>> Hello THE FINAL SIGH! First can you talk a little about the Band?

Si: Hey. Yup, can do. We are a five piece Leeds/York based band. We've been around since the end of 2003 and signed to Anticulture Records around this time last year.

Greeny: Ironically, in fact, it was a year ago today we signed the deal with Anticulture. Currently the line up is Si - vocals, Owen - guitars, Dan - guitars & keys, Steve - drums and myself, the new(ish) boy on bass.

>> Your last album is untitled "If you’re Not Part of the Solution You’re Part of the Problem". What curious name! Why did you choose this one?

Owen: It's basically to do with the fact that the album is the 'story' of The Final Sigh to date. It's a pretty good reflection, I think, of how the band has grown musically.

Greeny: Speaking of how things have grown musically, I think it's important to realise that this album is as much an 'introduction' to The Final Sigh as anything else. The tracks were written over a long period of time (most of which before I had joined the band) and really just chart the band's progression from the start until the time we signed with Anticulture.

Si: Yeah, it just kind of summed up what we were trying to achieve at the time. We’d spent a lot of time working to write and record the album, and all the things that got in the way were annoying problems which we had to work through to realize the finalised record, and the only way we could make it work was to find solutions to the problems which presented themselves to us.

>> Is there a concept in your music or a main idea ?

Si: The music we make as a collective is the sum of several differing listening tastes and writing styles. We all have a hand in the writing of the material, and the main idea is just to write good music, that we enjoy playing live and are proud of.

Owen: We try to push the boat out as much as possible - to write ideas we find interesting. If there is a concept it is to ignore everything we hear around us as much as possible and to concentrate on what we want to hear and play.

>> Was it difficult to mix such various influences and to record them in the studio?

Si: We recorded "If you’re Not Part of the Solution You’re Part of the Problem" ourselves using the gear and recording experience we all already had. We knew where we wanted the record to go and had discussed in depth the ideas that we wanted to develop in the record. Also the fact that we had been playing and rehearsing the songs live, for some time the musical ideas were all already in place, it was just a matter of getting down to tape.

Greeny: I think one of the biggest difficulties about mixing such a range of influences actually comes more from people understanding where the band is coming from than expressing the ideas we had. Obviously, we are still learning so much about mixing all our influences into a coherent whole and I think this will really show when the material we're writing at the moment is released, but the direction, or directions, we are going in aren't as a result of not knowing what we want to do. To the contrary, our aim whenever we write is to express another side of ourselves and if sometimes following a 'math-noise-whatever you wantto call it' track with an ambient dance track jars people and puts them off because it 'breaks the flow' then I guess that's an occupational hazard we have to live with.

>> I see you have also done a video. Is it important for you?

Owen: At the time it was something new for us to experiment with. It was just a fun representation of the band through a new media. Now, though, these sorts of things are pretty integral to where we want to go. The band is developing, we feel, away from the two-dimensional form we were a year ago. We want to explore as much as possible everything we can do that interests us. We've always been careful to avoid an 'image', though; videos can often be seen as a way of pigeon-holing a band's music by the way they wear their clothes or cut their hair, which is something that is totally irrelevant to us.

>> What can you say about your split if RSJ? Are you friends now or was it just another means to get known?

Owen: We've known RSJ for years - since both bands formed, pretty much so we're close, yeah. The split was made of a tour we did with them a few years ago. It was proper DIY! I booked most of the shows and, in return, we got to share RSJ's van and backline. It was great fun and I hope we get chance to do it again soon.

Greeny: Also, I think that split EPS are, in 'mainstream' eyes, at least, a very under-valued commodity. Basically, what you're doing is doubling the exposure for both bands and getting closer to each other in the process. Obviously, a band can't live off splits forever, but as both a promotional tool and a fun project they're definitely something that plays a valuable role in our type of music.

>> Now let's talk a little bit of Live Shows. Do you play often? What was your best Show?

Owen: We've just had a break during which we've been writing new stuff and been in the studio to work on the new material. But we're back this month on tour with the legendary Horse The Band, which we're all looking forward to. Personally the best show I think was Beecher in Carlisle a while back. Not massive turn-out but all the bands we're really cool and we met some great people. It was a lot of fun.

Si: Yes. We play as much as we can. It’s all about playing; it’s the best part of being in a band. At our live shows there are no holds barred and we all just go for it as much as possible. The best show for me was on the last tour we did. We got to play my home town of Norwich, and there was a big turnout. We were also competing with Elton john who was playing the local football stadium, but it was brilliant and we all played our socks off.

>> To finish, the best part: the Free Talk (No censure but don't write me a book please!) Say what you think about you, Metal, fans etc...

Si: Well there is a can of worms. The state of the metal scene at the moment isn’t actually too bad. There are a lot of people who seem to be at gigs for the wrong reasons though. Metal is, and has always been about the music, but some of the fans that come to the shows are just there to show off there skin tight jeans and new haircuts from Toni and Guy. I personally don’t care what you wear, but there are lot of bands which don’t get the credit they deserve for the music that they make because of the way the look. Also even though the live music scene has experienced a bit of a revival in Britain, metal and alternative music genres are STILL not getting the attention they deserve. There are bands in the UK who deserve to playing headline tours at major venues and making the pages of the national music press, regardless of the style of music they play. The metal scene in the UK is pushing musical boundaries much further than the half-arsed shite that gets trawled up every single week, hailed as the ‘next big thing’, and rammed down the publics throat. Choice is the word. The public don’t get to choose what they like anymore, they just get to choose from a watered down selection of music sponsored by the capitalistic bastards who want to make a quick buck out it, before moving on to the next unsuspecting hopefuls and sucking them dry of all money or integrity. ARRRRGHHHHHHH!!!!!

Greeny: Thanks to everyone who's bought the album, come to a show, let us know what they think of what we're doing and just generally supported the band over the past couple of years. It's made it all worth it. Oh, and check out: http://www.thefinalsigh.co.uk Cheers.