Wednesday 2 August 2017

An Interview with Raza Khan from POSEIDON


UK Doom/Sludge Rockers – Poseidon – have just released their excellent debut album Prologue. The first part of an epic narrative called The Medius Chronicle which I will be discussing further in this interview with Raza Khan (Drums) from the band.

Poseidon play an epic mix of Doom/Sludge Metal riffs with a few more different elements to make them stand out from the crowd. Newly signed to Ripple Music, Prologue has been winning it's fair share of great reviews recently and it's not hart to see why. You can read our review here.

I caught up with Raza recently to discuss the formation of the band and how they signed to Ripple Music.

Hi Raza. Thanks for doing this interview. How are things with you today? You excited for the release of your new album.

Things are good thanks, very excited!

Can you give a brief history of how the band came about and where it is today?

Myself and Matt Norris played in a garage band back in the early 90's, we lost contact for 10 odd years but found each other again through social media, our musical tastes had become pretty intertwined, seeing each other at shows etc. Matt had always been an amazing guitarist, so after I came back from touring with Orange Goblin as their drum tech I asked him if he wanted to start something. We went through a few line-up changes until we asked Matthew to join, we originally had Roland Scriver (End Of Level Boss, Sloth, Serpent Venom) on second guitar, but time and financial constraints meant that he had to leave, this is when Matthew called In Jamie as they had both played in Light Bearer. The rest is history.

What can people expect with your new album?

As a band, we all have quite different muses musically speaking, from The Smiths and My Bloody Valentine right up to bands like Obituary and Darkthrone, so there's aspects of all our influences right through the album. We've tried to make sure that we've written an album that extends beyond metal and incorporates our own tastes in music without losing the heaviness.

What are the underlying themes of the album? The album is the first part of an ongoing narrative called The Medius Chronicle. That will influence your future records. Have you got all these parts figured out yet. As this is quite original within the Doom/Sludge/Stoner Metal world. What influenced you with that particular story.

The major theme of the album I guess is a message of hope. The lyrics follow a narrative from the viewpoint of a civilisation much like ours who have pretty much destroyed their own world resulting in a complete collapse of society. The remaining populace form a community to build an underwater society, but not everyone shares this ideal. That's part one, Matthew has five albums worth of narrative.

I’m very surprised that you are currently signed to Ripple Music. As Poseidon is not their usual style of music. Did it surprise you when they signed you to their label? As I thought you should be on a label such as Black Bow Records, Season Of Mist and perhaps even Relapse. As you have their kind of sound.

I think Ripple took a gamble with us for sure, but the fact that we're not on any of these labels isn't necessarily a bad thing. The Ripple roster has quite an eclectic mixture of music which caters for every gormandizer of heavy, whether it's Stoner, Doom or good old Rock & Roll. Case in point was Poseidon touring with Mothership in June/July, you couldn't get two more different bands, but it worked so well...


How did you hook-up with Ripple Music? As I’m a huge fan of their work and the quality of bands they sign in general.

Ben Ward (Orange Goblin) is a very close friend of mine, we were discussing labels one night and he sent out our band camp demo to Todd. Todd got back to him pretty much straight away and we went from there. The quality of the bands Ripple sign has a lot to do with Todd's ear for music. I haven't heard one release from Ripple that I haven't liked, which I think is testament to Todd and Pope's love for the scene.

Did you have any other record label offers to release the album?

No, Ripple was the first one we approached and the first one to offer us a deal.

What’s the song-writing dynamic within the band? Is it down to one individual or is it a group collective.

OK, so Matthew starts with the idea and the bare bones of the riffs and melody. We then get together and thrash it out from there, the lyrical content is all down to Matthews ideas, he already has at least 5 albums worth of lyrics to put to music.

Is Poseidon your main band? Are you involved with any other bands/projects you like to tell us about.

Matthew and Jamie are always doing other stuff, Matt and myself are both fathers so aside from the band stuff and work, our time is spent with our kids. There's just no time for anything else.

What have your been high points and low points being with your musical career in general.

Luckily we haven't had any low points, the highs are pretty numerous such as playing Desertfest, Bloodstock Festival, touring with Orange Goblin last year, touring with Mothership this year and we've just confirmed two shows with Saint Vitus this October. The reception we've received for our record has been the highest accolade of all though.

Looking back on your musical career so far, is there anything that you would change. Or any funny stories that have happened on your musical journey.

I think we've done everything right so far, so there isn't anything we would change. That isn't to say that the low points aren't in the post, that's part and parcel of being in a band I guess. The funny stories will have to wait, our loved ones will read this!


Will you be doing any extensive tours for the new album? Any festival appearances coming up this year.

We've only just put one tour to bed, and we're concentrating on writing the new album. There are a few tentative festival appearances this year, but we're going to hit them hard next year, hopefully with a new album in tow.

Before you go, do you have anything to say to your fans?

Stay in school, listen to Sabbath everyday, don't be dick and thanks for all the love and support x

Words by Steve Howe and Raza Khan

Thanks to Richard at Sheltered Life PR for arranging this interview. Thanks to Raza for doing this interview. Prologue is available to buy on Ripple Music now.

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