TECHNOLOGIST: "We had a vision of a devastated landscape in which a beautiful sapling was growing, representing devastation and hope."
It's been a while since my last, proggy trip around the world, but when I came across Technologist's vigorous debut "Reborn" recently, it felt like the right place to start again (and spoiler alert, more will come soon). The album was released on August 1st, taking its listeners to the year 2050 with a dystopian story, and caught me immediately with their expressive mix.
Welcome to join us for a chat and learn more about Technologist's background, powerful music, and the amazing cover artwork:
Band-Links: BANDCAMP / FACEBOOK / INSTAGRAM
Hey, thanks for making time to answer my questions. How are you today?
Hi Katha, thank you for inviting us to this interview. We are very well, just recovering from visiting Bloodstock and the whirlwind of emotion that was our album release.
Awesome :-) Could you please introduce yourself and Technologist to our readers?
Technologist are a 5 piece Progressive Metal band from Manchester UK, having influences from the raw power of Decapitated to the groove and serenity of Opeth.
We are :
Eddie Barton-Johnson - Guitar
Andy Lavendar - Vocals (and Producer - Blackwater Music Production)
Phill Jolly - Bass
Josh Fisher - Guitar
Craig Stubbins - Drums
Congrats on the release of “Reborn”, which is a mighty debut! How do you feel about it, and how was the reception so far?
We feel over the moon with the release, it's been a lot of hard work and a long time coming. It's been a massive effort from everyone in the band, and we are extatic with the results.
The reception has been overwhelming, and we are incredibly grateful to everyone that has checked us out. For a long time people would come up to us after gigs and say "really enjoyed the set, where can i listen to your stuff?" and we used to have to say "errrr...nowhere really".... Not anymore though.
Haha, good for us. Let’s take a look at the amazing cover artwork: What can you tell us about its origins, and how does it reflect the album thematically?
Firstly we have to thank Mark Erskine, we comissioned him to bring our ideas to life and he did an amazing job. We had a vision of a devastated landscape in which a beautiful sapling was growing, representing devastation and hope.
The sapling is an amalgamation of nature and technology, representing the duality of nature and the intrusive effects of technology on the world around us.
He absolutely nailed it. Could you dive a bit into the album’s story with us, please?
The album is set in a future where humanity has continued to destroy the natural world. The story focuses on the Technologist, an inventor who designs a machine to help replenish nature, only for it to be stolen and corrupted. The album is all about his fight to recover his invention and protect the natural world at all costs - but you will have to listen the album to find out how that all goes!
Lyrically, the album covers themes like determination, betrayal and sacrifice, all told with a strong environmental message. We hope people dig into the lyrics and find their own meaning too!
Your sound is heavy yet melodious, melting the high energy of Death Metal with a great, proggy variety. What is your musical background, and where do you draw your inspiration from?
We really have a wide variety of metal fans in the band, we have all grown up listening to metal, and it has really shaped our playing during our formative years. We try to explore different ideas and textures but staying within the realm of metal. We don't actively try to emulate any bands, but our influences include Gojira, Opeth, Decapitated, Devin Townsend.
Could you briefly describe your writing and recording process, please?
Glacial. We try and do as much as we can ourselves, Andy is our recording engineer and producer. This has the effect of things taking a little longer, but we get the results Andy was looking for. We are detail orientated people so us having control of our process is important.
On the writing front it all starts with Eddie coming up with objectively astounding riffs, and once the rest of us recover, we can all add our own flavour.
Let’s make a little time trip: When and how did you guys get together?
Eddie and Phil searched for a long...long time. We gradually came together around 2022 having been through some past members (shout out to Tim Smith and Rob Thorpe). It takes a while to create a band that gels, we're almost there. We'll keep you updated!!
How did you come up with your band’s name, and is there a deeper meaning / story behind it?
Genuinely one of the hardest tasks we completed was coming up with a band name. All the good ones were taken. We started with the band name, and then Andy developed it into the character represented in the album.
That's an interesting approach. Let’s talk about Technologist live: What was your most memorable show so far, and why?
This is a great question. For us it's the Bloodstocks Metal to The Masses Final 2025. It was an electric show, everyone went mental as soon as we took to the stage and gave us the best reception we could ever ask for. We played to well over 400 people (which is a good achievement for a band that had never released music) on a stage that some of our favourit bands have played in the past. The venue is called Rebellion in Manchester, and anyone coming to the UK should check it out.
Awesome! UK is well known for being the home of countless great rock and metal bands. How would you describe your local music scene, and did you notice changes over the recent years?
Honestly the Manchester scene is really supportive, regardless of the band that's on stage the crowd will give you the biggest cheer, and they are always up for a pint afterwards! We have some great promoters in Manchester, but we really have to single out James and Jayne Bennett from the 0161 Manchester Underground Metal Community. Those two work tirelessly to promote the scene and run the Metal to the Masses competition which we have witnessed first hand grow from strength to strength.
As a new and upcoming band: Where do you see the biggest chances and challenges in today’s music business?
We think our biggest chances are playing support slots for great bands and being on the bill for music festivals. The biggest challenges we face are curating a continued social media presence and having people back you, the underground music economy is incredibly punishing. There are thousands of new tracks released every day on Spotify so it is a constant battle to remain seen and relevant. You also have to beat A.I.
Totally get this. What can you tell us about your future plans?
"Dear ChatGPT, please wite and produce our second progressive metal album."
Realistically we are looking at high profile support slots and festivals for next year. We are looking at management, PR, labels ect as well as looking inwardly to try and release music quicker.
Before we wrap things up, do you have any further thoughts you’d like to share here?
We would firstly like to thank everyone that has supported us so far - Fans, family members and other bands, we are very grateful.
We are always on the lookout for other bands to play with and reach further afield. Please send us a message if you would like to book us, or just even to say "HI!!!" or let us know what you think.
Band-Links: BANDCAMP / FACEBOOK / INSTAGRAM
That's a good closing. Thanks again for your time, and all the best for what is yet to come \m/