Hiya folks thanks for joining us in the virtual RGM lounge today, grab a brew and take a seat.
What made you decide to start the band / become a soloist?
It was purely out of the absence of a previous project I’d been working on for a long time, it was the first real heartbreak that I ever experienced, and spending time not creating music just got to me so much, that I didn’t know how to keep going in my life if I didn’t continue as an artist, so I did!
Introduce us all to the members and your musical history?
On the bass we have Ollie, an absolute legend at rolling with the punches and keeping us all together, Jackson on Drums, the powerhouse who I look up to very much, and Daniel, or in-house song-shapeshifter and soundscape-creator on guitar.
What’s the best piece of advice you have received?
There’s so much it’s hard to pin it down to just one thing, I think during a real rough patch, just the reminder that all music you create is progress and working towards an ultimate goal, even if you’re not happy with a specific performance, or track, you’ll only improve in time.
Practice makes perfect, just explained in musical terms basically.
Did you buy anything you don’t need in the pandemic? If so what?
A lot of takeaways, really did not need the extra pounds.
Do you sign up to any conspiracy theories?
I don’t sign up to any necessarily, I find them very fun, but if you expect me to believe that Kermit the frog caused 9/11 like the muppets canon would have you believe, I think I’d be a very different person right now.
Seriously look it up though, it’s a genuine detail in one of the muppets movies, it’s not specifically said but, it’s there.
What useless party trick / talent do you have/?
I’m a bit boring in that regard, can wrap my tongue around my chin? Then again I’m not that much fun at parties, might be time to learn a new skill.
What was the most fun you have had on stage?
Definitely playing our tune “mma” at a local brewery near where we’re located, there was absolutely no stage so we were just playing on the floor while people were in the mosh pit around us and just sort of flocking around the stage where we were. Total bliss that was.
What was the worst experience on stage?
I threw a temper tantrum when I was 15 because I couldn’t get the bass amp to work midset, so we spent about 10-15mins to sort it out while I was just stood there complaining into the mic, total twat I was.
It was also in a church, so I decided to cuss in the songs proceeding the bass incident for the rest of the show, probably thought it was “metal” or something, but I was just a total twat for that one.
If you had to describe your band to an alien how would you describe them?
Zero clue, I have no idea how to speak alien.
Maybe I’d show them a photo of the scream by edvard munch or something, think they’d probably get it then…
What advice would you give someone going into the music industry?
You’re gonna get told no a lot, you never stop getting told no, but always cherish when someone says yes, it’s all progress innit
What’s your biggest achievement as a band/Artist?
It’s a really silly thing, but I’ve loved pinball from a very young age, and when we got to make our beer with boneface brewery, they got a pinball machine made with all of our artwork and everything on it. I don’t know, it’s just the little things like that, that impact my personal life more than my “music” life that always put a big smile on my face.
What makes you stand out as a band?
I think we’re a lot more honest musically and lyrically than other bands around at the moment, not to say anyone’s journey isn’t personal or dishonest, I just feel that we’re not nearly as afraid to go wherever we want to, no matter what people think.
Right now, what’s pissing you off the most?
I don’t know, maybe marvel movies or something, it’s just complicated and unnecessary shite.
I hear you have a new album brewing, what can you tell us about it?
Well, it’s got multiple songs on it, we really like it and it’s a bit heavier than the last one.
Nah but in all seriousness though, it’s a very personal concept album about takes place during a very important moment of self-growth and discovery, backed by some of the heaviest and prettiest tones we’ve ever produced, and I couldn’t be happier.
Talk me through the thought process of the /album?
Well, I think overall the album took about a year to write, and it was recorded in about less than two weeks, so everything went by like a bloody whirlwind, in saying that though, it was all very meticulously planned out from the get-go, what the song orders were, where the reprises for songs should sit, I don’t know how we did it, but I wouldn’t want it any other way.
What was the recording process like?
Our producer Greg orchestrated things tremendously. Usually, we’d start the day by just jamming the songs live while Scott (our engineer) recorded them from the control room. We’d sit around, take a listen, figure out what we liked and didn’t like, break the tracks apart, then start recording over what we did in the live takes. The beauty of it was, if we couldn’t get the same sound once we came back to track over it, we could just use the original, making a really nice and organic blend of raw live tracks and carefully thought out re-tracks, it makes the whole thing sound so alive in my opinion.
In between takes though we’d go and sit and play mortal kombat in the second control booth, if you asked me what I was pissed off about in January when we were making the thing, I definitely would’ve said being beaten by bloody everyone at that game.
Why record an album? A lot of artists are going down the road of regular singles, just interested in your thoughts on committing to an album right now.?
it’s just never felt right to any of us, we’re all storytellers and we love the idea of creating a whole project with flow and dynamics rolling between. There’s barely a time I will just listen to playlist, and that goes for the band too. We love albums, so might as well do what we love when we make music too.
What was the biggest learning curve in writing the album?
It was definitely to tie the album together in a much grander way, especially in comparison to the first one. There was massive importance in our dynamics, not just in a single song, but between each track itself. I like to think we’ve thrown a bunch of different influences into the album, and giving each or some influences a song to shine on felt very important too, every song exists in it’s own soundscape, while helping to tell the bigger story.
Would you change anything now it’s finished?
Oh god, I’ll be up all night worrying if I attempt to answer this one!
What are your plans for the year ahead?
Very soon, we’re going to be heading over the dich to see our Australian cousins to play a handful of shows across the central coast, then coming back to finish the tour in our home country. The beautiful people in the band radicals will be joining us for the whole journey, and the excitement of being able to play outside of our own country is really starting to ramp up now!
Is there anything else you would like to share with the world?
I watched the spongebob squarepants movie last night, not much more to add to it than that, but just thought I’d let you know.
Thanks for doing us today folks, all the best and keep in touch.