There is something immediately interesting about a band that does not see a song as the end of the story.
For Colchester-based Measure for Measure, the music is only one part of a wider creative world built from heavy guitars, dark fiction, visual storytelling and a set of influences that stretch from Evanescence and Linkin Park to Dream Theater and musical theatre.
The band were recommended to Imminent Infinity as one of the local acts we needed to hear, and after speaking directly with vocalist Heidi, it quickly became clear that there is much more going on here than a straightforward rock project.
Music, literature and a darker world
Measure for Measure grew from two of Heidi’s biggest passions: music and literature. She has a degree in literature and writes dark, gothic stories alongside the band’s lyrics, with the two sides increasingly feeding into one another.
Rather than keeping those stories separate from the music, the plan is to bring them together visually. The band’s videos are intended to depict elements of the fictional worlds behind the songs, while Heidi also hopes to publish a collection of short stories under the Measure for Measure name.
It is an idea that gives the band plenty of room to develop. A release does not simply have to be a track and a video; it can become another chapter in something larger.
A creative partnership years in the making
At the centre of the project is the long-running writing partnership between Heidi and Wayne. The pair met nearly seven years ago and have been writing together ever since, although the full band only began taking shape around a year and a half ago.
Heidi generally starts the songs on piano and handles the lyrics and vocals, while Wayne writes guitar and drum parts, records and produces the music at his studio, Unit One Studios in Colchester, and also plays drums in the band. They are joined by Marcus and AJ.
That mixture of personalities and influences is part of what makes the project interesting. Literature is central to Heidi’s writing, alongside the alternative and rock bands she grew up with — including Evanescence, Slipknot and Linkin Park. She also describes musical theatre as probably her biggest musical influence, something she expects to become increasingly apparent as more material is released.
Wayne, meanwhile, brings a strong progressive rock and metal background, with bands such as Dream Theater among his influences.
On paper, that is a lot of different worlds to pull together. In practice, that contrast may be exactly where Measure for Measure find their identity: dark alternative rock on one side, progressive instincts on another, and a theatrical storytelling streak running through the middle.
Murder in the Streets
The band’s first single, Murder in the Streets, arrived on 25 September and serves as the opening glimpse into what they are building.
It is not just a debut single but the beginning of the band’s storytelling approach, with its accompanying music video depicting the opening part of a gothic story written by Heidi. Future visuals are planned to continue exploring the fictional side of the project.
The response locally has been encouraging, and for a band only just beginning to put its recorded material into the world, it feels like a strong starting point.
Listen to Murder in the Streets on Spotify.
Watch the Murder in the Streets video on YouTube.
What comes next
Measure for Measure are not wasting much time before the next chapter. Visuals for their next single, Pendulum, are due to be filmed at the end of October, with the band hoping to release the track in December.
There have also been some recent changes to the band’s line-up, which is why new band photography is still to come, but the direction of the project itself is becoming clearer.
There is ambition here, but more importantly there is an identity beginning to form around the band. Measure for Measure are not simply trying to release a run of disconnected rock songs. They are attempting to create a world around them — one where music, fiction and visuals all have a part to play.
That makes them exactly the sort of grassroots artist Imminent Infinity wants to follow from the beginning.
We’ll be following up with Measure for Measure in a forthcoming interview, digging further into the band’s songwriting, the stories behind the music, Pendulum and what comes next.
