Welcome to In Conversation, a special interview column on the site where we sit down with artists and dive deep into everything music. This week we have an ArcTanGent special with three bands from the amazing 2023 line-up. Dobbin spoke with Chris from Din of Celestial Birds, Jack from A-Tota-So and Rauiri from Wallowing. Many thanks to Din of Celestial Birds for helping us bring in these extra guests. Photo credit: Carl Battams on behalf of ArcTanGent. (Cover photo by Joe Singh)
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Dobbin: Chris, how did you feel to get booked for ArcTanGent?
Chris (Din of Celestial Birds): We were over the moon. It’s the festival that we’ve been going to for a good number of years now in some capacity. Since the inception of the band it was on the radar as a bit of a life goal if we managed to make it there and play. So applying and being accepted to play was very exciting. The day we found out, I think we were just going to play an all day gig in London at the 229 with Celestial Diadem promotions. We found it incredibly hard to keep my mouth shut. I just wanted to tell everybody, I was so excited.
Dobbin: You were opening up the Bixler stage at 11:35 on the Thursday. I remember getting to the front for it, turned around after five minutes, and saw that it was packed out, it was heaving.
Chris (Din of Celestial Birds): We were unsure what kind of reception we would get because it was our first time. We arrived for the soundcheck and about half past nine, and of course, we’re setting up to a completely empty tent and sort of wondering wonder how many people will come in, and maybe there’ll be a few people, that’d be lovely! I think Vince, our drummer, was the first one to come out and said “holy shit! There’s a lot of people!” It was it was a nice surprise. The tent was was pretty much full, people were spilling out of the sides.
Rauiri (Wallowing): I watched from the side of the stage for a little bit, as we were going to perform on the same stage. I couldn’t hear the synths from there, but it actually sounds great from the live videos.
Chris (Din of Celestial Birds): Yeah, we recorded the whole of our set from a bunch of different cameras so a couple of weeks ago I was sat here mixing it all. We’ve started uploading the first of the few videos onto YouTube.
Dobbin: It did sound really good. I remember I thought, having seen you already was “wow, did this band feel so heavy?”
Chris (Din of Celestial Birds): I suppose a part of what we’re trying to do is bring the big riffs, but we’re not trying to be particularly heavy. We also want moments that sort of calmness moments of elation, and to take people on a bit of a roller coaster. If we can get some happiness that’s pretty good.
Dobbin: Any tech issues?
Chris (Din of Celestial Birds): I think we had a pretty clear run. After we finished playing the first song, guitarist Tom realised that we’d forgot to press record on the on the multitrack in our rack, and it whispered in my ear and I was like, shit! And ran over. We’ve we’ve got all the songs apart from the first one (“Laureate of American Lowlife”), that’s fine. We had a photographer (Adam Davis-Powell, @demonrace) who was absolutely excellent, who fortunately recorded part-video for the first song, not in the same clarity you’d get from a multi-track though.
Dobbin: So, Wallowing, you also had the same stage, but on the following day? What was your experience?
Rauiri (Wallowing): Quite similar to Chris’, to be honest. We set up at 10am, no people there, you know, and then you turn around and suddenly it’s quite full. You’re like, “oh, okay, I was really expecting that”. Technically, everything was pretty great. The sound was on point, sounded huge from up front from what I can see of people’s footage. I had a minor scare that my bass head broke, I had to use their spare. Otherwise, great time.
Dobbin: It was very, very cool, I’ve been waiting to see you for ages, having gotten Earth Reaperthrough the Church Road Records vinyl subscription. Such a nasty sludge record… It’s actually really hard to define your band, I think. Has that noise table been upgraded over time?
Rauiri (Wallowing): It’s a constant, cyclical thing. Every now and again, it will go back to the workshop and come out with new little bits and bobs and dingle-dangles. It’s a constant work in progress.
Dobbin: Underneath all of the noise table weirdness, the Sci-Fi vocal stuff, you so have some sick riffs as well. You go really hard. Was the last track you played “Earth Reaper”? There’s a lot of turns towards the end of that song.
Rauiri (Wallowing): Yes, we did “Phosgene” from Planet Loss, “Flesh and Steel”, and finished with “Earth Reaper”. It’s all in movements, as you were saying Chris, there’s all these different ebbs and flows, I think that makes the heavier riffs heavier. If you have a nice soft bit then come in all guns blazing… It’s incredibly fun.
Dobbin: Did anyone else catch that set?
Jack (A-Tota-So): I didn’t, unfortunately, I’m not quite sure what I was doing at the time. I’m looking at the clash-finder… I might have been being dull. I’m so sorry.
Chris (Din of Celestial Birds): I think everyone in Din caught it, apart from me, which I was gutted for…
Dobbin: Fantastic… It was a really stacked line up, so it was hard!
Chris (Din of Celestial Birds): I’d absolutely agree, there were a few times I had to miss bands I was looking forwards to, even after circling them in the clash-finder I ended up in the van having a nap or something…
Rauiri (Wallowing): I missed a few bands cause I literally passed out in a chair, and everyone left me, but I did need that for a couple of hours. Like LLNN, which I’m gutted about. Apparently they smashed it.
Dobbin: A-Tota-So were on the Thursday, and sadly I missed you, not just here but also at Portals Fest, due to clashes. So I’m just really bad at my job. But how did your set go?
Jack (A-Tota-So): The set went great. It was a lot of fun. I can echo what everyone said about the festival, it ran nice and smooth. It’s the first festival of this size I’ve ever played. We’ve got a lot of guest vocalists joining us on on pretty much every song, so we were very worried about there being some hiccup along the way, with getting the right person on the right stage at the right time, having to drag them out of the crowd. But everything worked out quite beautifully. Everyone got backstage and it was over before we knew it!
Dobbin: There are several of your collaborating singers at ArcTanGent, like, did I see the God Alone folks?
Jack (A-Tota-So): It was only Jake, their guitarist, but we were so lucky to have everyone there. It’s already a real mates-fest, but to have so many of the original guest vocalists as well… At normal shows, anyone who wants to have a go at the vocals can. We call ourselves a karaoke math rock band! The one genre with no vocals… We had Ashley Tubb of Sugar Horse, Jake O’Driscoll from God Alone, Aisling Whiting who’s in Sang Froid, “Squirrel Bait” Kieran Hayes (We Come In Pieces), and our mate Jethro doing “Spicy Nights”, which is a lot of words for someone to remember. And Ellie Godwin from No Violet.
Dobbin: You were on the smallest stage, but it actually wasn’t that small, was it?
Jack (A-Tota-So): Oh no, it was terrifying!
Chris (Din of Celestial Birds): I loved what they’ve done with this stage this year. It was so much better than any other year. It was a full-on, proper stage.
Jack (A-Tota-So): Last year it was mixed with the merch tent. If you look at who was on it, the lovely smaller bands of ArcTanGent hit that stage, and that’s what I’m going for.
Rauiri (Wallowing): I certainly enjoyed some of the smaller stages this year. Hidden Mothers and Helpless were absolutely great.
Dobbin: So, in the future: there are some upcoming tour dates featuring both A-Tota-So and Din of Celestial Birds?
Chris (Din of Celestial Birds): We are in Manchester (30th September), with the guys from Civil Service who are local to Manchester, big props to them for putting the show together and getting such cool bands, including Kusanagi for that date. We’re also in Leeds (1st October) with A-Tota-So and Civil Service, with an early start and finish (6:30pm).
Dobbin: I was also checking that Wallowing have some upcoming tour dates, you’ve got the Ithaca support slot for their show at the Dome (November 25th).
Rauiri (Wallowing): I’m really looking forward to that, I love Ithaca, they’re great people, been listening to them for years ever since our guitarist showed me their very first EP. Seeing them where they are now is incredible.
Dobbin: You’re also supporting Strigoi at the Underworld (2nd November), and another slightly random one, you’re at something called “Dark and Wild City” in Leeds which is a beer festival?
Rauiri (Wallowing): That’s the Northern Monk show. We put out a beer with them during our album launch tour with Still – fantastic guys, great vibe. Northern Monk do a show every year, they got in touch with us. I’m looking forward to that one as well, plus dates in September. Exciting times, I’m looking forward to all that to finish up the year.
Dobbin: You’ve played loads of shows this year, supporting label mates Celestial Sanctuary and Frozen Soul?
Rauiri (Wallowing): That was wild, the Frozen Soul guys are super friendly, but they rip a fat set and are terrifying. Every night popped off, it was like a car bomb of human bodies flying. And Celestial Sanctuary smashed it every night. We were quite surprised to fit in, given we had a lot more droney, sludgy riffs. We also played with Underdark this year, again, another great band.
For an incredibly detailed rundown on the highlights of ArcTanGent for each of these bands, as well as hints to their future work, check out the full podcast.