LOVELETTER never set out with a grand plan. The South Wales metalcore band came together after years spent picking apart other people's music, finally deciding it was time to create something of their own.
Vocalist George Ross and drummer Josh Baker played together before, and even after that band ended, they kept meeting every week to talk about the music that mattered to them. It was only a matter of time before they asked themselves why they weren't making their own. "Josh and I had spent about eight years meeting up on a weekly basis to share, discuss, and pretty much critique music we'd been listening to," Ross tells No Echo. "We then came to a sudden realization that we could have just been making our own music the whole time."
They started writing together and brought in bassist Sam Gibbs, a friend from the local scene. When Graphic Nature announced a show nearby, LOVELETTER pulled together a full live set in a month to grab the opening slot. Guitarist Kane Butler joined soon after, connecting with the band through the local show circuit. "We met our current guitarist Kane by playing shows with his old band Tyrants," Ross says. "We instantly hit it off based on our mutual love of '90s wrestling."
Before we get into LOVELETTER's history, check out "True Art," a single from the band's upcoming EP None of the Above:
Since 2023, LOVELETTER has built out a sound rooted in the heaviest edges of modern metalcore. Ross cites Varials, Alpha Wolf, and Emmure as touchstones, but says the band's identity is shaped just as much by the limits they set for themselves.
"We're very much trying to create the heaviest metalcore we possibly can," he explains. "We like to write within pretty strict confines, and I think that's a very big part of what makes our band what it is. Limiting ourselves to a small range of notes and chords forces us to try and be interesting in other ways, whether that be through rhythm patterns or time changes."
The conversation shifts and Ross brings attention to LOVELETTER's music community in Wales. "For ourselves, the local scene's been absolutely nothing short of incredible," he says. "We've been blown away by the response, with our last two headliners having sold out."
Ross credits Rise Against Cancer for building up the hardcore community, bringing bigger touring bands to Swansea through their fundraising shows.
With None of the Above coming out soon, LOVELETTER plans to mark the release with a hometown show, then take the new songs wherever they can. "We'll be looking to put on a show locally to celebrate the release of our upcoming EP and then hopefully get out and about as much as we can, playing it to as many people as we can reach."
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None of the Above will be out August 18 (pre-save).
LOVELETTER on social media: Instagram
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