Graham Sayle, a longtime U.K. hardcore Punk devotee, fronts High Vis.
He and his bandmates faced difficult childhoods, dead-end jobs and saw friends and family members perish in a toxic environment. To Sayle Punk was “a vehicle for being pissed off.”
Formed in ’16, Hi Vis released their debut album, “No Sense No Feeling” three years later. According to Sayle the effort, with the track, “Walking Wires,“ sounded “angry, lost and erratic.”
Sayle then went into therapy, to work through past traumas, which he said was the best thing he’s ever done for himself. Concurrently, drummer Edward “Ski” Harper, was training to be a therapist – which aided Sayle’s process.
“People dying young, I never really dealt with that stuff,” Sayle added. “How you react to that comes out in the ways you end up coping with it.”
On their second album, “Blending,” Sayle changed his approach.
“I used to be angry and just directed it anywhere, whereas now I can understand and make sense of things and realize when anger can be put to good use,” he explained.
“In hardcore you can hide behind just shouting, ’cause anger’s an easy emotion to go to,” added Sayle. “I’d end up trying to be more tuneful – or more vulnerable, I guess is the term. It’s super liberating.”
Containing the title track and “Fever Dream,” the album, a Britpop-infused take on working-class consciousness was one of the most hyped U.K. Punk records of 2022.
In addition to Sayle and Ski, High Vis has bassist Rob Moss plus guitarists Martin MacNamara and Rob Hammeren.
