(KevinP brings us another installment of his short-interview series, and this time he talks with Andrew Craighan, co-founder/guitarist/composer of My Dying Bride, whose new album Feel the Misery is set for release by Peaceville Records on September 18 — and reviewed here on our site.)

K: One of the things that struck me last time we spoke (right after A Line of Deathless Kings was released in 2006) was how you would write all the music, then give it to Aaron, and he would lock himself away for a week or so with some wine and candles and just spit forth all the lyrics.  He wasn’t privy to hearing the music beforehand.  Has anything fundamentally changed in that regard over the years? 

A: It was more or less the same on this one. I wrote at home and would send out odd and sods when I thought I had something of use. The band, Aaron included, would get used to them or learn the riffs in anticipation of needing to play it later. The full songs were then arranged again alone by me initially. Then, when in a playable state, we would rehearse them live at Voltage and re-arrange or write anything new there that fit or was needed. Again, completely developed without any vocals or lyrics by everyone in the band but Aaron. He doesn’t ever come to those parts of the process but has “demo” versions sent to him. What he does with them no one knows as he always seems “surprised by music” at the studio and on this one I got a bit more involved on the vocal melodies too, which was cool. Continue reading »