Their music is not just special due to its unique and powerful sound, anchored by their female vocalist, Monica. It’s also infused with a haunting, gothic vibe that adds a fresh yet familiar hue to the metal scene. As the Iowa metal band gears up for a seven-date tour with Secreum in the UK this year, one thing is certain: boredom won’t be on the itinerary.
Interviewees:
Monica Leibert (vocals), Dusten Leibert (vocals, guitars), Sid Summerson (bass), Joseph Pement (drums)
St. October
Monica Leibert - vocals
Dusten Leibert – vocals, guitars
Sid Summerson - bass
Joseph Pement – drums
ViQ: How did you all come together to form the band? Can you give us a glimpse into the beginning? Was there a clear direction from the get-go, or did ideas evolve naturally?
Dusten: The band essentially came together as a few of us getting together to play some songs and just have fun. Previous members came and went and now we have the final 4 that have stuck together to have the best iteration of the band. There wasn’t a clear direction at first but we have evolved into this amalgamation that we have now! It was all a natural process.
Is there any connection between the band’s name and the Japanese series Saint October?
Dusten: Absolutely not, the name was actually a nod to Type O Negative. From the Album October Rust and the song All Hallows Eve featuring the line “St. Lucifer” – funny enough we have been asked this before.
With your upcoming tour alongside Secreum in the fall, how are you getting ready for the road? Any surprises in store for your fans? What excites you the most?
Sid: What excites me the most is that it will be my first time out of the country and being able to tour Europe will be a better experience added to that. Europe really enjoys its metal.
Monica: I’m getting ready by practicing the new material and our fans will get to hear songs we have not released yet. I’m most excited to go on my first tour and play in a new country.
Joe: I am getting ready by trying to get in better shape so I can actually play all my songs 7 days in a row. I want to be in better shape because blast beats and double bass makes me tired. I’m excited to play the fricken rock’n’roll music for all the new, amazing, awesome people I will be meeting at these shows.
Dusten: I’ve been preparing by playing and rehearsing to all the songs we will be playing. We will be unveiling 2 new songs off the upcoming album that I am beyond hyped to finally show off. I’m also excited to travel to a new country. It’ll be my first time leaving the states, flying, and touring on top of finally meeting my friends in Secreum.
Your music creates such an ethereal vibe, which is very addictive to listen to. Is there a specific location you would love to shoot a music video in, or a particular (maybe unusual) theme you would like to explore through your music?
Sid: I would really like to do a music video in an abandoned insane asylum. I think old institutions have the perfectly creepy vibe that pairs with our music. I’d like to explore psychological horror in music.
Monica: I’d like to do a music video in an old Gothic cathedral or church. As for style in music I’d like to explore I’m with Sid. I’d like to explore more horror.
Joe: I would like to do a music video at some cool castle or something. If they had a real dragon there that would be cool too. Maybe a wizard’s tower? A theme for me would be mixing a lot of 70’s/80’s rock n roll style with simple beats and spicy fills.
Dusten: I would LOVE to do a music video on the grounds/Abbey that The Nun was filmed at. That place has such a vibe that could make it so fun and natural to put together a super fun and spooky video. As for theme I think we’re exploring more supernatural horror on our upcoming album “Salem” and I’m super excited to put this album out.
When it comes to songwriting, what usually comes first: the music or the lyrics? It seems like all of you contribute to the composition and lyrics. Can you tell us about each member’s strengths and how you manage the creative process?
Sid: I’ve noticed the music usually comes first before the lyrics but even doing that we usually come up with a preconceived theme and go back to tool it to that. I feel like my strength in the process is the sick tone I get my Stingrays.
Monica: All the instruments definitely come first. One of my strengths would be vocal melodies and finding the harmonies. Dusten & I will sit down together and come up with the flow of the vocals together as we are both the voice in the band.
Joe: Yeah, I say when I don’t like stuff I have them do it again. I just hear the guitar riff and groove and work from there. Then I go back and try to relearn what I recorded. I like throwing fills where they don’t belong and hit my bells a lot. I can occasionally NOT overplay a lot.
Dusten: Typically, the songs start with a riff that then become an outline. Once the outline is done, we go in and start adding and filling in the open spaces. I like to take the approach of throwing everything at the wall and seeing what sticks and peeling back the unnecessary layers to make the song complete. I feel like my strengths is working with a theme and then constructing the lyrics to fit in a way where I can sing and play guitar to.
In your view, do you see greater potential in releasing new songs and studio projects right now, or in touring extensively to share your music with live audiences across various locations?
Sid: That’s a difficult thing to ask and answer. I get equally excited for both.
Monica: That’s a hard question to answer. I believe there is more potential in touring because while studio releases are important, I would like to tour more cities and countries to get our music out to a bigger audience.
Joe: I have rarely started listening to a new band from a random recommendation off of a random algorithm, but I have started listening to plenty of new bands from hearing them live. So, I would say touring. Social media could also be a better way than even touring to get your music out to the masses.
Dusten: I personally prefer the studio aspect because it is fun for me to create it. While it is more fun for me to work on the songs, I recognize that it is much more important to tour and get your music out there live as much as you can, but social media is also an even better route to expose your music.
Are there personal experiences or interests that inspire the mystical-gothic atmosphere of your music, or do you draw solely from external sources?
Sid: I’ve always felt like I’ve connected more with music that had the Gothic mysterious vibe from the get-go. It reflects with my earlier tastes of music like Sabbath and Cradle along with other bands that had that sinister vibe.
Monica: I follow the Gothic/Alternative vibe in my personal life so that bleeds into the music. We also pull inspiration from external sources in typical horror media that Dusten and I enjoy in our personal time.
Joe: I’m not very Gothic, I’m a total poser. It’s the vibe of the band. I enjoy embodying that for the time with the band while I’m on stage. I own zero pairs of black pants. Dusten and Monica are actually spooky. I am currently fascinated with medieval alchemy, necromancy, and the occult in an academic way.
Dusten: while we’ve all got our personal influences, I love all stuff occult and horror. I’ve had instances in my life that I’ve pulled into our music. Including an experience with sleep paralysis leading to the creation of one of our newest singles. While I am a fan of other bands with similar themes and stories, I typically pull from horror stories I’ve heard, movies I’ve seen. While writing I don’t listen to anything else or try to have an external influence. Such as other bands.
Could you share which song of yours you all agree is one of your favorites to perform live, and what makes it stand out in your performances?
Joe: We all can agree that our song Ghosts is such a fun song to play live. It has a high energy in it that gets the crowd moving and is cohesively a banger from beginning to end. It has the power that drives the entire song to an epic outro solo. There are also fun live vocal harmonies in the chorus that is just too fun to play live.
How crucial is it for the band to showcase the member’s individuality at concerts – is this the primary objective, or is it more significant for the group as a whole to leave a strong impression?
Sid: We all individually bring our own vibe to the show and performance, but it is more important as a group to leave the best impression as a cohesive unit. St. October is only as good as the sum of its individual members, and we all try to be as entertaining as we can be. We have a group identity with everyone having a certain look, but we hope our individual personality stage presence adds a flare to help us stand out from the other bands with similar attire and music.
Your album, „Whatever Darkness”, dropped in 2022. Who is your target audience, and how would you describe the signature St. October sound? If you were fans, discovering your own music through this album for the first time, why do you think you would connect with it?
Unison: Our target audience is whoever picks it up and thinks it’s cool. There really hasn’t been a target audience, just a collection of songs we had fun writing and playing live. This album didn’t necessarily have a whole theme or underlying message and it is to be taken more individually.
The signature St. O sound would have to have really fun chunky riffs that are crafted to be detail oriented but have a symphonic hook that keeps the listener engaged. Spooky, fun, fun to play live, with a horror under or over tone depending on the song. The songs individually have a message and if it hits for you personally then we did our job.
We’ve heard whispers of an exciting collaboration and a new track with a powerful punch coming our way this year. Can you give us any hints or teasers about what’s in store?
Unison: Yeah, we have a song that’s called “Bathsheba Sherman” based on The Conjuring Witch of the same name that we will be playing on tour which features and ex-member of a bigger band that we’re all fans of on the track itself. The quest vocalist on this song was an absolute delight to work with and has been creating a bigger name for herself with various solo tracks and other collaborations – including winning plenty of awards and achieving accolades in the music industry. We are looking to formally release this song early next year and it will be the final single of our upcoming album “Salem” clocking in at over 8 minutes long it also be the final song of the album. The song has currently been our set closer. We have been getting such a positive reaction from it live so far so we can’t wait to see it how it does after being released.
I’m delighted that we could make this interview happen, and I wish you all the best for the year ahead, including a fantastic first experience on your UK tour!
St. October
by: ViQ
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