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Electron are a modern metal band based in London, originally hailing from Portugal. The hard-hitting duo, Jason Payne (vocals, guitar) and Joanna Hyde (vocals, bass), have just released their new album Is This Worth Living For? and Jason joined us for a chat about the album, working with Benji from Skindred, and everything that you need to know about Electron.
For those who might be unfamiliar with Electron, what is the background on the band? How long have you been playing together, for instance?
We have been playing in different projects before. Sometimes it would coincide, like two of us being together in that project, other times worlds apart. I moved here 10 years ago to study music and pursue a career. And gradually I’ve met and shared bands with what later became the composition of Electron. So, even though the band was formed in 2022, we’ve ended up playing with each other before the formation of Electron. The project that really led to the formation of Electron was my Master’s in Music Performance project – Jason Payne & The Black Leather Riders. Something that started as a solo career, and for me to explore within an academic context, naturally evolved to a band, since the core foundation is the same.
In the UK, we often complain about acts not performing close by, and might have to actually travel for an hour to the next city; how difficult was it in Portugal to catch gigs by established international acts, and did that play a part in you relocating to London?
Well, I lived just 28/30min away from the center of Porto. I’ve managed to catch loads of cool gigs, like Steve Vai, Machine Head, Gojira at Hard Club (before they became this big band that they are today)… I can’t say that I had a shortage of opportunities of seeing bands that I was really into. However, my decision to move from there to London was based on what I wanted for my professional life. Having a career in music is already tough, extremely difficult to find success… Unfortunately, in my home country, it just adds up way too many more obstacles than what this industry already has for an emerging/underground act. And London is a great city – to meet people, to perform (tons of venues…), to create and nurture a fanbase… there’s a reason big gigs happen here and the majority of the industry is here. London can provide you with more opportunities, if you’re willing to work hard and take them.
How was the local music scene in Portugal? Who should we be looking out for?
There are great bands in Portugal, like Devil In Me, More Than A Thousand, Maledictus, Moonspell… The underground scene is great, you can go to small clubs and catch really cool acts, people who are just there doing it for the love of music and expecting nothing more in return, rather than the thrill and happiness of performing your own music live. In terms of the purest art form, the underground music scene in Portugal is amazing. Sadly, it really is incredibly hard to make money from music in Portugal – it’s hard everywhere, but for a metal band based in Portugal… I don’t like to use this word, but it’s almost impossible.
The stunning new album, Is This Worth Living For?, is out now – how long was the gestation period of the album, and what was it like? It’s quite a hard-hitting album that sounds like it didn’t come together overnight.
Well, we recorded this album almost two years ago and just waited until the time was right to drop it. It was definitely a test of our patience, resilience, and belief in the plan we set out to release it. And we can see that it’s paying off by the incredible reception it has been having.
Some songs took like a year or two to finish writing. For example, ‘Lie To Me’ was almost out because we couldn’t find the right chorus for the song (only until two months before the recording sessions started). The main thing we wanted to do here was to be able to capture it as what we would sound like playing it live. Yes, we did multi-track, but we played songs from beginning to end, minor changes here and then, and found a tone that we could relate to. It’s extremely important for us that our music represents honestly who we are and how we sound.
Any songs in particular give you restless nights?
Not really; we’re just happy to get to create and record them. Some songs did take more effort to turn out the way we wanted when we were writing them, but the feeling we get when we create a song is a feeling of happiness and ecstasy. We’ve never felt sad or miserable after writing a song or hearing a song we record. It’s just a journey, and something that represents a mood, an emotion, or something that we were experiencing at the time – but it always feels great when you work hard, finish writing a song, and get to hear it for the first time.
The always-amazing Romesh Dodangoda produced and co-engineered the album. What do you take from the experience of having someone as in-demand as Romesh in your corner?
We already worked with him on our EP “Hollow”. We absolutely love to record with him because he respects our vision, he’s there to help us getting the sound out of our heads, and he definitely pushes our limits for us to exceed what we can do.
The single Taken charted on the Kerrang Radio charts and was highlighted on the UK National Charts. Firstly, how mind-blowing was that? And secondly, the single features the mighty Benji Webbe from Skindred on vocals; where does the connection with Benji come from?
It actually never crossed our minds to have those things happening so soon. It’s great, I mean, there’s no other way to put it – I’m out of words to describe how crazy that was.
We love Skindred, we have their records, we’ve seen them live… And then when we record ‘Taken’, it was weird, because it felt like we could imagine him singing the song. So we pitched the track to him, and asked him if he’d like to feature there – you can never get things done if you don’t dare to dream and try something crazy.
He loved the song, and co-wrote lyrics with me, sent me a lot of ideas – that was unreal. To see one of my heroes working hard on a song we wrote… Damn! And in the end, you get ‘Taken’. It was an absolutely mind-blowing experience for us and hopefully for our fans.
What particular themes and issues does the album tackle? “Dying to Feel Alive” is our favourite at the moment; what can you tell us about that one?
Our album talks more about human connection, isolation, and existentialism, trying to find our place in this constantly changing crazy world… That track is a great example of the themes and emotions of this record, it’s like nowadays everyone’s so radical, society is polarised, and we all seem like automatic robots… We’re dying to feel, emotions, real connections, and alive.
“Insomnia” is another favourite; it’s less harsh, with huge hooks, but still totally slaps; what does this one tackle?
I think it’s one of the tracks that shows how Mark Tremonti and Alter Bridge really influence our style. ‘Insomnia’ talks about the state we find ourselves in at times, where it feels like we’re sleepwalking, waking up every day, but not really living that day. Sort of similar to ‘Dying To Feel Alive’, but it captures more the feeling of not being in control of our lives.
What do you hope the listener takes away from listening to Is This Worth Living For?
I hope fans take out a positive message from this record and that it ends up changing or helping them with what they may be experiencing in their lives. It’s a record that really tackles our mortality and desire to live, reflect, and feel. As Socrates said, “The unexamined life is not worth living”.
Whilst opening for AC/DC, Dave Grohl said, “Welcome to the childhood dream of mine.” Which band would be your childhood dream to open for?
I don’t feel like there’s any act in specific that we can say it’s our childhood dream. I mean, sure, supporting our idols, the people that inspire us to create music, will feel like a great accomplishment and great; but we really put more focus on us and what we can do. Our dream is ambitious and big: to get to headline arenas and always make a record that there is a strong message behind it.
The band have been announced for 𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐎𝐟 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐅𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐥 in May 2027; how crucial are these grassroots festivals where the vast majority of performers are smaller, independent bands?
It’s fantastic to have people who keep pushing underground acts to the masses and are helping our careers. For me, it’ll be a platform to showcase our music, our message, which is based on emotions and love… Hopefully, we can create amazing connections with the audience on that day.
What other plans for 2027 do you have for Electron?
We want to tour around the UK, and that’s happening to promote this record, and start touring Europe as well. We can’t wait for the first time that we will play in Germany, next year, at Mosh’N’May. And obviously, we’re already thinking about the next record and starting to write it.
Is This Worth Living For? is available now. The album is available here.
Electron will be touring Is This Worth Living For? across 2026 & 2027 and have announced a number of headline shows and festival dates across the UK and Europe. Dates are listed below and tickets are available here.
ELECTRON TOUR DATES
Oct 25th – Birmingham, Flapper
Nov 20th – Brighton, Daltons
Feb 5th – London, Cart & Horses
Feb 19th – Cardiff, Fuel
Mar 27th – Edinburgh, The Banshee
Apr 9th – Nottingham, Tap & Tumbler
Apr 24th – Essen, Mosh’N’May Festival
May 20th – Lincolnshire , Call Of The Wild Festival
All images, credit Rob Blackham of Blackham Images
