One of the most electrically charged releases of 2018 is undoubtedly Saint Agnes‘ recent EP The Death Or Glory Gang, from the cinematic instrumental opener through some hard-hitting rockers, all laced with an impressive commercial nous. Guitarist Jon James Tufnell talks us through the EP here:
“Our music is a gateway to breaking down our own inhibitions. We want to feel anger, passion, love and defiance in their full force and embody them onstage. We are always thinking about the live show and how to reach that state where you feel greater than yourself so every song is designed as a conduit for those feelings. We have found the best way to do this is to not over think the meanings, but play with the images in mind and let the feel of the music guide us.
Songs mean different things to different people and those can change over time too. We have no fixed definition for each song, we hope people can use them as a tool to escape their inhibitions too and apply their own meanings. So what we have talked about here is the feeling surrounding the creation of the music.”
Death Rides a Black Horse:
We didn’t want our EP to just be a single with a few thrown together b-sides, we wanted to create a short story and needed a grandiose entrance. Our love of iconic western soundtracks and imagery is no secret and this is our tribute to those incredible pieces. We used it on our recent tour as music to walk onstage to and it works perfectly to get the heart beating a little faster.
The Death Or Glory Gang:
We have always felt like outsiders, as a band and individuals. We’re all very different people but we do share the feeling of being misfits and that has resulted in us having a strong, loyal bond as a band and feeling like we’re part of our own gang. We are The Death Or Glory Gang and our most ardent fans are now joining up too. This song is about meeting feelings of being a loser whether they are internal or external with absolute defiance.
Diablo, Take Me Home:
Diablo is the devil in the form of a horse. The vision we had when writing this song was someone throwing caution to the wind, taking the active decision to jump on the horse and see where it leads you. We want to live and feel the full force of life right now and fuck being sensible.
I Feel Dangerous Around You:
This is the unspoken subtext to an argument with someone you love. Despite the fact there is almost no guitar in it this has always been my favourite song since the moment we first started to play with the riff. Whenever we play it live it immediately breaks down the walls to the feelings we had when we wrote it and these flood my mind and I feel the passion and anger that are the fuel for the best live performances.
The Death Or Glory Gang EP is out now on Death Or Glory Gang Records.
