Profiler: Bringing Something New

It's been all change for Bristol nu metallers Profiler since we last spoke to them back in August 2024. Discover what's been happening as we catch up with frontman Mike Evans.

On the scene since 2020, Profiler has been responsible for a string of successful singles, a critically-praised EP, and an impressive debut album in the years since. Happiest performing live, we first met the band on the eve of their 2024 Bloodlines tour with Knife Bride and our mates Defects. In recent months they've been on the road with Vower, The Wayside, Whitechapel, and the mighty Northlane amongst others.

It has been a busy time for the Bristol boys, with the most significant development being that the band has now grown to accommodate two new members. Now a four-piece, Profiler comprises lead vocalist, founding member, and erstwhile guitarist Mike Evans; stalwart bassist Joe Johnson; and new boys Jacob Andrews on drums and Jay Remnants on guitar.

Profiler | Mike Evans, Jacob Andrews, Jay Remnants, Joe Johnson

Having thoroughly enjoyed our prior chat with Mike and Joe, we thought we’d do it again. Happily, Mike was able to make time for us, and, via the medium of FaceTime, we joined him in one of his favourite Bristolian coffee haunts to find out what the hell’s been happening to Profiler.

For multiple beasts, high-calibre shows, and finding your groove, read on!

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Hey, Mike. How are you doing?

MIKE EVANS － I'm very good, thanks. I'm just in Bristol, in a coffee shop. It's a very nice day. Got a day off, so yeah, feeling pretty good.

Marvellous. We want to chat about what Profiler's been doing since we last met. Back then, you were thinking about maybe adding to the band. How did that go?

Yeah, we decided to expand and get a guitarist in because I wanted to focus on just singing, and not playing guitar, to give me the opportunity to interact with the crowd more.

So, we found Jay, our new guitarist, who I interviewed here in Bristol. We were very lucky; he’s very good. We also held auditions to find a new drummer. We chose Jacob, who's pretty phenomenal. When people come see us live, they quickly realise how good he is.

With these guys we’ve definitely upgraded the sound of the band. And they’ve really fitted in well. We’re in a good place, live and band-wise. We actually feel more like a band than we ever have.

That’s great. Are you enjoying being unshackled from your guitar?

Yeah, definitely. With these last couple of shows we've done, especially, I've really confidently got into it. It’s great being ably to interact more with the crowd.

And it helps with singing control, like vocal control, because I'm able to just think about singing and not playing, which was, I think, affecting my vocals a little bit. And I can still hop on the guitar and play with Jay, which adds more variety to our shows, but I mainly sing now. It's working really well, thanks.

Has adding to the team changed the band?

Definitely, especially live. Everyone's individually very talented: Joe's a beast, Jake’s a beast, Jay's a beast. I've got a very talented group of people with me, which is really confidence-boosting. I can't take any credit for that; they’re just really good musicians.

How did you recruit Jay and Jacob?

Jay's someone I'd spotted on Instagram. He'd been following the band for quite a while. He's a really good guitarist and a nice guy. We chatted back and forth, and jammed a bit before asking him to join the band.

Jacob was in a couple of bands before Profiler. I didn't really know much about him until we interviewed him and saw him drumming. We knew immediately he was the guy; it was obvious.

Did it feel weird having two new boys on the team?

It was a little odd to start because none of us really knew each other. I think I found the first tour a little difficult, to be honest, just personally, because I'm quite an introverted guy. It felt kinda weird having these two new guys in the band. I didn't really know what to make of it.

But as time's gone on, and we've toured more, it feels more － I don't know how to describe it. It feels more connected. It now feels like we’re a band. Everyone’s really good at their disciplines, so it feels more professional too. There’s no drama. It feels good.

You also described yourself as introverted the last time we spoke. And you told us you get super anxious before shows, to the point of panic. Is it still like that?

Did I? Well, that's changed, a little bit. I think I was going through a phase of that. I’ve sort of overcome that fear. I've done some work on myself. Now I feel more comfortable up there on stage; I feel like I'm meant to be there.

There’s still an element of me that likes to be alone. You can’t be that on tour. It's okay for a period of time, but eventually, when you’ve literally not had a single second to yourself, you need to recharge. At that point I can start to get a little grumpy when I'm around people. It's not their fault; I just need to be alone. It’s part of who I am. I need to carve out personal time for myself. I think that’s pretty normal.

Have songwriting duties changed with the new lineup?

Everything written before this new music was written by me, but there are two songs on the new EP written by Joe. The stuff he’s been writing is really sick. He’s smashing it. Jay, our guitarist, will have more input on writing going forward, I’m sure.

And then Jacob's brought his drums. He’s definitely added a lot. His talent and skill has really brought our songs up a notch. Everyone’s bringing something new to the table. Our sound will continue to evolve.

Gotta keep moving forward. Please tell us more about the EP.

We're in the process of recording a six-track EP. Half of it's kind of there, and the rest we're working on over the next couple of months. It's by far the best music we've done, and by far the best production as well. If you listen to ‘Waste’ you can kind of hear what we're going into.

But that just kind of touches the surface. It's very heavy, it's very nostalgic, and yeah, I've never been so excited about the music we're doing. I'm very confident in how it's going to go for us over the next six months, and I think it will definitely turn some heads. It's not really intentionally being commercial; I just think we've found our sound and found our groove. We’ve kind of started to master our craft, at least a bit. It's cool, man. I think you'll like it.

We’re sure we will. It’s all coming together.

Yeah, it feels like everybody's in the right place. Honestly, it felt quite turbulent when we were doing the album. There were times I wasn’t really sure if I wanted to still be in a band. I did think about quitting. Maybe not seriously, but I had doubts. I mean, anyone who’s in a band for a period of time, it can get frustrating. You’re like, when is this going to happen?

But after doing the shows with Northlane, we’re all like, okay, this is possible, we can do this full time. Everyone’s very comfortable, very confident. We feel we’re going in the right direction.

For sure. You’ve done a few shows with Northlane. How did that feel?

We were all stoked when we got the confirmation. And the shows themselves were amazing. The Northlane guys were really hospitable, really welcoming.

It was pretty surreal chatting to them in the dressing room. I mean, I’ve been listening to them since I was 17, and now we’re playing with them. Very weird, but very cool.

Very, very cool. What did the Northland audience make of Profiler?

Everyone was really into it. The crowd interaction was great. I think maybe they were the best shows we’ve ever done. It was a very good feeling.

Maybe I expected to come away with more elation, but it really felt kind of normal and natural. I guess that’s a good thing. I mean, it was a massive high, but I felt comfortable doing it. I just want it to be like that all the time.

Your latest single ‘Waste’ came out last month. How’s that gone?

Very well, yeah. I had lower expectations, because we’re not with SharpTone now and we don’t have the same reach, but the response has been amazing. Very heartwarming. It’s got onto loads of playlists and had loads of great responses and comments. The fanbase online are really into it.

Honestly, I think it’s probably been the best response we’ve had to anything we’ve released, despite the fact we’ve done it independently. It’s been a real confidence boost, but it’s one song. I hope by the time the EP’s out, people will see what we’re doing and that we’ve definitely gone up a level.

Did you feel extra pressure with this release, as it’s the first in your new chapter?

We definitely thought about it a lot. Every song is different, and we wanted to put out a song that shows off our new sound. ‘Waste’ is not too heavy. Actually, it’s probably one of our most commercial songs. The next song’s much heavier.

Have you got a full release schedule planned?

Kind of. We're going to release a single every six or seven weeks. The next single will be out on 30 July, and then probably one at the beginning of September. We’re looking at dropping the EP probably this side of Christmas.

Can you tell us anything about the track dropping in July?

It’s like super heavy, and it’s gonna be good. Great melody! We want to mix things up and keep people guessing. Maybe they think we’re going in one direction, and then we release this one, and they’re like, oh, fuck, okay, maybe not. And then we release another, and they’re like, oh, that’s different. The new songs are all different, but when you put them together, it all sounds like us.

You mentioned earlier that you’re especially happy with the production this time. Is it the same production team?

No, we’re working with a different producer now. This time we were really analytic with who we chose. Joe knew a guy who produced a band we like, so we had a conversation. His name’s Tom Cory. He’s an independent producer. Very professional and very musically talented himself. He knows what he’s doing. He’s very thorough and very good at listening to what we want, and bringing the sound we want to life.

He’s made us sound more punchy, fatter sounding. In the metalcore, nu metal scene, it has to be overwhelming and in your face. It’s so important because it can make or break a band if you don’t get the production right. I’m so grateful for the producers we’ve worked with, and now we’ve got it right.

We’ve seen you’ve done a fair bit of touring in the last year. Where’ve you been?

Birmingham, Bristol, London, Manchester, Oxford, Milton Keynes, Glasgow, Brighton, not in that order. We did two small tours: one with Vower, one with The Wayside. That's when, as a band, we were getting to know each other and stuff, so that was cool. That's kind of where I feel the band solidified as a four-piece. We gelled.

That led to the two shows we had with Northlane. That was obviously a massive career highlight for us. I think we were all so ready for these gigs. We’re now in a place where we can take on those high-calibre shows and fit nicely on those bills. There was no nervousness there; we were all like, fuck yeah, we deserve to be here, we’ve worked really hard.

Damn straight. You’ve clearly had ten busy months. What else has changed?

We’ve taken more control of our branding and marketing now. I wasn’t particularly happy with how the album campaign went. It was maybe a bit too unfocussed and standard. Now we’re doing everything in-house.

We have strong branding for each single, with each one being colour-coded, based on the emotion of the song. We’re trying to create a lot of anticipation with the campaign, to get people behind it, to show what we can do, and to give the fans a good experience.

Do you enjoy that side of the music business － branding, marketing, etc.?

I do, yeah. I really enjoy Photoshopping and manipulating images, deciding on colours and fonts, and telling our story on Instagram. Joe’s doing everything video-wise.

We want to do this campaign right, with everything looking a certain way. It’s so important. Sometimes I can be a bit brutal about how I want things to look, but these days you have to get it right. You have to make a noise if you want to be heard.

So true. Beyond the singles and the new EP, what’s next for Profiler?

We’re now working with our booking agent to get on as many shows as we possibly can for 2026. We’ve put ourselves forward with some big names. Aim high! We’ll see where that goes, but we plan on doing a lot of shows.

Watch this space. Cheers, Mike. It’s been great to catch up. Really happy Profiler’s in such a good place. Thanks for your time. Any final words?

Cheers, it’s been good. I appreciate you guys reaching out.

Thanks to everyone who's checked us out, and for all the love we've received. We love that people are sticking with us, and that new people have discovered us with "Waste'. We're so grateful for the great response it’s had.

It’s a new era for the band and we’re really excited to show you what we’re up to.

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▶︎ ‘Waste’ by Profiler is streaming now on Spotify, Apple Music and elsewhere.

▶︎ Photography by Eyes Wide Photography