Attic Theory
Deep from the grungy depths of Liverpool’s dock roads come award-winning rockers Attic Theory. With grooves deeper than the river Mersey itself, vocalist Lewis Wright is joined by guitarists Peter Donnelly Tim Cunningham and Matt Lawler, bass player Kenny McArthur and Norm Walker on drums. Together they perform their self-proclaimed genre of Alternative Groove Rock; post-grunge infused with the charm of rock 'n' roll.
Attic Theory are currently working on their highly anticipated debut album ‘What We Fear The Most’ and released ‘Narrow Lines’, the second single from the record on 28/10/22.
Who are the "humans" behind Attic Theory and is there a story behind the band name?
Matt - The “humans” behind the band are vocalist Lewis Wright, guitarists Peter Donnelly, Tim Cunningham and myself, I add the dirty low slung sludgy rhythm guitar and the odd bit of twiddly stuff. There’s also bass player Kenny McArthur and Norm Walker on drums.
The story behind the name is that Lew got the name from an episode of Elementary, a CBS television series based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes detective stories with contemporary twists. It basically means that you should fill your brain only with the things you need to be the best version of yourself.
"Narrow Lines" sounds great and brings back that straightforward Rock Groove, I'd call it a great mixture of Hard Rock meets Alternative Rock, what's the story behind the song, what was your inspiration?
Matt - Everyone’s been in a low place at some point in their life, the songs about not being alone and having people around to reach out to. Lew writes all of the lyrics and always tries to make a connection with the listener with all of our songs.
What can we and our readers expect from your debut album?
Matt- Shenanigans and face melting grooves deeper than the Mariana Trench.
Nowadays songs have a playtime of around 2min 30s, what do you think ... enough to tell a story?
Matt - Yes, but some stuff I’m hearing lately seems to be to many egos trying to get their 10 pence in. Nobody wants a 9 minute song with six words in 🙄
What do you think about social media, a great tool to promote yourself or is it more a necessary evil to be online all the time?
Matt - Socials are Ying and Yang. Good and bad come hand in hand.
How is your creative process as a band?
Our creative process is we send Lew an idea, if he can’t get a melody together in 5 mins, it’s job stopped. No point trying to write something that we vocally can’t work with.
If the ideas good though we all come up with ideas for our parts and meet up, usually the songs nailed down in a few hours (we’re that good!)
You are from Liverpool ... how would you describe the music scene there, especially the Indie scene?
Matt - Nope, I’m from Crewe but I think the band are lacking in geographical fact. They all think I’m northern but Liverpool is further north…. The scenes alive and well, the bat flu has had a slight effect on numbers at shows though.
Any chance to see you somewhere live on stage?
Matt - Absolutely, I’ll play in your living room to the fucking cat if you buy me a pint. We’ve opened our 2023 diary so let’s see what happens.
What can we expect from you in the near future?
Matt - A shit hot debut album and high energy live shows.
Answering Questions - Guitarist Matt Lawler.
Photo by Debby Donnelly-Addison.
