Sepsiss: A wild ride
Sepsiss is a multi Award-Winning female-fronted Hard Rock / Metal band from New England with the goal to help re-energize and unite more people to discover rock and music culture. Founding member Melissa Wolfe (voc) tells us more about this band from Manchester NH.
When and how did Sepsiss form, Melissa? Please tell us the story.
Sepsiss started back in 2011 when I met William Savant (guitarist / backup vocals). The two of us are the founders of the band. William had posted a craigslist ad that I had answered, and since we both had a lot of the same influences, I decided to meet up with him for a tryout. The tryout was a wild ride for me, especially since I had never traveled much out of my own town (being only 17 years old at the time). I met up with William in the middle of Manchester, NH, in this old basement that he was practicing in. To my surprise, there was a massive group of people down there spitting hip-hop verses on a new song they were creating. In my confusion, I looked at William asking him if this was indeed a metal tryout. He just laughed and took me in the other room where he then started shredding on the guitar. After seeing how masterful he was with his instrument, I was a bit nervous but still stuck with the tryout. I showed him some covers that I was able to sing plus some originals that I had in my back pocket. We both agreed in the end that we could accomplish something together with a bit of work. After a while, we continued our search for more members to join the band. We’ve actually been through about 29 bandmates since we first formed. Since then, we finally have the lineup that we’ve always dreamed of. We released our first full-length album “Almost 11” smack in the middle of the pandemic and we are currently writing our second album “Take The World By Swarm” as we speak, releasing new singles along the way. We also won “Best Hard Rock / Metal Act Of The Year” back in 2019 and a second time in 2021 for the New England Music Awards. I’m very much looking forward to a strong & bright future with Sepsiss.
Any favorite metal artists?
I can’t speak for the entire band, but some of my favorite metal artists include: Arch Enemy, Asking Alexandria, Axxis, Avenged Sevenfold, Dio, Pantera, Evanescence, Epica, Alesana, Ozzy, Disturbed, Slipknot, Korn, etc.
What inspires you to write your lyrics?
Incorporating a lot of familiar things while challenging myself to be confronted with unfamiliar things. This allows for expressive and emotional ideas and well balanced discovery, and also room for adventure.
Who does the band decide which tracks are selected for the album? Is this a group decision?
William organizes a lot of the music because we hired him as the creative coordinator of the band. However, it is to be understood that he does a good job organizing the rest of the band’s creative interests and appetite. Everyone in Sepsiss has a powerful voice with William as the administrator. Think of it more like departments.
What is the metal scene like in New England?
First of all, extremely talented and maybe too competitive for its own good. The internet tricked everybody into believing that they need to make perfect music. You would imagine that sharing information and technology online would encourage discovery and encourage independent bands to work closer.
What is the feeling from the audience at the live shows?
Naturally, it really helps if they’re familiar with the music. However, in many cases it’s the first time people have ever seen us. People are either losing their minds or they’re like deer in the headlights. Both are fine, as long as we’re not seeing people take a cigarette break during a set then we know we’re doing alright. We get a mixed reaction.
Any future plans and projects, like Sepsiss side projects?
No, not at this time. Nothing has been scheduled. However, you can find a lot of the band members featuring in a wide variety of projects.
Upcoming concerts:
24 Sep Boston tattoo convention Boston, MA
08 Oct Halloween Rock Party Providence, RI, FETE music hall
15 Oct Savage Ladies of Metal West Chicago, IL
05 Nov Swarmie Fest Manchester, NH
Interview: John Wisniewski, photo: Band
