Dubai rock band Asking Alexandria are gearing up for the launch of their debut album next month. The record, titled The Irony of Your Perfection, was set to come out in June but was delayed after the head of the record company releasing it died suddenly.
The 12-track long player will hit record stores on September 17 and the band are already working on their second album, which is likely to drop in a year's time.
Determined
Lead guitarist Ben Bruce, 18, said the death of Ian Hebdon, who founded UK record company Hangman's Joke Recordings, hit the band hard - but also made them extra determined to succeed.
"We were all pretty much ecstatic about how things were going until we found out about Ian," said Ben, a Briton.
"That kicked us back a few notches. It came as a huge shock and it was very upsetting. We knew him very well and spoke to him every day.
"It made us realise that just because things were going well, that didn't mean that things couldn't happen.
Reason
"It has given us another reason to do what we are doing. We want to show people why Ian believed in us and demonstrate what we can do. His death affected us, but it will not affect our work ethic."
Asking Alexandria are a five-piece band, with James Murray, 18, a Briton, the lead singer and synths player, Robin Everett, 18, also a Briton, the rhythm guitarist, and Hitesh Gandhi, 19, an Indian, the drummer.
Next album
After the departure of their bassist earlier this year, the band recently recruited UK-based Briton Mark McGuire, 19, a friend of Ben's, to be the fifth member.
"We've already started writing material for the next album, because it's a slow process. We've started recording some demos here in the UAE," Ben said.
"Hopefully we'll be recording the album itself at around Christmas time and we'll have it out 9 or 10 months after the first one, depending on how well it does."
Future plans
The band will be touring the UK from early September as part of the No One Gets Out Alive tour, which involves six up-and-coming bands. They also have plans to perform in Germany, the Netherlands, France and Sweden. After that they hope to go on to North America and Japan for more live shows. The American and Asian release of The Irony of Your Perfection is likely to happen near the end of this year.
"We are very excited - it's going to be a great experience," said Ben.
Nominations
Asking Alexandria have been nominated in three categories in the UK's Access All Areas new music awards.
The band is hoping their UAE-based fans will get online and vote for them prior to the awards ceremony on September 5.
They have been entered into the voting for the Best Rock Act, Best Overseas Band and Best Photoshoot awards and are currently leading in the last two categories.
"Coming from Dubai, it's a wonder that we've been nominated in three categories. It would be a huge boost [to win an award], firstly psychologically and then in terms of exposure," lead guitarist Ben Bruce said.
"There will be lots of music industry professionals at the awards so it would get our name out there if we won.
"It would really mean that we're doing something right and not wasting our time."
The awards are being run by the Musicfinity website and to find out how to vote for the band log on to www.musicfinity.com.
The sound
Asking Alexandria describe their music as synth core, which is a blend of hardcore music (itself spawned by heavy metal) and synth sounds.
Bands with a similar sound include Enter Shikari, Underoath and Bullet For My Valentine.
Ben Bruce and Robin Everett created the music for the songs on the first album and then James Murray wrote the lyrics.
