Rob Holliday’s been pretty busy the last fifteen years, what with playing as a member of Marilyn Manson’s touring band, first on bass and later on guitar, as well as working extensively in the studio and live Gary Numan and The Prodigy, not to mention a three-year stint with The Mission. To say he’s been in demand would be an understatement, but inevitably, the day-jobs have left little time for the real work. And so it is that his band, Supher, finally deliver their second album, the follow-up to 2003’s ‘Spray’, which saw them tour as main support for The Sisters of Mercy and build a substantial following before moving to a back-burner.
Opportunity has afforded Holliday the chance to put Sulpher back to the forefront of his activity, and No-One Will Ever Know, released in August, is a belter: hard-edged but bursting with tunes, it picks up where ‘Spray’ left off.
With the band in the early stages of an evolving European tour, I welcomed the opportunity to toss a few questions in Rob’s direction…
AA: You came together around the turn of the millennium, and made considerable headway then… obviously, you’ve done a lot in the intervening years, but why bring Sulpher back together now?
RH: It was never a question of whether we would bring Sulpher back – we were working on material every chance we had when our schedules worked out – I was constantly touring with The Prodigy and also Marilyn Manson so it was difficult but we finally managed to get the album finished so here we are.
How do you feel the music scene – and, dare I ask – the industry has changed since the band first came together?
It’s changed massively with all the social media craze – it seems to run the world which is kind of bizarre to me really, I really don’t get it – everyone now can feel like a rock star if they have followers online even if they’re fuckin useless really – I also blame x factor.
Tut tut!!!! you will be punished on the day of reckoning!!
The new material’s been getting a fair bit of attention, in terms of YouTube streams and so on. Were you in any way daunted about your comeback and how it would be received?
We never really saw it as any sort of comeback , just a continuation.
Do you ever worry about being considered something of a ‘throwback’ act?
Not at all, we make the music we maker and if anyone likes it then that is just a bonus.
Most so-called supergroups aren’t actually that super. Sulpher probably qualify as a supergroup, but don’t fall into the common trap of delivering less than the sum of the parts. What’s the secret, and how does the band operate?
Myself and Monti have worked in the studio together it seems like forever lol. He’s fast and on it with regards to programming and getting ideas down that we both come up with.
We may start with a loop and place parts around it – or I may come in with a vocal melody or guitar line or riff whatever you wanna call it , then it progresses from there – we don’t have any set format, and we work off each other really well – we’re both not afraid to be honest about how we feel about how something is sounding, good or bad.
Given your other musical commitments, what’s the drive to be this band?
Well this is us – this is our thing. Totally ours Our baby, our heart and soul and it’s a lot different than playing another person’s creation. Don’t get me wrong, it’s great to play in such high profile bands that myself and Monti have – but at the end of the day it’s like family and blood and blood overrules anything. It’s from the heart.
You’ve all played some huge venues, both as Sulpher and in the other bands you all play in. How does it feel playing extremely intimate spaces on this tour?
I quite like it – intimate – loud as fuck and chaotic and all in close range. So beware!
What new / contemporary acts excite you?
Well I’m not sure – I’m stuck with all my old favorites like Slayer , Fear Factory, The Cure, Killing Joke, Ministry, Deftones, Bring Me the Horizon are cool also but I guess they’re not new anymore – I’m stuck in the past!!!
What plans are there for Sulpher after this tour?
We’re doing some German dates in December and then want to get on a support tour with some bad ass act in the new year, the management are in discussions currently regarding that, so we wait with baited breath and we hope to see you all out at our shows wherever and whenever!
No-One Will Ever Know is out now.
Aural Aggravation 