{"id":32947,"date":"2015-06-29T00:00:21","date_gmt":"2015-06-29T00:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=32947"},"modified":"2015-06-29T12:10:08","modified_gmt":"2015-06-29T12:10:08","slug":"feature-intensive-square-06-15","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/feature-intensive-square-06-15\/","title":{"rendered":"INTENSIVE SQUARE – Rocking Anything That Moves (June 2015) | Features \/ Interviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

INTENSIVE SQUARE – Rocking Anything That Moves<\/strong><\/span>
\nAnthony Morgan<\/span>
\nJune 2015<\/span><\/p>\n

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Intensive Square (l-r): Rich Lewis, Mathew Barnes, Tom Shortt, Chris Haughey and Joe Harvatt<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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\nFormed in Pembrokeshire, Wales, progressive metal outfit Intensive Square boast the following personnel in their 2015 line-up; Chris Haughey handling vocals, Mathew Barnes supplying guitar as well as saxophone, Joe Harvatt providing second guitar, Tom Shortt occupying bass, and Rich Lewis stepping behind the drumkit. While Chris remains in Pembrokeshire, Mathew, Tom and Rich live in Cardiff while Joe lives in Bristol, England.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been playing together for about ten years now,\u201d discloses Mathew Barnes, guitarist for Intensive Square. \u201cWe\u2019ve all been playing music together for as long as we can remember. We\u2019re all from the same part of the country, so the band just came about through that really. We\u2019ve been through a couple of line-up changes; we\u2019ve been through a few singers because we didn\u2019t feel that the other guys suited our sound properly, but a close friend of ours said he would be interested in doing it a few years ago. As soon as we heard his voice, we just snapped him up and went for it, and Chris has been in the band ever since. It\u2019s taken a while to get the sound right, but we\u2019ve got it now, so we\u2019re happy with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Intensive Square moniker closely resembles the words \u2018intensive care\u2019. \u201cIt was a friend of mine who actually came up with the name,\u201d the axeman shares. \u201cWe didn\u2019t even think of the pun that\u2019s inherent in it initially, or anything. It just sounded heavy and cool, so we went for it. There isn\u2019t a great story behind it, no, unfortunately. We just think of it as meaning a big, heavy thing, which is kind of what the band is.\u201d<\/p>\n

A variety of metal subgenres inform Intensive Square\u2019s musical style. \u201cWe don\u2019t like to pigeonhole the music too much, but that\u2019s not to be obtuse or anything,\u201d Mathew explains. \u201cIt\u2019s just these days, there are a lot of different subgenres flying around everywhere, and it seems like every new band that comes out has a new subgenre. We just class ourselves as metal. We don\u2019t really like to describe it any further than that, because there are so many different influences that go into it and what comes out is reflected in all or none of them sometimes, so to call it some specific subgenre I think would be inaccurate. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re into loads of stuff, though. There\u2019s loads of death metal influences, like Cannibal Corpse, Necrophagist \u2013 even some black metal influences. Our primary influences come from… We\u2019re massively into Pantera and Meshuggah; those are two elements of the sound that people always seem to pick up on. There\u2019s loads of other stuff that goes into it, as well. We\u2019re all really into jazz music. That goes into it, and loads of other stuff influence the music, but you might not pick up on it. We listen to a lot of hip-hop, and we\u2019re all heavily influenced by computer games and films as well. All of that stuff goes into the music, but to pinpoint any one of them in the sound might be difficult at times.\u201d<\/p>\n

The jazz influence perhaps arrives in the form of the musician\u2019s saxophone contributions. \u201cIt comes in from that, I guess,\u201d he ponders. \u201cI just picked it up one day, and brought it along to practice. It sounded cool, so we just kept it. It started off as just an experiment, but then we actually realised you can get away with making some pretty offensive racket on the saxophone, which perfectly suits our style of music, so we kept it. It\u2019s just a sound that we really like. We don\u2019t like to overdo it, but we do like it being in the band if the song suits it. So yeah, we chuck the odd sax solo in. Going forward, we\u2019re planning to maybe use the sax in other elements. At the moment, all of the sax bits are improvised, so we might get some riffs going or something like that in some of the new stuff that comes out. At the moment though, it\u2019s all just completely improvised.\u201d<\/p>\n

During August 2011, Intensive Square racked up an appearance at Derbyshire, England-based metal festival Bloodstock. In addition, the ensemble has supported several more established artists through the years. \u201cWe did that Metal To The Masses thing, and that was a good laugh,\u201d Mathew remembers. \u201cThat was before Chris joined the band though, unfortunately, so we didn\u2019t get to ride the wave of that one. We went through a line-up change, and we kind of went off the radar for a bit at that point. We supported some pretty cool bands in the past; we played with Shining from Norway. They\u2019re a really cool band that we really like, and they were the most together band I think we\u2019ve played with. They were just incredible, like mesmerising. We\u2019ve played with Xerath. Black Breath, they\u2019re wicked \u2013 we played with them. Soilent Green, we did that in Cardiff. That was a wicked gig, in the old Millennium Music Hall. That\u2019s closed down now, unfortunately \u2013 I think they\u2019ve turned it into a bowling alley, or something. That was gutting, actually. That was an amazing venue. Yeah, that was a wicked gig. We really enjoyed that one.\u201d<\/p>\n

June 2015 effort Anything That Moves<\/em> marks Intensive Square\u2019s debut full-length. \u201cSome of those tracks have been around for a long time,\u201d the composer divulges. \u201cWe have a set way of writing \u2013 we have a way that it usually goes \u2013 but it does change, and this isn\u2019t set. At any one time though, we\u2019ve got loads of riffs lying around. We\u2019ll just pick one up, either try to put it with some other riffs we\u2019ve got, or jam from that point. Me and Rich the drummer usually tend to do the bulk of that work. Joe the other guitar player, he sends us riffs sometimes that he\u2019s written. They\u2019re usually completed sections of music that we don\u2019t really have to do anything to; they come across and they\u2019re usually great, so we just slot them into what we\u2019re working on. Once we\u2019ve kind of got an arrangement together, we\u2019ll then all get together at that point and butcher it, pull it back apart, put it together again, and add in little details. <\/p>\n

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\u201cThen I write all of the lyrics, and we usually try to phrase them. That\u2019s usually the last thing we do, but the newer tracks on the album we kind of phrased more as we went along. We like that, so we\u2019re going to stick with that going forward, I think. Maybe getting the lyrics first and foremost, and trying to write from that point onwards. We don\u2019t really have a set way of doing things as such, but that\u2019s the way it kind of went this time around.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anything That Moves<\/em>\u2019 lyrical content was inspired by a number of sources. \u201cThere\u2019s loads of different stuff on this album,\u201d the axe-slinger cites. \u201cSome of it\u2019s just weird science fiction stuff; the song \u2018Trials Of The Ubermann\u2019 is loosely based on the film Tetsuo: The Iron Man<\/em> (1989), which is a weird Japanese science fiction film from the late 80s. It\u2019s about a bloke who basically turns himself into a robot by adding mechanical devices to his body, so some of the songs are like that. The single we are releasing \u2013 \u2018Vegetarians\u2019 \u2013 is about vegetarians. It\u2019s a satirical song, really. I was at my girlfriend\u2019s house, and her parents are both vegetarians. I\u2019d been there for about a week and I hadn\u2019t eaten any meat and I was pissed off, so I wrote a stupid song about her mum and dad. That\u2019s what it came from, but it actually went on to be about just torturing vegetarians. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all a bit daft really when you talk about it out of context, but in the song it\u2019s pretty heavy and pretty weird. Yeah, we write about anything. We don\u2019t stick to one subject. It\u2019s just whatever comes out, really. We\u2019re thinking about a theme for the next batch of stuff. There might be a bit more of a unifying concept, but at the moment that\u2019s still in the very early stages. The songs on this album, they were written over such a long period of time that they\u2019re all about really different things. Yeah, I could speak about that all day, to be honest (laughs). There\u2019s a lot in it.\u201d<\/p>\n

A music video was filmed for the aforementioned composition \u2018Vegetarians\u2019. \u201cThere\u2019s a performance element in it, but we filmed a pretty heavy narrative as well,\u201d Mathew describes. \u201cIt took us a long time to get that video finished, because we did it on next to no budget. We just called in a load of favours from a few people that we\u2019re very grateful to that worked hard on it, and we\u2019re really happy with it. It just looks great \u2013 a lot of work has gone into it.\u201d<\/p>\n

And as well, a line from \u2018Vegetarians\u2019 lends the inaugural outing its respective title. \u201cThe actual line is a quote from a film called Blue Velvet<\/em> (1986),\u201d the lyricist credits. \u201cThere\u2019s an amazing scene at the end of it where the guy in that film \u2013 he\u2019s played by Dennis Hopper, and the character is called Frank Tooth \u2013 screams at the whole room \u2018I\u2019ll fuck anything that moves,\u2019 and I adapted that for our song \u2019Vegetarians\u2019 to \u2018I\u2019ll eat anything that moves.\u2019 When it then came to choosing a title… We\u2019ll do either; we\u2019ll fuck or eat anything that moves (laughs). We just reduced it down to Anything That Moves<\/em> and left it at.\u201d<\/p>\n

Recording took place at Foel Studios in Llanfair Caereinion, Powys with producer Chris Fielding. \u201cIt was great, man,\u201d Mathew enthuses. It seems like a while ago now \u2013 it was. It was September 2012, I think. We\u2019ve just been sat on it for quite a while, trying to get a decent platform to release it on, hence the delay. But yeah, it took a bit longer than expected. Yeah though, the actual recording was done across 15 days. Chris is awesome. It was our first time in the studio, so we didn\u2019t really know what to expect. It was really relaxed, but he got the job done really efficiently. He got our sound, and really brought the best out of it. It came out way better than we thought it was going to to be honest, so we\u2019re really happy with that. We\u2019d definitely work with him again. Obviously because Rich is in a band with him (Conan), we have a connection with him, so we got to know him quite well. So yeah, we really enjoyed recording with him. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe recorded at Foel Studios, and that was wicked because we were holed up in the mountains in mid-Wales for a couple of weeks. There was a beautiful atmosphere and there were no distractions, other than having a pool table, an old, knackered organ, and the band area. We just had to get to work, and I think that was really good for us. It took 15 days to record the album. We ran into a bit of a hiccup, and so we had to do a little bit extra a couple of months later.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s moved up to Skyhammer Studios, so now he\u2019s got his own place. We went there to do the mixing, and it\u2019s awesome up there. I\u2019m assuming he\u2019ll still be there by the time we come to record again, so hopefully we actually get to record there in the future. That\u2019d be wicked.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anything That Moves<\/em>\u2019 cover artwork was designed by bassist Tom Shortt. \u201cI don\u2019t really know what to say about it…,\u201d the saxophonist muses. \u201cHe has studied a bit; I don\u2019t know what qualifications he has, but he has studied art a bit. I think he wants to continue, but he\u2019s been drawing and painting forever \u2013 he\u2019s really good at it. A few years ago, we did outsource some artwork to another artist. We liked what he did at the time, but we just liked Tom\u2019s artwork better, so we thought we\u2019d keep it in-house this time around. The back cover, we said \u2018Can you draw us a cool picture of some cannibals?\u2019 and that\u2019s what he came back with. We think it\u2019s fucking mental; we were just like \u2018Yeah, that\u2019s amazing. Perfect.\u2019 The front cover is like a collage thing that he made out of loads of different body parts.\u201d<\/p>\n

It should be noted that no authentic body parts were used to design the collage. \u201cI don\u2019t know mate,\u201d Mathew quips. \u201cYou\u2019ll have to ask him about that (laughs).\u201d<\/p>\n

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Intensive Square (l-r): Chris Haughey, Rich Lewis, Tom Shortt, Joe Harvatt
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Issuing Anything That Moves<\/em> happens to be Black Bow Records. \u201cThe place where we mixed the album \u2013 Skyhammer Studios \u2013 is owned by Jon from Conan (Jon Davis, vocals and guitar),\u201d the guitarist begins. \u201cBlack Bow is his label, so we\u2019d obviously met him there when we went to mix the album. I don\u2019t know, really. Once the album was finished, we kind of looked at our options. We kind of already made a connection with Jon, and he had put out some really good stuff. He put out an album by a band called Bast (2014\u2019s Spectre<\/em>, in vinyl format) that we really liked, and they seem to be doing pretty well. They were one of the first labels we approached really, and yeah, Jon said he liked the music. He said \u2018Let\u2019s go for it,\u2019 so that was it really. <\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of stuff on the label is doom, but he said himself that he doesn\u2019t wanna pigeonhole and just be a doom label. I think that\u2019s part of the reason he\u2019s taken us on, because obviously we\u2019re not a doom band. As much as we like that kind of music, we do listen to a lot of doom and it does influence our music, but I don\u2019t think anyone would ever classify us as a doom band. We\u2019re kind of on our own on the roster at the moment, but I don\u2019t think that\u2019s going to be the case for very long. It\u2019s not like he\u2019s just put out one or two things. He\u2019s put out some really cool stuff; he\u2019s got some cool bands on that label as I mentioned, like Bast, a band called Torpor. He\u2019s done Undersmile, Headless Kross.\u201d<\/p>\n

As referenced earlier, sticksman Rich Lewis is a member of Merseyside, England-based doom concern Conan. Meanwhile, guitarist Joe Harvatt handles bass duties, for Swansea, Wales-based stoner metal assortment H A R K. Having outside commitments could arguably cause scheduling conflicts. \u201cNot at the moment,\u201d Mathew clarifies. \u201cIt\u2019s been pretty cool. I think in the past, it\u2019s been easy to get bogged down and go \u2018We need to be working on this all the time.\u2019 As we\u2019ve gotten older, we\u2019ve kind of realised that that\u2019s not actually true. We are constantly ticking over and constantly coming up with ideas and stuff, but I don\u2019t think there\u2019s any harm in taking breaks now and then, and having other musical projects \u2013 I have other musical interests, as well. It\u2019s good to go away and play with other people, definitely. <\/p>\n

\u201cFor both of them, they both enjoy being in those bands. It\u2019s good for them as players, as well; it widens their palette and their experience, which can ultimately only be a good thing for our band \u2013 when they come back to write music for Intensive Square. It just broadens their influence. Scheduling, it hasn\u2019t come up yet. The worst case scenario is one of those bands is going to be on tour, and another band is gonna have to say \u2018I can\u2019t do that date.\u2019 We\u2019re all mates, though. We\u2019ll work around each other. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s gonna be a problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anything That Moves<\/em> was released on June 29th, 2015 through Black Bow Records.<\/p>\n

Interview published in June 2015.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

INTENSIVE SQUARE – Rocking Anything That Moves Anthony Morgan June 2015 Intensive Square (l-r): Rich Lewis, Mathew Barnes, Tom Shortt, Chris Haughey and Joe Harvatt Formed in Pembrokeshire, Wales, progressive metal outfit Intensive Square boast the following personnel in their 2015 line-up; Chris Haughey handling vocals, Mathew Barnes supplying guitar as well as saxophone, Joe […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,2294],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32947","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-features","category-intensive-square"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32947","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32947"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32947\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33040,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32947\/revisions\/33040"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32947"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32947"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32947"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}