Bristol the only place I’m happy to call home

Laura Williams quizzes Damien Sayell from The St Pierre Snake Invasion, who play BS3’s annual Dean Lane Skatepark Hardcore Funday in August

You recently revealed Big Jeff’s the reason you’re in Bristol, did you mean that?

I did mean it, yes. I was visiting a friend in Bristol about eight years ago. I was trying to decide which city I’d move to  to start the band.  We bumped into Jeff on our way through the centre. At the time I obviously had no idea who he was but, he told us that he’d already seen two bands at two different venues that night and that he was on his way somewhere else for two other shows. He was so enthusiastic and passionate when describing what he’d seen. I remember him walking off and me turning to my friend and saying something along the lines of ‘Bristol then’. It’s absolutely true.

What does Bristol mean to you?

I think I’m just like everyone else that lives here, I genuinely love it. I spent the majority of my life living in small Welsh seaside towns and villages where the number of music venues ranged between one and zero. I always kind of felt like I was waiting for my moment to leave those places really. It sounds cheesy but, Bristol is the only place I’ve lived where I’ve wanted to be there and the only place that I’ve been happy to call home. That in part is because of the things I’ve been able to do with music but, more so because of all the friends I’ve made in the five years I’ve been here. 

What’s the story behind your band name – The St Pierre Snake Invasion?

Well, the name comes from a natural disaster that happened in a town called St Pierre in 1902. It’s quite a long winded story but, in short it’s a place where everything that could have gone wrong did go wrong. I’d definitely recommend looking it up on line. It’s almost unbelievable.

What’s your favourite lyrical topic?

I can’t really say that I have a favourite topic. I’m pretty cynical and I love a good heated debate so, most of the songs end up almost being critiques of things that I disagree with. A lot of our newer songs are about romanticism in music. About how people I talk to perceive what life as a musician in a band is like and how making music at the age of Thirty-One is the furthest removed from how I thought it would be when I was a teenager. I would never write a song about an ex-girlfriend or a song about the government that has the word ‘society’ in the chorus.

What’s the best thing anyone’s ever said about your music?

A few of my friends told me that they cried when they listened to the title track from our album. A few others said they had shivers down their spines when they heard it. I’m not bragging or owt but, it made me very happy to know that.

Vomiting on stage…that’s a thing you do, right?

Yeah, it happens. It’s usually through fatigue. Because of that I’ve stopped drinking before shows. I’ve started going to the gym and I’m deliberately writing songs with less screaming. Our new stuff sounds like Enya, it’s beautiful trust me.

Tell us about playing with McLusky…

They’d take the piss out of me now for saying it but, I was shitting myself in the beginning. It’s a weird sentence to say out loud you know, ‘I’m singing in my favourite band’. It was fucking bizarre. The first (and only) rehearsal was the most surreal part of it all. Not like, ‘fuck me it’s Falco, Jack and Julia’ well a little bit of that I suppose but more so standing in front of a microphone and someone says, ‘shall we try ******’ and it’s a song you’ve loved since you were legally still classed as a child and now you’re about to sing it with the band that wrote it. The three of them were/are great though. They gave me a lot of encouragement. In fact, just minutes before the show at Le Pub. Andy approached me for what I thought was going to be some sort of pep talk. I remember thinking, ‘that’s really nice of him’. He looked at me, smiled and said, ‘Damien……….don’t fuck it up’. Dickhead. The whole experience has been great. Not many people can say that they’ve performed in their favourite band. I’m very proud and very grateful that I’m one of those few.  

Any other collaborations in the pipeline?

]I’ll be releasing some music in a band called The Plainviews with Dev and Jon from Idles at some point this year. I sang on a song for Armchair Committee’s album which should be out soon I think. I’ll be singing for Julia’s (Future of the left) new thing. I’ll also be releasing a solo R’n’B track having lost a bet to a friend. I really wish that last part was a joke, but sadly it isn’t.

You playing many festivals this year?

We’ve done Camden Rocks and The Great Escape already this year then we have 2000Trees, one in Cheltenham and Freak show festival in Lyon at then end of the summer. We’re also busy recording our second album and celebrating the fact that more people have cottoned on to how good the first one is. 

And of course the Dean Lane Skatepark Hardcore Funday…

It’ll be great. I went last year. It was a lot of fun. It’ll be nice to do a gig in Bristol where there’s no pressure to bring people. We can have some beers and hang out together which  surprisingly we don’t get to do that often. I think we’ve got a top trumps tournament set up for later. We know how to party us boys.

See TSPSI at the Dean Lane Skatepark Hardcore Funday on August 15. More info at www.ents24.com

Photo by Jonny Reasons