SEAN DURBIN - TROY THE BAND / INNER DOG
One of London's most amorphous heavy bands went into their second album with one plan, but came out of it having shed a skin entirely.
Troy The Band are a London four-piece who carve out a sound that sits somewhere between doom, shoegaze and noise rock. Their debut album Cataclysm came out just two short years ago but when recording the follow-up second album ‘(des)’ they found themselves parting ways with their vocalist, opting to recruit various guest vocalists to finish it. This is what got my attention. I’d heard about their predicament from Caine Hemmingway (Believe in Nothing), who himself had been recruited for a couple of tracks. I found the new tracks and the diversity and talent in the varying vocal styles fascinating so I wanted to get the full story.
Sean Durbin (bass) breaks it down in this interview. Since we’re both called Sean, I’ll break from my normal format and call myself MS (Mercy Signal, duh) to try and avoid confusion. The band actually has two Seans and I’ve proposed that they let me join on glockenspiel to make it a hat trick. They said they’ll get back to me.
MS: When did you guys first start? Did progress get scuppered by Covid? Who was the instigator? And were you guys in other bands before Troy The Band?
Sean: The band was instigated by me (bassist Sean Durbin). We weren’t scuppered by Covid, and in fact (like a lot of projects around that time) were kind of propelled by it because that was a period when we had the time to slow down and work on ideas.
I had only been living in the UK for a little over a year by the time Covid came around so I was barely finding my feet when everything went into lockdown. I used that time to work on a lot of ideas which turned into some of our first songs. My flatmate at the time was our original drummer, Dan England, and so when lockdown started to ease we began rehearsing and looking for additional members which eventually became the lineup that was on our EP and first album, Cataclysm.
Our original drummer had been in quite a few bands in Nottingham. His replacement, Jack Revans used to be in the band Orbital Junction. Both Seans (Durbin and Burn) were transplants to London so this was their first London band, but have played in other projects previously.
MS: I want to jump right ahead because Caine (Believe in Nothing) briefly told me the story at the end of last year about how you just recorded an album without a singer. Can you tell us about that whole situation?
Sean: Sure, so I guess the story is a little more complex than that. We actually did record the album with our original vocalist. However, for a variety of reasons, it was not working out with him, and after a bit of deliberation we made the decision to relieve him of his role in the band. Changing vocalists is obviously a pretty substantial change in a band, but from our perspective since the creative direction of this band has always been driven by the three of us (Sean, Sean, and Jack) it was less of an issue.
However, since we had all the music recorded rather than go through the process of auditioning for a new vocalist to come in and write their own lyrics and melodies to an album’s worth of music that they had no part in, we decided to take a different approach which is where the guest vocalist concept came in.
Caine was a contributing factor because even before we made the decision to part ways with Craig, we sent two tracks to Caine that we were going to release as B-sides for him to put vocals to. When they came back we were nearly in tears because they went from being some of our least favourite tracks we had done. So we felt that if Caine could elevate these tracks in such a way, that maybe others could too.
MS: With multiple vocalists contributing to the album, how did you approach matching the right voice to each song? Did any of the collaborations take the music somewhere unexpected?
Sean: Matching vocalists to the album was done in a pretty organic way. We had a list of people we wanted to work with on the album, but didn’t define which song or songs really. Instead we shared the album of instrumentals with them and let them select which track(s) they wanted to contribute to.
Amazingly most people chose ones that others had not. At one point in time there was going to be two versions of one song, as two different vocalists had chosen it. But in the end, one of them decided it was not working for them and moved on to a different track from the album.
MS: How are you planning to translate the album’s multiple vocalist approach on stage?
Sean: We have a show booked at the Black Heart on the 18th of July where all the guest vocalists are going to join us to do their tracks. But that will be a one off event because it is obviously not logistically possible to tour with 8 or 9 vocalists.
So the primary future of the band in its live iteration will be with our new permanent vocalist, Ana-Maria Terr Bordei, who did the song Adoration of ill Luck for the album, and with whom we really gelled nicely, so that has been an easy and exciting transition.
MS: The album track with Ana-Maria - ‘Adoration of ill Luck’ - is absoutely stunning. Is it a relief to have a permanent vocalist locked in? And how did the decision making process work in terms of working out that Ana-Maria would end up becoming a permanent fixture in the band?
Sean: Thank you! It is definitely a relief to have a permanent vocalist locked in. When we were conceptualising the collaboration album, we had the idea of drip feeding the tracks across 8 or 9 months to give us time to find someone permanent. We also had open minds about all the vocalists that were contributing to the tracks and whether they might be a fit as a more permanent fixture.
In terms of working out that Ana would become a permanent fixture, it came down to a few variables. The main one being that she is an excellent vocalist and front woman, and just brought an energetic enthusiasm to the recording process that had been missing. So we felt this was the kind of energy that we wanted and needed for the band. So we invited her to come and it was a mutually agreed trial period but after the first one or two rehearsals we all knew that this was the right fit, and we’ve just been churning out new material since.
MS: How does the decision affect the ‘versions’ of those songs now captured on the album? E.g. when live audiences anticipate seeing some demented guy screaming in their face but instead get these beautiful womanly vocal melodies?
Sean: When we first started rehearsing with Ana we let her choose a bunch of the tracks from the collaboration album to work on and do her own versions of. And she smashed them. But also already had so much new material written that we’ve ended up focusing on that for our live set. If they are anticipating Caine, or Jake, any of the other guests on the album they will have to wait for special occasions (such as the show we played last night in Brighton where Jake joined us for his track off the album). I’d like to get Ana to do her own version of some of the album tracks because they are great, but we will have to see how things shape up.
MS: Having just seen you play with Ana on vocals in Brighton, I have to ask… is there any urgency to show her off with more new material imminently, or are you just letting the collaborative album breathe for a while and worry about it next year?
Sean: The set we played at Blight Fest, and will continue to play is pretty much all new (post collaborative album) material, apart from Adoration of Ill Luck, and Nothing which we performed because Jake was there. We have about another album’s worth of new material written with Ana, and that’s predominantly what we are playing live. I think we are pretty eager to show it off and record it pretty soon, but don’t want to rush it too much. It’s nice playing it live and seeing how audiences react to some of the unreleased stuff.
MS: Do you guys pay attention to the stats and algorithm shit you’re supposed to be an expert in when uploading music digitally these days? And does it feel ballsy to put out a vinyl LP in 2026?
Sean: Not really. We keep a general eye on the number of listens on various platforms. Spotify, and Spotify plays seem to be getting less relevant these days which I’m happy about. I guess releasing vinyl is definitely a risk, but its the medium that I like to consume music on, and I hope enough people will want to consume ours on vinyl when we put it out. It’s nice to have a physical artefact. I’m so proud of this album that I’ll be happy to risk losing money on pressing vinyl just to ensure I can have a copy of my own.
MS: I feel like the pandemic’s removal of live music coupled with the Spotify stranglehold means there’s an insatiable appetite for loud, live, real music again. Is this something you have witnessed? And if so do you think it runs deeper in terms of our identities, our tribes, and a craving for authenticity?
Sean: I don’t really know. I personally like going to see live music, because it’s a social event as well as a pleasant aural experience. I guess that’s what you mean by tribes and identities. We live in a neoliberal age where everything is hyper-individualised and it’s possible to exist with minimal social interaction as well, which is hard. But live music and music subgenres that have a particular identity to them are great ways to cultivate modern forms of community with people that we have some common bond with. It’s nice knowing that I can go to a show in London by myself and know that I will see at least a handful of people I know to socialise with.
MS: Do you align yourselves with particular ideologies, or movements or music genres, or are you happy to stand apart, or carve out your own space entirely?
Sean: Musically, I like to think we transcend easy definition or pigeonholing into a particular genre, and our musical backgrounds and influences are definitely diverse. This is also one of the reason I chose the name for the band because it’s unusual and it defies easy understanding of what genre it might be, which means that we can be a bit more fluid with the music that we make.
MS: Tell us about your other band Inner Dog. How did it come about? And do you adopt the same approach that you have with Troy The Band or is it a less regimented affair?
Sean: Inner Dog is a new posthardcore band that I tried out for and joined just before Christmas last year and it’s come together really quickly and we’ve been able book quite a few shows for 2026 already which is really exciting. For me this is a much more straightforward affair since I just play bass in the band and contribute to song ideas here and there. Whereas in Troy The Band, I do most of the initial song writing/idea development, as well as the booking and other admin. So from that perspective Inner Dog is very relaxed for me as I just need to make sure I know what I’m playing and turn up on time. But I guess I take any project I’m involved in seriously and aim to do my best all the time. It’s a super fun project for me, and I love the energy of it.
MS: To sign off is there anything else you want to say?
Sean: I think I’d just like to say a big thank you to all the vocalists and everyone else involved in helping us make this album what it is, and also for their friendship - especially to Caine Hemmingway, Wayne Adams, and Peter Holland who have been exceptional sources of support and encouragement.
More info
https://troytheband.com
https://troytheband.bandcamp.com/
https://www.instagram.com/troy_the_band