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Credit: Press
A shadowy band using masks to conceal their identities. Religious iconography. A simple, tantalising statement: “No names. No past. No distractions. Only the mission ahead.” Anybody else getting Déjà vu?
In February, a mysterious new band got the metal world talking. They had no music, no online presence and only a single teaser video that raised more questions than it answered. But somehow, President had just been announced for the UK’s biggest rock and metal festival. Naturally, online sleuths went wild. The fact they shared a bill with the equally enigmatic Sleep Token helped fan the flames of interest, and the release of singles In The Name Of The Father and Fearless months later poured gasoline on.
By the time President made their inaugural address on Sunday June 15, the buzz had become a frenzy. Not only was the Dogtooth Stage tent completely packed, but a curious crowd was packed tight around the perimeter, as much as six or seven people deep at some points.
“That’s the most nervous I’ve ever been in my life,” the mastermind behind President (eponymously known as “President”) admits. “It was trial by fire – but I’ve noticed if you do something that’s really uncomfortable and hard, and it goes well, the gratification you get from it is so much higher.”
Discomfort has been a key driving force behind President (the band) since the beginning. Raised in a religious household, President (the man) left religion behind as he grew older, triggering an existential crisis. The mask he wears isn’t a marketing ploy; it’s a physical barrier that helps him work through his issues and difficult subjects.
“When you’re institutionalised into something and you eventually get out of it, you end up wondering, ‘How much of this is what I think, and how much is what I was told to think?’” he explains. “President is the perfect way for me to explore these feelings and not have it feel like ‘me’ who has the spotlight on them.”
With their masked, mysterious nature, comparisons between President and Sleep Token were almost inevitable – and that was before they’d released a note of music. With In The Name Of The Father and Fearless, the band unveiled a sound that felt decidedly indebted to Vessel and co., adopting a similarly disdainful approach to genre boundaries as they mix elements of tech metal, pop and electronica.
But where Sleep Token have the deity Sleep, President are much less esoteric about their religious iconography. But while it’d be easy to think of President as being a negative reaction to President’s own religious upbringing, he’s quick to clarify that’s not the case.
“None of this is anti-religion,” he refutes. “It’s baring the soul of the search for higher meaning. I was in a very dark place five years ago. I couldn’t write about it [in other projects] because I felt too vulnerable with it all; this project has allowed me to come out of that. It’s a massive journey of discovery.”
That journey began in earnest around Christmas 2023. Long before the idea of masks or hidden identities had arisen, President was writing lyrics for what would end up being debut single In The Name Of The Father, pouring all his anxieties and struggles with religion and God into the song. Fast forward 18 months, a massive crowd were singing those same words back at him.
“They were singing In The Name Of The Father like they’d known it for 20 years,” he marvels. “I started crying when I came off-stage. It fucking broke me! I’d written that song before I’d really figured out how this was all going to fit together and play out. It was a note to myself, where I was and what I was going through.”
After Father…, President spent the next eight months working on the rest of the songs that make up the band’s debut EP, King Of Terrors. Keeping with the religious themes, the title is a biblical metaphor for death.
“It’s the ultimate marker – if there’s nothing after death then that changes everything about life, and the same is true if there is something,” he explains. “My uncle passed away a few years ago, and that was the first time I’d had someone die who was close to me when I wasn’t part of this religious thinking. It hit me really hard. So King Of Terrors sums up the journey I’ve been on.”
Although President started out as a solo project, it has since evolved into a fully fleshed band with drummer Vice, bassist Protest and guitarist Heist helping realise “a collaborative vision”, as the singer puts it. Speculation about the identities of its members was inevitable, but President doesn’t mind. Discussing some of the more outlandish theories, he grins and waves the whole idea away. “We’re never going to discuss or acknowledge our identities,” he shrugs.
As for the future, it’s anyone’s guess. The band’s first headline gig sold out in minutes and early next year they’ll open for Architects on a massive arena run around Europe. The singer hums thoughtfully, considering the future and decides on what he wants. “President is therapeutic, in a way,” he muses. “It’s turned into this safe space to explore things I didn’t think I could before. So I’m going to write a full-length pretty much immediately.”
The King Of Terrors EP is out September 26