been asked this many times but the DOPECAUSEWESAID readers need to know; how did you guys come up with the name 'The Amber Herd' and does it have a special meaning?

We used to live in the countryside and drove past a farm sign everyday that had the name of their short-horn dairy cattle on it. This was in the Amber Valley in Derbyshire, UK, and the herd was called The Amber Herd. We always thought this would be a far better name for a band than for a collection of cow so when the time came we stole it. We're pleased to say that we haven't had any "cease and desist" letters from the farm yet. We're also very pleased that we haven't had similar letters from Johnny's Depp's (ex) wife- with whom we have no connection whatsoever!

Tell us about your new EP "In Cascade"; of the four songs, do you have a favorite?

We released our debut album, Our Only Eden, in mid 2014 and have been busy gigging and writing since then. We wanted to release our second album this year but we knew it'd be hard to get everyone together for an elongated period so we decided to release an EP this year and follow it up with the album in 2017. The EP contains two brand new songs, Northern Sky and Hall of Mirrors, one reworked song from the live set, Thursday, and a remix of our first single, Stage Fright.  We wrote Northern Sky as we were offered a 7" single deal from a local label for Record Store Day 2016 and wanted to use something new for that. Unfortunately time beat us so we held Northern Sky back for this release. We only released its video last week and have already had over 1,200 views which is very encouraging. It was also played on BBC regional radio and we're hoping to get some national airplay for either that or Hall of Mirrors in the next week or so. It's hard to say which song, if any, we prefer as we like them all but we're very happy for listeners to choose their own favourite!

How would you describe your music to someone who has never heard it?

We're influenced by every record we've heard over the year so it's hard to describe our music to those who haven't heard it. We tend to be lazy and say alt-rock or post-punk but we've got loads of different influences ranging from rock to folk to metal to shoegaze. We like to think that anyone with an adventurous mind will probably like what we do!

Your sound is very diverse; who are some of your musical influences?

To pick up from the earlier answer we have loads of influences and each member of the band brings a different thing in. Acts we've been compared to in the past include The Velvet Underground, The Jesus and Mary Chain, James, Neil Young, Bowie and Pink Floyd.

Will you be touring in support of "In Cascade"? If so, will you be doing shows in the US?

We're launching the EP with a big show at the Bodega in Nottingham in late July. We're then playing a number of festival shows in the UK. We'd love to play some shows in the US and have a fair number of fans over your side of the pond. We're more than happy to listen to any offer a promoter might wish to make us!

Connect with The Amber Herd: Website   Twitter   Facebook   Bandcamp