Editor’s Note: Recently, the members of Salt Lake City dark gothcore band A Lost Asylum sat down with Madness To Creation to discuss their influences, the Salt Lake City music scene, their self-titled record that was released via Pavement Entertainment and mental health awareness. The band is getting rave reviews of their self-titled record and they recently released their music video for “Safe In Pieces”. The band is currently composed of Holly Watson on vocals, James Roake on bass, Gil Menchaca on guitar, Dante Long on guitar/unclean vocals and Justin Bell on drums/unclean vocals. Fans can find A Lost Asylum at the following locations:
Madness To Creation: You released your self-titled album, what was the biggest challenges and rewards when creating this album in comparison to “The Obsession”?
Holly: The biggest challenge was integrating the new members in the band. We had a guitarist suddenly quit. Gil took his place. We went and recorded our first album. After we were done recording “The Obsession Begins” our bassist also quit. We had lost 2 members in 4 months. James moved to bass and we brought in Dante. At that point, it was time to put the past behind us and start looking toward the future. It felt like a whole new band at this point. We had to learn to write together and understand each other’s roles. We had to find our sound all over again.
The most rewarding thing was finally finding our sound. We now have an album we are proud of. We finally captured the sound we were striving for since the beginning. This album sounds different from the first and it is because we have members who share the same vision.
Madness To Creation: A Lost Asylum released the music video for “Safe In Pieces”, take us into that song and what’s your favorite moment or moments when you all created that music video?
Holly: The song is about being broken and feeling like you won’t find love. But you meet the right person and they put your broken pieces back together and make you whole.
Justin: My favorite was watching Dante talk a big game and then run away when I tried to “fight” him. Also, hiding around the corner and drinking vodka when no one was looking.
Madness To Creation: Tell us about the Salt Lake City music scene.
Dante: Our current city is great for certain genres and horrible for others.
Madness To Creation: Biggest influences on your life and in terms of shaping your music career.
Gil: Jason Richardson from Chelsea Grin and Elliot Gruenberg from Blessthefall.
Madness To Creation: At Madness To Creation, we focus on normalizing mental health conversations through mental health awareness, what are some things that help you when times get tough and what makes you happy?
Holly: I have dealt with depression my whole life. I know it sounds cliché but playing and listening to music has been the one consistent thing that has helped me during the low times in my life. That is probably why I am a musician. Playing music helps me escape. It has now grown into something more than myself. If I can help one person by giving them an escape as well, if only for just a while, then all the hard work was worth it. Sometimes all you need is someone who understands what you are going through.
Madness To Creation: Big plans for A Lost Asylum for the rest of the year?
James: We are excited to start touring again and just playing shows in general. We are also excited to start writing the next album.
Madness To Creation: What else would you like to add?
Justin: Thanks so much for taking the time to get to know us a little better. We are so excited to be breaking into the music scene. We are ready to share our creativity. Our album is available to streaming and purchase. Go check it out!
And there you have it! On Saturday, June 13th, A Lost Asylum will be performing at The Loading Dock in Salt Lake City, Utah. For tickets and further information, click here.
