Greg Woodin: Bass and Vocals
I’ve been singing for as long as I can remember. Although my musical tastes have matured and developed, singing has been my one constant; I’ve just loved to sing.
My early influences include Gerard Way (My Chemical Romance) and Billy Joe-Armstrong (Green Day) who I felt had unique voices that really injected emotion and personality into their music. As I grew older, I began to love bands such as Tool and Deftones, whose vocalists, I felt, were an entirely crucial element of their line-ups. I like to think the way I sing is a culmination of all these influences, though this is not a conscious decision I have made.
Honestly, in terms of instruments, my first love was guitar. I obtained a guitar for my 5th birthday and became frustrated very quickly; I found it difficult and gave up almost immediately. I finally taught myself how to play around the age of 11, and I have continued to progress since then. This helped me pick up the fundamentals for playing bass.
I had very little prior experience playing bass when we first started Their Souls For Gold, but I recognised it was a role that needed to be filled and rose to the challenge. I was determined not to be the unnoticed presence in the background of songs, as it seemed to me the bass often was. Justin Chancellor of Tool showed me this didn’t have to be the case: his hypnotic basslines were often at the forefront of proceedings in Tool songs, and lent the band a unique sound that has never been recreated. The late Cliff Burton of Metallica is also a big influence on my playing style due to his prominent melodies and solos – clearly not content with being the mere ‘rhythmic foundation’ of the group.
I’ve been involved in other musical projects before, but none of which I have felt as confident of as this band. I feel as though we are a cohesive unit, and that we have the capacity and talent to go very far.
Their Souls For Gold 