Sceneazine.com
Cepheus
by Jenny Johnston
C
epheus began in July of 2012. They are a four
piece instrumental experimental/post rock
band hailing from Charleston, South Carolina. Their
songs express sonic dynamics, soundscapes, moods,
noise, and a strong level of volume and power. They try
to encapsulate and deliver feelings of dread, joy, anxiousness, mystery, and beauty into their music.
So how long have you guys been together as a band?
Share with us a brief history.
We’ve been playing music together as friends since
we were all about 15 or 16, but as a full band we started
in July of 2012. Allan and myself (Turner), were in a
band together a few years back called Rising the Tides,
and Nate and Austin were doing a punk duo project
called Impact!. One day Nate and Austin decided that
they wanted to do something completely different, so
they basically started an instrumental guitar and drums
project. One day they presented a song called “Northern lights” (currently found on the Averia EP) to me
and I was completely blown away. While I was still in
an existing band they asked me to be a part of what they
were doing. So without hesitation I joined. We’ve gone
through a member change, but Allan met back up with
us and became a permanent member of the band. So to
sum it up, Nate and Austin had a new and exciting idea,
and they asked us to join, so thats how it all began.
Who in the band came up with your name? What, if
any, reason did you guys choose your name?
The name was solidified by Nate and Austin. They
were trying to come up with something and they looked
at a star constellation map and saw “Cepheus”, and it
stuck. It also goes hand in hand with what we are trying
to do with the music we make with the atmospheric element it portrays.
What are the members names and what instrument
do they each play?
Austin Parson- Drums
Allan Rider- Bass guitar
Nate Mckinley- Guitar
Turner Thomas- Guitar
Who are some of you guys influences? Would you
say that’s where you get your sound from?
Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Irepress, Gates, Slint,
Russian Circles, Isis, Tera Melos, Sonic Youth, maudlin
of the Well, Spraynard, The Fall of Troy, Misfits, Caspian, and Bloodthirsty Butchers. We love these bands,
but we also believe that its best to derive influence from
music thats either the opposite of what we play or just
not completely rock or Metal Oriented. For example
electronic, lounge, pop, jazz, folk, indie, or even world
music.
At what age did you guys decide you wanted to be
in a band? Is that the same time you become interested
in Music?
We all began playing instruments and listening to
different types of music at a very early age. We kind of
knew that we would end up paying music with other
people or being in bands, but nothing to this extent. We
all had a lot of fun creating music so it was kind of an
inevitable possibility.
When it comes to creating Is there one person who
writes all the songs? Or do you guys write them as a
band?
Nate and I bring in a riff, or Allan and Austin will
bring in an idea. Its usually a collective process so we
usually write music as a group. We all develop the general direction the song is going in. Improvisation can
play an important role with writing if we get stuck
somewhere, or just to see how the momentum that
we’ve previously created will impact what is yet to come.
Where do you usually gather songwriting inspiration? What is your usual songwriting process?
We try to either capture the mood and feel of our
personal life experiences or take emotions from a certain picture, scenario, or story we create and put them
in song form. It can be very analytical in that sense. This
can truly be expressed when we reach a large moment
of rapture during a performance where the feel is placed
within a wall of sound and we are submerged in it.
Do you guys have any favorite local or regional
bands that you really like? Have you ever shared a
stage