Progressive tech-metallers Sertraline are gearing up to release their new EP Clouded Minds & Silver Lines and today (Friday 24th April 2020), the band share the video for their aptly titled single Isolation. We caught up with the band to find out more about Isolation,including the track’s themes, their songwriting approach and stories from behind the scenes.
Can you give us your quick elevator pitch on this track? Why does this one standout for you as a band?
The breakdown is the selling point – it’s completely unexpected and nothing like the breakdowns we’ve written previously. It’s really fun to play so we had to get it in there twice! Pair that with Lizzie’s most savage screams to date, this is a hard-hitting track that we can’t wait to play live.
How did you tackle the writing process for the song? Was there anything unique about this track compared to your usual/previous approach?
We wrote a lot of ideas for this EP individually, due to living quite far apart. Each track definitely had its own unique journey. This song started off with the intro riff written by Tom, then a home writing session with Lizzie and Si helped to create the final verses, choruses and structure. The monstrous breakdown was only written when we came together in a studio and jammed the song as full band. We were just messing about and then thought, “actually, this could work…fuck it let’s do it!”
Can you tell us how the song’s theme came about?
The lyrics are about someone who is living in a dream world, torturing themselves with a fantasy and struggling to break free from a toxic routine. It’s written about a person that Lizzie knows in real life, but definitely exaggerated for the benefit of the song!
Tell us about the video, do the themes of the single transfer to the video?
The official music video had to be put on hold due to COVID-19. We had filmed half of it (the ‘story’ element) but the date we were due to film the band performance footage was two days into lockdown. We made the decision to postpone the video release so we can get the result we wanted. The theme of Isolation will definitely be seen in the video, a bit of ‘cabin fever’ if you like!
Do you have any behind the scenes stories from the video shoot?
Our videographer had the most traumatic time you can imagine whilst travelling to Lizzie’s house to shoot the ‘story’ scenes. It was when we were in the middle of all the storms, his satnav decided to take the ‘scenic’ route through all the little villages that were flooded, with roads closed left right and centre! We had him on speakerphone for a lot of the journey and he was absolutely shitting himself! Lots of swearing and asking locals for the best way to get to an A-road. We felt so bad for him! On top of that, our actor’s car broke down on Lizzie’s street so he was nipping out in between takes to speak to the mechanic. Very eventful!!
Anything else you’d like to add for our readers?
Make sure you check out the pre-order bundles available for the EP. We have been running a Kickstarter campaign which has already hit 100%! We’re extremely grateful for this, especially in these crazy times! You can pledge until 30th April.
Sertraline‘s new EP, Clouded Minds And Silver Lines, is due for release on 15th May, available to pre-order HERE.
