With a darkly romantic sound and alluring stage presence, Hurtsfall have made their name as one of Nottingham’s best goth bands in recent years. We spoke to frontman Sam Harrison Emm to hear about the local goth scene, personal style and the literary and film inspirations behind their music…
Tell us more about your journey to becoming a musician… How did the current iteration of your band come together?
I’ve been in bands since I was thirteen. When I was in secondary school, some guys were putting together a band and they needed a singer. There were a lot of guitarists and drummers back then but not many boys wanted to sing. I was always singing so they gave me a chance.
I had no idea what I was doing so I imitated singers they looked up to. I wasn’t great, but I improved quickly and fell in love with performing. I also had to learn to write my own lyrics and vocal melodies without being able to read music, which I think is pretty impressive!
I changed bands a few times as life went on, I remember auditioning a lot. Then I was moving from London to Nottingham and saw an advert on the website Join My Band for a group called Hurtsfall. I liked the name instantly. I heard a few demos which they asked me to write to, and audition with. Mike and Jamie [the bandmates] had been in a band together already called The Death Notes and they were looking for a new singer. They narrowed it down to me and another person, had a vote, and the rest is history!
The Hurtsfall sound is deliciously dramatic. Is there any specific cinema and literature that particularly inspires your lyrics and sound?
I like your choice of words there. “Deliciously dramatic” does describe it perfectly. We’re all into film, and I studied English Literature at university, so those influences can be heard in the lyrics and sound for sure. As I handle the lyrics, and have a particular fondness for vampire media, vampires do appear in our music.
Lost Souls (Driving at Night) is based on the Poppy Z Brite 90s novel Lost Souls. I think we capture the feeling of the book. Our most listened to track – 12 Long Years – includes different vampire tales in each of the verses: from The Lost Boys, to Elizabeth Bathory, to a Lestat inspired figure at the end. Lord Byron makes the occasional appearance in our work too.
There’s an authenticity to goth which people are craving in such a fast-paced and largely superficial world. It cuts through in the same way the colour black cuts through a crowd of colour. Maybe it’s because the scene is undead so will never really die
12 Long Years has quite a Sisters of Mercy vibe to it, while Robert Smith’s Eyes is obviously dedicated to the Godfather of Goth… Can you tell us a few of your musical inspirations past and present?
The Sisters of Mercy vibe was intentional! Most of our songs are quite different to each other. I like that variety as I feel there’s something for everyone at our shows. We were more inspired by The Cure and Joy Division when we started out. We’ve evolved into more of a synth sound now, more like Depeche Mode or Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. There are odd songs (or bits of songs) that will remind you of other bands, but I don’t think anyone sounds quite like us. We’ve been called ‘goth & soul’ by multiple unrelated people, so we just say that now!
The goth scene dwindled throughout the 2010s, but there seems to be a resurgence in popularity recently with younger people dabbling in the darkness. What do you think of the more modern goth culture, music and the ideology?
I was just thinking about this the other day. I remember being genuinely concerned the goth scene was going to disappear. But recently it’s just started booming again, especially with younger people. There’s a couple of local Nottingham goth nights, Spellbound and Requiem, and it’s great to see them busy. If I had to guess, there’s an authenticity to goth which people are craving in such a fast-paced and largely superficial world. It cuts through in the same way the colour black cuts through a crowd of colour. Maybe it’s because the scene is undead so will never really die, just wither and thrive in cycles.
You have a distinctive look as a band. Why do you think it's so important within the goth scene to express yourself through personal style?
Personal style is very important on the goth scene. It’s a way to signal to others that you have something in common. I also think it’s important to look how you sound as a band. It helps people who might like your music to find you. I like the fact that all three of us dress slightly differently but are all somewhat alternative on stage. We dress in what makes us feel ourselves, which I’m sure feels the same for anyone who dresses outside of the norm.
The audience also wants a little drama. People don’t come to watch Hurtsfall for relatability, there are other artists you can go to for that. I always try to wear something that’s worth taking a picture of. On that note, I’ve had some wonderful pieces made at One BC (Sneinton Market) who do bespoke clothing, so would like to give them a shout out.
You recently released a new single Adore Me, the lyric video for which has some exquisite underwater shots. Can you tell us about the process of filming this?
We worked with a videographer to get the Adore Me lyric video as good as it could be. Nearly all of the shots (including the beautiful underwater scenes) are actually pieces of stock footage stitched together. It’s a Frankenstein’s monster of a video! We really wanted everything about this release to be bigger than anything we’d done before. So we pushed ourselves with the writing, production, artwork, video content, and promotion. I’m happy with the results. It’s become one of our signature songs.
This year you’ve played in Notts with Miranda Sex Garden at Rough Trade and the DSM IV at The Grove. Are there any other venues and bands you’re keen to perform with?
Those were both very good shows. Miranda Sex Garden was a big one. It’s still amazing to me to see my band’s name up there with successful and influential bands like that. We’ve done some excellent gigs over the last couple of years, and managed to get to a lot of the main local venues and festivals. We’d really like to do Hockley Hustle and Splendour. And of course every Nottingham band dreams of Rock City/Rescue Rooms which we still haven’t played. We all agree that opening for The Chameleons would be a dream. The March Violets are another legendary band on our list who we’d love to support.
What do you have coming up in the future?
Well we’re always working on new material. We’ve just announced we’re at Darker Days festival in Leicester next year with Salvation and Sweet Ermengarde headlining. We’ve also been working on our debut album for a long time now. We keep getting sidetracked with really good gig offers! But we are absolutely going to finish and release it. It’s coming together nicely. Being independent means we don’t have anyone putting pressure on us.
Anything else you’d like to tell LeftLion readers?
Please go out and support local artists and events. I’m not just saying this because I want you to come and see Hurtsfall. It’s a bleak time in the industry with venues closing up and down the country, and artists quitting. Nottingham is very fortunate to have the music scene that it has, but it will only continue to grow and thrive if you show up. Even more importantly it’s good for your spirit. There’s nothing quite like live music in my opinion. It can be ecstatic, moving, cathartic, and so much more. Music is oxygen so get out and take a deep breath.
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