A Sheffield indie and metal band performed a last-minute gig at Corporation on Saturday night – and is urging music lovers to support the city’s venues.
FourFlightsUp had only performed headline shows before this and supported heavy alt-rock group Stained Glass alongside three other bands.
Discussing their discography, lead singer Xavier Astill said: “We aren’t exactly sticking to one thing but we definitely do fall into two categories.”
Each member of FourFlightsUp contributes to the writing process. Astill described his own writing as ‘very linear’ and described lead guitarist Justin McLean’s work as ‘organic’, with a greater focus on riffs.
Whilst the two have different writing styles, with McLean taking more inspiration from metal and Astill pertaining more to tropes from indie music.
Rowan Lodge, the drummer and the ‘communicator of the band’ creates his own rhythms to incorporate into the music.
The band use additional beats in their rhythms to ‘keep them interesting’.
One of the band members said: “It’s entertainment at the end of the day. You can have incredible instrumentals but I feel like you have to be able to sing along. I don’t think a song is a song until it has lyrics.”
Astill’s creative process started with his three-year history as a pianist. He wrote piano music until he joined the band, and started playing guitar when he thought about transferring his music from the former instrument to the latter.
Max Willis, the group’s bassist, described performing at Corporation as better than the other venues he’d played at. He said: “The Echosound guy came backstage after our set and told us it was really good.”
He added that the staff were ‘very nice’, with one offering to carry an amp upstairs for the band, and the experience was described as having ‘human spirit’.
One of FourFlightsUp’s songs, Journey Through Ash, incorporates a riff McLean created eight years ago at the age of 11.
On his lyricism, Astill said: “I read out my lyrics after I write them.
“There’s a lot of ways the lyrics can be interpreted but at the same time I think I get the message across.”
FourFlightsUp is encouraging people to support Sheffield’s talented music scene.
They said: “Get to independent venues, get moshing and support your local bands.”
