(NCS guest writer and hard man to please KevinP wrangled the following interview with Lena Abé, bass-player for legendary UK doom squad My Dying Bride and guitarist for Severed Heaven.)

K:  So you joined My Dying Bride in 2007, but were a relatively unknown name at the time.  Give us some back-story before entering the fray?

L:   I started playing guitar when I was ten years old. Usual story really, joined bands throughout high school, became involved within the metal scene, and eventually joined My Dying Bride.  Music is in my family, so I was always going to do something along those lines.

K:  Are you a native/lifelong Brit?

L:  Mostly yes. I’m half Japanese and half British. Born in Tokyo, but my family moved to the UK when I was still a baby.  I was brought up in Yorkshire and definitely have the accent to prove it.

K:  So growing up, when did you first hear about My Dying Bride? 

L:  I can’t remember exactly. I remember friends’ older siblings being into them when I was a kid and  I remember seeing the band in magazines like Kerrang and Terrorizer, old school MTV as well. It was eye-opening because it was the first time I had heard “doom”.  I really got into them around the Songs of Darkness, Words of Light era (2004-ish) and saw them live.  That changed it for me and I then explored the rest of their catalogue.

K:  Were you already into death metal/extreme music by that time?

L:  Not fully, but I was half-way there if that makes sense. Continue reading »