Long Read // There will always be room for the uniqueness that is British outfit Creeper
Standing out is one of the toughest things a rock band can do in recent years. It always seems like trends rule the charts, and shredding guitars and screaming vocals will always be the winner of the olympic sport that is the music industry. However, in the midst of the heavy metals and the pop-punks of the world, there will always be room for the uniqueness that is British outfit Creeper.
Bringing out their third studio record Sanguivore during the season of creepy chills and spooky thrills, there is no fitting time to bring to life what has been described as “a vampire concept record”. Frontman Will Gould has never been one to hide his occult obsession; being a fan of classic horrors and all things Halloween, he has taken this opportunity to bring it into his art in the most extreme and artistic way he could.
“While the record is very violent, I think it’s very flamboyant as well,” Gould describes. Citing productions such as The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Phantom of the Paradise as being great influences, he praises himself and his bandmates having “loads of fun” with the creation of this brand new gothic world.
With the production process for this latest release, Gould says that friendship played a “jubilant” part, both in the studio and within the world of Sanguivore. Within the lore of the music, main protagonists Spook and Mercy are the best of friends who work together to feed their deepest darkest urges; labelling such as “more like a brother-and-sister relationship”, Gould wanted to not have his story turn into one of romantic love.
“There are romantic elements to each of them, and the people they see and seduce and kill and eat,” he explains. “But it was more of a friendship. That’s a massive theme of it.”
Outside of fictional platonic love, Gould has been feeling more of the love between himself and fellow bandmate Ian Miles throughout this album cycle. Comparing the experiences of the new record with its predecessor, 2020’s Sex, Death & the Infinite Void, he feels that everything has finally come back to the old normal since the COVID-19 pandemic. This is especially with being with Miles in every step of the album coming to life, including the simplest moments such as writing the songs in Gould’s own home.
“It was very comforting, writing stuff at my house,” he reminisces. “It’s kind of how we used to operate.”
Looking back on the days of sending files due to their distance of living on either end of the country, Gould says there was “no rapport” in making music that way. “As two people who spend a lot of time in a room together, it was odd sending things back and forth.” Luckily, for the sake of Gould and the rest of Creeper, this would not become their new normal and they can go back to being face to face rather than interface to interface.
From these more joyous circumstances, the band were able to channel their darkness and fears into the fictitious tales of Sanguivore. Returning to their roots, referencing their “dark” debut record Eternity, In Your Arms, Gould advised that he found it easier “getting darker into the void” while being in a positive headspace.
Claiming that being in a negative mindset while working on thematically negative art gets him “sucked into it and makes [him] second guess [himself]”, he has managed to find the good in the purposeful bad of the music. “It’s a lot easier to construct these worlds when you’ve got a clear head.”
“It’s been really nice. Even the saddest songs, the more sombre moments, they’ve got a theme of camaraderie and romance,” he continues. “I think feeling bad has allowed us to have a really elaborate story in a fun way. We have made something that even though it’s got a real darkness, it’s fun.”
Along with the sounds and the sights, Creeper are all about bringing their unique storytelling to the stage in their live shows. Heading back on the road in November to celebrate the release of Sanguivore, Gould has reassured that Creeper will never put on just “a regular show”, because it’s not what the fans would expect from them.
“The audience is coming to see a spectacle,” he explains. “They’ve come to see something unusual. They don’t just want to see a bunch of us get on stage and play the songs - they want jazz hands!”
Mentioning his adoration of professional wrestling and magic tricks, Gould has always promised to bring “drama and fantasy blended with reality” to Creeper’s live performances. Sometimes involving theatrics that the group have been denied at recent festival sets due to complications beyond their control, Gould thrives on having that creative liberty he has with his band and the stories they choose to tell the world.
When asked what he would set his sights on next in terms of arts and creativity, he desires to someday be the man working magic behind the curtain of a stage show. He looks back on writing musical numbers in his youth: “They weren’t very good, but they were stories.”
“I had these big dreams of making my own musical,” he continues. “I love the idea of buying a bunch of songs and handing them off to somebody else, being able to sit behind the scenes and work around that.”
With a record to take over the wind-filled airways of Autumn, a tour to take over the UK one night at a time, and other weird and wonderful plans that they are keeping secret under their funeral fascinators, there is no end in sight for Creeper and especially for Will Gould. His natural storymaker mindset and the permission of artistic freedom has taken Creeper from the dark and damp Southampton streets to around the world and to the stars.
Dim the lights, pop the popcorn, and sit back and try to relax, as the darkest but brightest horror spectacular is about to commence. Take on the world with Spook and Mercy. Enter Sanguivore.
Feature by Jo Cosgrove
