Employed To Serve are veterans of the underground metal scene, but with their excellent, big, bold and heavy new album, Fallen Star, they’ve made the jump to a brand new level. Hammer sat down with the band’s founders, vocalist Justine Jones and guitarist Sammy Urwin – who also run one of the UK’s most exciting independent labels, Church Road Records – to ask them your questions.
What do you serve?
Jason Key, Facebook
Sammy: “We serve riffs…”
Justine: “I like to think smiles as well, delivering them in different ways, be it with our wit or riffs. And hard truths!”
Sammy: “Riffs and good times. It’s a much-needed service.”
All those guest singers on the new album, but where’s Gojira?
Alex Heppe, email
Justine: “If I can think of a song [on the album] that Joe was going to feature on, it’d be Brother, Stand Beside Me. But we didn’t want to seem too needy.”
Sammy: “They’d already thrown us a two-month bone. [Employed To Serve supported Gojira on their UK/European tour in 2022.] Also, we don’t want to get guests in where it’s contrived. It only happens if it makes sense.”
What was your last full-time job that wasn’t in music?
Joe Jones, email
Sammy: “I was a gardener for many, many years. I could take as much unpaid leave as I wanted to, and no matter the climate, financially, everyone still needs a gardener.”
Justine: “I worked for an Apple reseller, and before that, at a call centre. It was a temp job, so I’d rack up 100 calls a day, get paid and be like, ‘See you later. I’m going to Europe!’ Any job I had, even if it was a menial job, I was the sickest at it so they wouldn’t fire me. I needed the money to pay for the van and petrol.”
On Fallen Star, you’ve teamed up with Lorna Shore’s Will Ramos. Which other artists/bands would you love to collaborate with?
Hayley Watts, Facebook
Justine: “Korn or Jonathan Davis. I’m a huge Korn fan…”
Sammy: “Would he be singing or would he be scatting?”
Justine: “Both. I want the full works. And he has to wear a kilt for the vocal takes, otherwise it’s not authentic.”
Sammy: “We’ve been writing new material and we’ve got a song where all I hear is [Cradle Of Filth vocalist] Dani Filth doing the ‘Filth Scream’. He’s got that certain something only he can do.”
HAMMER: Are you going to ask him to feature on it?
Sammy: “Hopefully, when the time is right, we’re sowing the seeds now.”
What’s your pre-gig ritual?
Artworkcraftwork_jb, Instagram
Justine: “I have a four-and-a-half-hour hype playlist. I created it on one of the Gojira dates where we had a 13-hour drive. The flow is ideal. It has Fatman Scoop, Destiny’s Child, TLC, Missy Elliott, Beyoncé, Sean Paul…”
Sammy: “From the minute we’re at the venue, I’ve got that surge of excitement building for the show. I’ve got to keep that buzz going from soundcheck ’til we play, because if you sit down in the green room and sprawl out, you just scroll, and if you’ve been on tour for a while, the tiredness hits. I’ll watch the support bands, chat shit with whoever else is on the tour, and then I’m just shouting to Fatman Scoop, essentially.”
Of all the places to visit in Woking [Justine and Sammy’s hometown], what’s your collective favourite?
Chris Charles, Facebook
Justine: “The Sovereigns pub. It’s one of Woking’s oldest buildings and has a rich history. Horsell Common too, which is where the aliens landed in H. G. Wells’ War Of The Worlds. It’s where we used to walk our dog. For some reason, when they shot the movie with Tom Cruise, they didn’t come to Woking…”
What are your respective favourite songs on the new album?
Logan_Anderson_261, Instagram
Justine: “Mine is Familiar Pain. I wanted it to be a single. When we recorded the album, that was the one I was humming all the time. It felt like The Hunter-era Mastodon, like Curl Of The Burl.”
Sammy: “I’ll go for Last Laugh, [with Svalbard’s Serena Cherry] because you could call it the curveball of the album. In the flow of the record, it fits perfectly, but it’s different from the rest. Obviously you’ve got to keep cohesion as a band, but we try to work new ideas and new influences in where we can.”
HAMMER: How do you feel the new record reflects the band’s evolution?
Sammy: “One of the big things for us was dynamics. We wanted this album to have more light and shade compared to [2021’s] Conquering. Justine’s vocals do a great job of keeping us rooted in the ETS sound, because you know it’s her when she’s doing her thing, but we were hoping Fallen Star would have a little bit of everything we’ve done. We’ve incorporated more traditional metal sounds.”
Justine: “I like the idea that we’re in our ‘Live, Laugh, Love’ era. We’re a middle-aged band. We’ve been going for 14 years, not that we’re going to stop when we’re 30 years old, but we’re having a really good time.”
What’s your favourite movie, and why?
Louise Walters, email
Justine: “Jurassic Park. I first saw it when I was eight or something, and I was inspired. My first obsession was dinosaurs after that film. It’s a comfort watch, incredible one-liners… and Jeff Goldblum’s so hot.”
Sammy: “My favourite is Jaws. Every character rocks and has a memorable line. I was obsessed with Jaws as a kid; it led to me being obsessed with sharks.”
Justine: “Both very metal films; sharks and dinosaurs…”
Will you tour in the US?
Stacy_1371, Instagram
Justine: “We were supposed to in 2020 with Fit For An Autopsy, then Covid happened. We want to. It’s just a haemorrhaging money situation. We’ve just got to make it financially viable.”
Sammy: “We’re hoping next year.”
Justine: “If Spotify is anything to go by, a lot of our fanbase are American.”
Why is British metalcore not as well-known as its US counterpart?
Retro Paul, email
Sammy: “Before the internet and social media, breaking America was a thing, but I don’t think it’s much of a thing now. You’ve got UK bands like Loathe, Static Dress and Sleep Token. Now we’re cooking up legends from both sides of the pond.”
Justine: “Fucking Bring Me The Horizon, Architects…”
Are we betraying the scene if we remove our battle jacket in the summer to avoid heatstroke at festivals? Should we stay committed no matter how hot it gets?
SherwoodMagazine, Instagram
Justine: “Stay committed but with no shirt. Take the t-shirt off, put the battle jacket on. Put SPF on the shoulders, though – sunburn’s not a good vibe.”
How do you feel about your debut album [Greyer Than You Remember] 10 years on?
Ollie Sherwood, email
Sammy: “I feel incredibly proud of it, and still absolutely love it.”
Justine: “It was our first proper time in a studio. My vocal style is not sustainable on that record, you can hear the shredding of the vocal cord, but I learned.”
Best piece of advice you could give to your younger self?
Jazz Giblin, email
Sammy: “Enjoy everything. And it sounds dumb to say, but you’ve got to put the effort into making sure you enjoy it, and make sure you don’t get jaded, because the key to this game is longevity. You’re only going to last if you’re having fun and you want to carry on doing it, otherwise you’ll burn out.”
Justine: “Also, if something small happens that annoys you, but you won’t remember it in a year’s time, it’s not worth worrying about.”
Has working on your own label changed how you approach your band?
Amyanne Richards, email
Justine: “It makes me appreciate everything we have. I get excited because we work with a lot of bands who are getting their firsts, and it makes me remember when we got our firsts. Any new bit of press we get, I still get stoked.”
Sammy: “I’ve a greater understanding now of behind the scenes. I feel more confident in what we’re doing in the band because of all the other stuff that I now know. With knowledge comes great power, right?”
Fallen Star is out now via Spinefarm. Employed To Serve support Killswitch Engage in Europe from September 29.
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