Noisepicker make a mighty racket. Formed around 2016, singer/guitarist Harry Armstrong and drummer Keiran Murphy deliver maximum heaviness with a lean setup. Channeling a love of doom, punk, old blues and gospel records, think Black Sabbath jamming with Howlin’ Wolf. Their new record The Earth Will Swallow The Sun is a ferocious and unfiltered DIY affair, recorded live in one afternoon, resulting in a rough and ready barrage of riffs that fuses blues, metal, punk and noise rock. They’ve proven you don’t need a big band to make massive noise - and for fans of sludge, doom or heavy blues, this album is a must listen.

We caught up with frontman Harry Armstrong to find out more:

Hi Harry, thanks for chatting with us! There’s a huge range of influences on the new album, from sludge, to doom, to punk, to blues. Who were some of the biggest influences on your sound?

Hello! And thanks for checking us out. It's good to know those influences are being heard, as that is the main purpose of Noisepicker - to delve into a deep and wide ranging love of all music. Only two genres exist to us: Good and bad. Only you can decide which we are! As far as what we consider "good", and what has pushed us to make this record, it's a love of Noise, Doom and The Blues. Melvins and Swans jamming Tom Waits and Howling Wolf. The Staple Singers riffing over Kyuss. BB King covering Entombed. Tales told around a camp fire of the blurred lines between sanity and reality.

Are there any non-musical inspirations that feed into the themes and stories?

Definitely. All forms of story-telling fascinate us wildly. The books of Iain Banks. The films of David Lynch. The psychology of the human species. These are the worlds we like to dive into to take a break from the actual madness of existence.

Can you tell us more about the choice to record the entire album in a single session?

There's way too much fakery in music these days. For my tastes, at least. I want to hear a singer’s voice crack. I want to hear the drummer hit a rim shot by accident. I want to hear an honest representation of a band in a room on a certain day. The main decision was to book a room and see what happens. If we had needed extra time, we would have used it. The choice to record and mix this album ourselves was made early on, and we simply went in and hit the big red record button. If we captured a take with the right feel that had one or two mistakes in it, then fuck it - it was meant to be that way. I think this process takes the pressure off and made the whole thing more relaxed and easier to complete. We were done when we were done.

Let’s get nerdy. What amps and pedals do you use to make up for the lack of a bass player?

I use an Electro Harmonix Pog to split the guitar signal, octave shifting one half into an Ampeg SVT while sending the other into two old 70's Carlsbro amps to thicken things up a bit. There's a couple of fuzz pedals on my board, and a Sansamp Bass Driver to smooth things out. It's a pain in the arse to set up, but it's worth it!

Has the craziness of the last few years influenced the craziness of your sound?

How could it not? The world gets crazier every day, and there seems to be no way out. We seem to be running faster and faster in the opposite direction of truth and well being, and it's all in the chase for the almighty dollar. Which wouldn't be so bad if the winnings were used to educate and encourage progress. Fat chance of that happening though.

What exactly is the album title ‘The Earth Will Swallow The Sun’ pointing towards?

It relates to the previous question. If profit could be made from destroying the very things that give us life, these fuckers would do it. We are governed by psychopaths. They will destroy us all.

What are some of your favourite venues to play?

I love small venues. Genuinely. I like to be close enough to smell how filthy the humans are! I've been lucky enough to play on some pretty big festival circuits in other projects, and while that can be fun, I'd still rather be playing the basement of some darkened bar whose toilet walls are obliterated by underground punk rock stickers. I like to see the expressions on peoples faces when we hit full throttle, and as a punter I like to feel the music hit me in the chest. Never happens at arena level gigs, so I have no interest in them.

Do you feel like part of a particular scene, or does Noisepicker exist on the margins?

I feel like we can fit in with many scenes, but not any particular one. We've played with stoner bands, doom bands, punk bands, metal bands, acoustic solo blues singers. And always felt like we were in the right place. I think there's a lot of scenes that we feel welcome in, but only a few within those scenes who connect with what we do.

What are some UK bands that you think deserve way more attention than they’re getting right now?

There's so much going on out there, in a very good way, so it's hard to single out a few. Urne have been kicking my arse in all the right ways lately. Wonk Unit I will always love. And on the proggier side Giant Walker and Slung have been tickling my ears!

What is the ultimate goal of Noisepicker?

Stay alive long enough to witness the end of the world. And while we're waiting, create and share a soundtrack that we feel suits the mood. Sounds miserable, but if we're on a crash-course to self-destruction, we might as well scream and shout and let off some steam on the way.