NO HEROES ISSUE 10 – ALL AUSTRALIAN ISSUE

Editor-In-Chief: Sarah Petchell Photo Editor: Craig Nye Content Editor: Lindsey Cuthbertson Music Editor: Oliver Cation All layouts by Cooper Brownlee and Sarah Petchell Words: Sarah Petchell, Lindsey Cuthbertson, Oliver Cation, Dave Drayton, Thomas Hill, Sophie Benjamin Photos: Chris Cooper, Ben Clement, John Hatfield Cover: Break Even Photo: Ben Clement This Page ... Photo by Chris Cooper The views and opinions expressed in No Heroes are not particularly those held by the publishers.

All content is Copyright to No Heroes 2011 For information including contributing, advertising and general comments, email: info@noheroesmag.com www.noheroesmag.com

ISSUE TEN

Editor’s Letter ... p.6 Soundwave 2011 ... p.8 Frenzal Rhomb ... p.10 House Vs Hurricane ... p.12 Fires Of Waco ... p.16 Break Even ... p.22 Pushover 2011 ... p30 Miles Away ... p.32 Robotosaurus ... p.40 Coerce ... p.44 Totally Unicorn ... p.46 Heroes For Hire ... p.48 Bands You’ve Never Heard Of ... p.50 Obituary: The Gifthorse ... p.54

ED’S LETTER

PHOTO: CHRIS COOPER

Last month I watched Defeater perform in the flesh after spending countless hours listening to their records. Not many bands captivate like they used to. But with their jaw dropping musicianship and Derek Archambault’s lyrical narratives, Defeater has me genuinely excited, and reminds me of the potential that bands coming out of hardcore can often possess.

But I don’t have to look very far to find bands that get me excited anymore, and that is what this issue is all about.

The tenth issue of No Heroes is a celebration in several ways.

The obvious one is that after several years of hard work and dedication, No Heroes has made it to issue number 10.

The second reason is what I spoke about earlier: there are a lot of bands coming out of Australia right now that stand toe to toe with the best international bands. Issue 10 celebrates that Australian talent by covering nothing less than 100% home grown bands, artists and festivals.

It’s so pleasing to see a throwaway idea I had while walking to the train station late last year finally come to fruition. The bands that you will find inside these digital pages are all those that us here at No Heroes are genuinely stoked on. But not only that, these are bands whose talent and significance to the Australian punk and hardcore community transcends that of personal appreciation.

Gracing the cover is Western Australia’s Break Even. They’re about to head into the studio to record the follow-up album to The Bright Side, and if it contains as much passion and meaning as its predecessor, it’s going to be a phenomenal addition to the history of Australian hardcore.

Break Even’s fellow Western statesmen Miles Away also sit down to give us a wide-ranging and insightful interview into their career so far and what helped influence to write their newest album Endless Roads, which is in many ways the band’s magnum opus.

Pardon the pun, but Brisbane’s Fires Of Waco have been burning up stages all around the country with their impassioned live performances over the past couple of months, and debut album Old Ghosts Never Sleep will be doing the same thing to home stereos over the course of the coming year.

As well as features on Frenzal Rhomb, Coerce, House Vs Hurricane, Robotosaurus, a review of the Soundwave Festival, and a tribute to the now deceased The Gifthorse, issue 10 is a glowing celebration of the best of modern day Australian punk and hardcore music.

The best thing about No Heroes is that we aren’t influenced by advertisers or outside influences. We cover the bands that we personally feel an affiliation with, and in the world of music writing that opportunity doesn’t come about very often.

So I hope that you enjoy reading this issue as much as we’ve enjoyed writing it.

Lindsey Cuthbertson

SOUNDWAVE 2011 PHOTOS: JOHN HATFIELD

TRASH TALK FUCKED UP

THE AMITY AFFLICTION

H2O

QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE

IRON MAIDEN

THE BRONX

ONE DAY AS A LION

IT’S A BIT HARD TO PREDICT THE THINGS YOU’RE GOING TO HEAR WHEN YOU TALK TO SOMEBODY FROM FRENZAL RHOMB. IT’S EVEN AN UNUSUAL DAY TO SPEAK WITH VOCALIST JAY WHALLEY – IT’S WORLD QUALITY DAY, CREATED WITHOUT A HINT OF HUMOUR TO ‘PROMOTE AWARENESS OF QUALITY AROUND THE WORLD’.

Naturally, the irony of all this isn’t lost on Whalley. “Shit, is this going against the rules of World Quality Day by interviewing Frenzal Rhomb? It doesn’t

sound like it would be in the parameters.”

One of Australia’s most prolific punk acts, the boys have been relatively quiet these past few years as careers and families get in the way. Whalley himself is in the first year of fatherhood; he’s just moved into a new inner-west Sydney pad with partner and baby.

To celebrate the domestication of the wild, dreadlocked punk frontman, I have the honour of discovering his latest purchase. “I bought this secondhand lawnmower from some house over in Punchbowl,” he says. “It’s very exciting for me; I’ve never had a lawnmower.

So yeah, suburban splendour here.”

As a result of his expanding family, Whalley has a couple of other firsts - he’s picked himself up a driver’s licence and a 1984 Suzuki Swift. “It’s a real zippy little town car, a thousand bucks with a year’s worth of rego and new tyres. Ten times the expense of the lawnmower, but it’s probably got the same engine in it.”

Though they probably won’t be driving the Swift, the road is exactly what Frenzal Rhomb are hitting, headlining around the country to raise awareness for victims of bird attacks, and (as the press release states) to sell their range of hand-made neopolitan ice cream container helmets to concerned and/or injured fans.

FRENZAL RHOMB

WORDS: SCOTTY HARMS

Prior to this the quartet had played on all dates of the No Sleep Til festival. “Our manager booked the festival, so he just put us on it - we didn’t have a choice really,” he says, going on to mention Descendents as his must-see. But who does he rate from the new school - the current crop of punk and hardcore bands that, as opposed to Frenzal Rhomb, seem to take themselves so seriously?

“I was actually listening to a band from Newcastle the other day called Spew Your Guts Up, and they’re awesome. They’ve got no shoes between them, they’re punk as fuck and they’re about 15 years old,” he says.

“There’s lots of good bands around, you just never hear about them on the radio and

stuff. But I think that’s a worse thing in a way; it’s always the worst bands that get played on the radio.”

brutal, but everyone listening is up at that time as well, so you feel like a dickhead whinging about it.”

Frenzal Rhomb have even brought this theory into practice; a very public on-air spat on Sydney’s 2DayFM in 2004 between Kyle Sandilands and Whalley resulted in the band being blacklisted from Austereo playlists (“Youtube it man,” he tells me).

And it seems it’s not only bakers, tradies and milkmen who are up at that hour lighting up the switch; the pair also got their fair share of unairable callers. “You’d get calls from mental institutions and you have to be really careful not to put them to air, because some of them are not the most interesting people out there,” he says. “We’re not trained as psychologists, so I don’t wanna make them worse.”

As the only member of Frenzal who’s seen its beginnings, Whalley has a very tongue-incheek response when asked who’s pulling the most weight in the band. “Oh, it’s me, it’s me.

It’s only me, yeah. Definitely me, fuckin’ hell,” he jokes. “The other guys are fuckin’ hopeless! Fuckin’ hopeless. You’ve got Gordy, he can hardly stand up - and when he is standing up you can’t tell, because he’s so short. Lindsey? He lives in outer space somewhere.

“I’d like to say it’s something we all play a part, but it’s really not – it’s all me. I come up with everything; I come up with the drums, I come up with all the bass, I’ve showed Lindsey how to play guitar, I’ve showed Gordy how to play drums, I design all the merchandise, I book all the shows, I do it all.”

As Jay and The Doctor, Whalley and McDougall’s two-year stint on Triple J’s breakfast show gave the pair a chance to attack radio in a different way – even the early starts were quickly defeated. “I rode my bike and it pretty much took me eleven minutes to get there, so I pushed it to ten-past-five to get on-air at six,” Whalley says. “It’s

McDougall now appears on Triple J’s drive time slot and still does TV work for the ABC, possibly the catalyst for the guitarist’s currently conservative – or at least, less punk – appearance. “He was in the house the other day wearing a ponytail and he really looks a bit creepy, but quite nice,” Whalley describes. “He could almost be like a motivational speaker or something like that, but he can’t really speak properly, so that wouldn’t work.”

Of course, keeping up appearances is not a problem for Whalley, who still retains his trademark dreadlocks. “They’re in pretty bad shape,” he says.

“But because they’re on my head, I can stop thinking about it – so I just don’t look at them.”

And when they dangle in your face? Whalley gives a very Frenzal answer to that one.

“That’s only when I’m on stage, and that’s like once every two years – the rest of the time I don’t think about it.”

WORDS: SARAH PETCHELL – PHOTOS: BEN CLEMENT

house vs hurriC

Cane

WHEN YOU’RE IN A BAND, THERE ARE ALWAYS GOING TO BE THE HIGHEST OF HIGHS AND THE LOWEST OF LOWS. I DOUBT ANY BAND IS AN EXCEPTION TO THIS RULE, AND IF THE PAST YEAR OR SO IS ANY INDICATION, THE SAME IS TRUE FOR MELBOURNE’S HOUSE VS HURRICANE.

In the past year or so they’ve toured on the back of a debut album that they’re not quite happy with, but have been able to tour Australia multiple times on the back of it as well as embark on their first European tour.

They parted ways with arguably one of their core members – keyboardist Joey Fragione. But at the same time, they’re feeling as positive as ever about the future direction of their music, writing and recording again, and where the path of being in this band will take them next.

No Heroes spoke to guitarist/vocalist Ryan ‘Riz’ McLerie about everything that has been going on in the HVH camp since the last time we spoke to the band.

At the time they were on tour with Your Demise playing headline at some of the biggest venues of their careers to date.

For example, they played to a pretty packed Metro Theatre in Sydney, Fowlers in Adelaide and a day and a night show at

the Corner Hotel in Melbourne.

“Perth and Adelaide were like mental good. Both shows were pretty much sold out,” Riz begins the interview, citing how this tour has had its ups and downs. “We lucked out on [the Sydney show]. This was the show that I was most worried about because it’s the biggest venue on the tour and the biggest Sydney venue we’ve ever played. I’m beyond happy with tonight’s show and the turn out.”

The last time that I spoke with you guys, I spoke with Chris [Dicker, vocals] about 18 months ago. So give us a quick run down of what’s been happening between then and now.

“The last 18 months have been crazy and challenging. We’ve done a lot of touring since the album [their debut album, Perspectives] came out and we’ve had a lot of stuff happen.

“The album sort of really didn’t do what we wanted it to do.

The production wasn’t where we wanted it to be. But we had to put it out. We had spent all this money on it, and had gone to America to record it. Even though it wasn’t quite what we wanted, our label said that it had to be put out, so we had to.”

Is that a really shit feeling?

Having to put out something that you’re not really stoked on.

“It is the worst feeling ever. We were all really devastated. We got to a point with the producer that we were using, where he couldn’t spend any more time on it, because he had other bookings and it was over Christmas and New Year’s. He worked New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day on our record. Then we decided that we wanted to get it remixed, which happened in Melbourne over the Christmas holiday period and it was just mental. We had to have it out by March because we had a tour already booked to launch it.

“So we basically just had to get it done some how. That was just what we had to do and as a result we have learned so much. So while it has kind of been bad, the learning curve was good.”

What is some the stuff that you learned?

“To always be prepared for anything that can happen. And to try and make wise decisions wherever you can – don’t just go for a name or a reputation, but make as educated a decision as you can. Also, have a strong feeling of how you want your record to sound and make sure that the person you choose can deliver on that.”

Has it motivated you now to get back in there, start preparing new material to record again?

“Totally. The stuff that we have been writing is way different to what we’ve done previously and super exciting for us. Obviously there are less keyboards because of the whole situation

with Joey – we’re still going to have keyboards in the band, but just not so much as before and instead as more of a background thing.

“We’re all really excited about the new songs and playing them. We just want to hear them over and over.”

Has there been a change in sound?

“Definitely. From Forfeiture to Perspectives there was a big change and it looks like that will the case again. I think the new record, from the way it’s sounding so far, it’s not going to be as technical, but instead a little simpler and probably a little heavier, with the production reflecting that as well.”

You mentioned already that you guys toured Europe late last year. What was that experience like for you guys?

How were you received by the audiences over there?

“The European tour was absolutely crazy! We had some

shows where there were more people in the bands than there were paying to see the show, and then some were just nuts big. So it was really kind of hit or miss. It was good for us as a band. It was humbling to go over there and play to no one when we’ve been so lucky and blessed to play here and have loads of people come to our shows.

“I think we really made progress getting our name out over there and getting a bit of notice and people talking about us a little bit, so some of the big shows were beneficial for that. But some of the smaller shows were as well, just in terms of attitudes within the band.”

I guess also the networking aspect would have been great in laying inroads for you to head back as well.

“Yeah, we’ve had two or three different offers to go back and tour, but our timeframe doesn’t work for that. We just want to write and get a new CD out.”

WORDS: LINDSEY CUTHBERTSON – PHOTOS: JOHN HATFIELD SOMETIMES A BAND JUST HAS IT. YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT IT IS, NOR CAN YOU DESCRIBE IT. BUT YOU KNOW THAT IT’S THERE, LURKING BENEATH EVERY POWER CHORD, RHYTHMIC FLURRY AND URGENT VOCAL LINE. WHEN A BAND HAS IT, THEY CAN BECOME ANYTHING FROM SCENE LEADERS TO PIONEERS OF A GENRE OR A MOVEMENT. OR THEY MAY NOT BECOME ANYTHING MORE THAN A GROUP OF MATES SWEATING IT OUT IN CRAMPED VENUES EVERY WEEKEND IN THEIR HOME TOWN. EITHER WAY, THE IT FACTOR IS WHAT SEPARATES A BAND FROM ITS PEERS IN A VERY BIG WAY. * It’s a Saturday night in Brisbane, and Fires Of Waco are playing a hometown show in a dingy and claustrophobic room.

Vocalist Allan Reid’s head occasionally bobs up above the maelstrom of movement at the front of the stage. One minute his head appears stage-left, then the next it’s stage-right. In the corner, guitarist Stevie Scott stands in the shadows and attacks his instrument with a silent fury. Standing just by the drum riser is bass player Ryan Sim, whose voice becomes a roar whenever he nears a microphone.

Fires Of Waco plough through their set and finish to an appreciative round of applause.

The crowd filters away from the stage and heads outside for some fresh air. And all the while, friends walk past in groups and look at each other with an expression on their face that says far more than any words can. What their faces say is that Fires Of Waco has it, and more people are realising that by the day. * The members of the Brisbane post-hardcore group don’t lose that special something once removed from their instruments.

Sitting down in a quiet food court in Brisbane’s busy Queen Street mall, Reid, Scott and Sim (the band is rounded out by drummer Luke Gal and guitarist Christian Ceccato) spend the first few minutes laughing just as much as they do talking.

It doesn’t take long to recognise where the musical chemistry of the band comes from. The three members bounce off each other’s thoughts and experiences with the confidence that can only come from harbouring a close bond.

In many ways, Fires Of Waco is a phoenix that slowly arose from the ashes of other bands: Reid is well known for fronting prominent hardcore outfit Just Say Go! in the early-to-mid 2000’s: Scott’s previous band was the melodic punk band The Gifthorse; and while Sim juggles bass duties in Fires Of Waco with being the creative focal point of chaotic metalcore band Marathon, he also cut his teeth in many bands including Values Here and Lorna Slaven.

You could argue that fate has

drawn all three members to where they are today, and with some of the messages that underpin the band’s debut album, Old Ghosts Never Sleep, Reid, Scott and Sim would probably agree with you.

Fires Of Waco do not shy away from delivering a message with their music.

When our conversation turns to the political nature of their music, all three members express a desire to make their “A lot of the idea behind that first audiences think deeper about song [on the album] [‘No Man’s social issues. Where once this Land’] is that if you don’t recog- was a core element of hardcore nise the past and acknowledge music, Sim and Scott both see it things that have gone wrong in starting to fall by the wayside in the past, then you can’t rectify recent years. them in the future. You’ll keep going in this non-directional “I remember when I was in high course that doesn’t steer toschool you had bands like Rage wards making those sorts of Against The Machine - and situations into better ones and even to a lesser extent Goldfinprogress towards not necesger - who were outwardly politisarily a solution, but towards a cal and very outspoken about better functioning and underthings. Maybe people growing standing of what happened in up and going through High the past,” Reid says articulately. School now, which is where you really start to get into music, “On another level it applies to there’s nothing like that. the whole band as well. We’ve all been in different bands be“And I think that one is influencfore and done things in the past ing the other and is creating that people eventually grow this cycle that if there aren’t any out of, like hardcore and doing bands engaging with people on bands, but for us it’s something a political level kids aren’t going that we want to keep doing and to care about that, which means it’s something we enjoy.” that new bands coming out aren’t going to find something Scott nods his head and like that as a point of appeal,” agrees. “It doesn’t sound like muses Sim. a hardcore record. There are all these underlying influences “Locally there’s a sense of that we all have that we can’t trying to avoid that. Everyone escape; even thought it doesn’t wants to go out and get hamsound like straight up hardcore, mered and drunk and have a that stuff is always going to be good time, and all the bands there. want to seem like they’re the soundtrack to that kind of vibe.

“Those are the old ghosts as For us, it’s a case of feeling like, well. There are also a lot of ‘I don’t give a fuck what you personal themes: we’re touchthink, we’re going to say what ing on things that have bothered we want now,’” says Scott. us all for a long time but now we “And we’re definitely not here have the balls to actually come to be a soundtrack to people out and fucking say it because getting drunk. Hardcore’s not we have each other,” he says. meant to be about that. It’s meant to be challenging, and “Every single song on the reit was never meant to be frat cord is an interpretation of that party music.” title. You can extract something from each song that can relate * to it,” concludes Sim. Stevie Scott moved to Australia And it’s true. While the Old from Scotland as a 22 year old Ghosts Never Sleep can be punk rocker with experience taken as a personal and musitouring Europe in previous cal metaphor, it can be conbands in his home country. He strued as a political one as well. threw himself into the Brisbane

punk rock community, and in the space of five years has established himself as one of the most creative and unique musicians in it.

“Stevie’s very committed to the songs that we write. We all are in our own way, but Stevie can agonise over them at times, and that’s something that I’ve never been able to do,” Reid says.

Scott turns to Reid with a look of mock disgust on his face.

“Agonise?” he asks. “What do you mean?”

“You know what I mean,” Reid says grinning, “Don’t take it the wrong way. You get the best out of the song by…”

“Freaking out about it?” Scott and Reid laugh at the joke before Reid turns back to me and continues his explanation.

“He gets the best out of the song by playing with it, adding to it, taking away from it and trying different effects; where for me writing songs at home, if it takes more than a few days to realise that I like a song I can’t deal with it. So to see that process with Stevie has made me realise this different element of songwriting that I’ve never challenged myself to do.”

Sim admires Scott as a musician for similar virtues. “Stevie and I really lock in musically.

The chemistry that I have with him is something that I’ve never had with anyone else. The Gifthorse was one of my favourite bands and Stevie can write a fucking song.

“But the fact that he’s willing to deconstruct songs that he’s written or something that he’s listened to, and just write something completely new from all of these parts that are familiar to us all is something that I find really exciting.”

Their descriptions paint Scott as a musical alchemist, sitting in his room with a guitar, tinkering with a song’s chemistry relentlessly until the combination is

just right. And in Fires Of Waco, Scott is very much the alchemist. * Somebody once described Ryan Sim to me as a songwriting machine, where riffs came to him like they were being rolled off a conveyor belt in a factory line. Sim’s musical history proves this by the lengthy number of various musical projects that he has been involved in over the last few years. In all of them, Sim has usually been close to the coalface of those bands’ musical compositions.

“Ryan is extremely limitless. He comes up with all these different things that I might think are too far this way or that way. What he adds to the songs is something that I wouldn’t think of and at times don’t realise the potential until the potential has been reached,” says Reid.

“Ryan makes my ideas seem not as weird, because like Al-

lan said, he comes up with the weirdest shit and you just think, ‘Fuck, there’s no way that will work.’ And then when you get to the end of it you realise, ‘That really fucking worked.’ He’s a musical genius in my eyes,” enthuses Scott.

If Scott is the alchemist of Fires Of Waco, then Sim is definitely their explorer, unafraid to lead his bandmates into the great musical unknown. * Allan Reid redefines the notion of what it means to be an articulate front man. Rather than hide his message in metaphors and allegory and refuse to speak about a song’s meaning, Reid chooses to tackle a subject in a direct, yet poetic, manner. On stage he is a relentless performer, and he is unafraid to speak out about an issue close to his heart when he has a microphone in hand. It is for these elements that Scott wanted Reid in the band in the first place.

“When I was asking people to be in this band, the reason that I asked Allan – I hadn’t even seen his band before – but I’d listened to Just Say Go and was blown away by the energy.

I thought it was really important to work with someone like that, because sometimes I don’t have that energy and buzz that he has. He’s like a fucking bundle of energy and I love it,” Scott says.

“Allan’s the most articulate person that I’ve ever met from a musical or poetic point of view for getting his ideas across, and this is important when it comes to something like politics: getting his ideas across in the way that he means them while still remaining poetic as well. The way he writes and the way he delivers as a vocalist is something that I think is special and really unique,” says Sim. “Allan makes writing songs really easy.”

Reid makes the role of being

the band’s pilot look ever so easy. His lyrics and vocal delivery gives the Fires Of Waco vehicle a purposeful and passionate direction.

became a baby for many members of the band to nurture and love. So how does it feel now that the album is finished and out on its own in the big wide world?

* Fires Of Waco took this passion and crafted Old Ghosts Never Sleep from May of last year to January. Where their debut EP In The Wake Of… took only two weeks to record, Old Ghosts… nearly took eight months.

“It changed a fair bit but we were all part of that change as well. I don’t think anything ran away from us,” Sim says in relation to the lengthy process of creating the album.

Reid admits to mixed emotions.

“The general feeling is that I feel a bit lost. The album became a talking point, a hobby, something that we had to do as well…”

Sim cuts in over the top and finished Reid’s sentence. “…A relationship destroyer,” he says.

Scott concurs. “We wanted to go into it with the openness for it to change and for ideas to be thrown around.”

Hysterical laughter ensues for a minute or two, as Reid, Scott and Sim silently reminisce on apparent collateral damage of the writing and recording process. “Our partners have all suffered with us all being preoccupied with it,” Reid eventually explains.

Eight months. That’s almost the amount of time it takes for a fetus to develop into a child. And in many ways Old Ghosts…

For an album that was made over such a long period of time, Old Ghosts… is an incredibly cohesive effort.

“The only side of it that was conscious, and still is, is that we started the band saying, ‘We’re going to do whatever the fuck we want,’” says Reid. “You don’t want to squeeze the life out of it, because the life in it is what draws you to it.” * A band’s legacy is determined by time, and time is certainly showing that Fires Of Waco are not a band that’s only important to the Brisbane punk rock community anymore. With the combination of so many creative characters, Fires Of Waco appears to have the it factor in both their music and their message.

And the most promising thing about Fires Of Waco is that with music and performances as vibrant and energetic as theirs, they don’t need to say much to get their message heard.

Fires Of Waco’s Old Ghosts Never Sleep is out now through Poison City Records.

BREAK EVEN WORDS: LINDSEY CUTHBERTSON – PHOTOS: BEN CLEMENT

IF YOU SEARCH HARD ENOUGH ON BREAK EVEN’S TUMBLR PAGE, YOU’LL UNCOVER A PHOTOGRAPH OF VOCALIST MARK BAWDEN POLE DANCING WITHOUT A SHIRT, WITH A LARRIKIN GRIN PLASTERED ACROSS HIS FACE. IT WAS TAKEN FROM THE BAND’S FIRST EUROPEAN TOUR IN 2010, AND IF ANY PICTURE WAS TO TYPIFY BAWDEN’S POSITIVE PERSONA, THIS SHOT TAKEN IN AN ENGLISH NIGHTCLUB MIGHT BE IT. Break Even have now crammed in another European tour into

their portfolio since that photograph was taken, but the band’s outlook still looks as positive as when the image of Bawden trying stripping on for size was taken. And considering Break Even’s past, the present state of the band is a heart-warming story.

It has been over two years since guitarist Rowan Willoughby tragically took his own life.

This event rocked the members of Break Even to their very foundations.

They regrouped and wrote The Bright Side, one of the most emotionally heartfelt albums of 2009. Like AC/DC with Bon Scott and Bayside with drummer John Holohan, Break Even somehow found the courage to continue as a band and create inspiring music.

And while Willoughby will always be acknowledged as the fifth member of Break Even, the hardcore group from Western Australia is venturing forward to create the next chapter in their story.

“The Bright Side was a pretty quick album because we knew what we wanted to do, but this time around we’re still not sure where we want to go. But we know that we want to progress from what we did on The Bright Side and keep that progression going. We’re scheduled to go and record in America in June, so we’ve got that time period to work in,” says Bawden.

Bawden explains that the band has been slowly writing music for their second album since the latter half of last year, being especially careful not to rush the

“...We’re just going to write music and it’s going to be what it’s going to be. If people don’t like it then it doesn’t matter, as long as we enjoy writing music...” writing process. They’re not interested in cramming in writing sessions in the short spaces of time that they find themselves back at home in WA. “We don’t do it like that. We get home and all chill out and try not to jam too much because otherwise we’ll burn ourselves out, especially with touring.

We’re just putting along, writing songs when we can.”

The main thought on everybody’s minds is where Break Even are going to go with their second album, considering the cohesive and emotionally affecting nature of The Bright Side.

Bawden openly admits that it’s not the first time that he’s had to answer the question.

“A few of my friends have said that to me: ‘what are you going to do? How are you going to go better with the next album?’ But we’ve got ideas and the whole way that we want to go by it, so to me we’re just going to write the music and hopefully…”

Bawden stops mid-sentence, back pedaling a little to make sure that his point is clearly made. “…Not even hopefully that it goes better. We’re just going to write music and it’s going to be

what it’s going to be. If people don’t like it then it doesn’t matter, as long as we enjoy writing music.”

It was up to Bawden to write the lyrics that explained his own and the rest of the band’s personal pain on The Bright Side, but in many ways those lyrics became the catalyst for many people who have had their lives touched by the tragedy of suicide to relate to the album on such a personal level. Did such a cathartic experience open a floodgate of creativity for Bawden?

“When I write I take in a lot of stuff just from looking around at every-day-type things. But I’m always writing in a book.

Even if it’s not a song but just a few lines, I’ll keep it in there and open it up and try to write a song from it,” he says.

“I always get things that come to me, and I keep with it. I either write it down or keep it in my head for when I do want to write a song.”

Throughout the conversation, Bawden continually talks about Break Even’s desire to push the boundaries and progress from their debut, not just lyrically, but also in all facets of their musicianship.

“Basically we’re four different types of dudes playing music.

We all listen to different styles of music, and with The Bright Side especially, we all joined those styles of music together to create that album. We’re all listening to other styles of music more and more – we’re not

classified to one style.

“People think that because we play hardcore we just listen to hardcore. I think that we’ve still got a lot more to show, which we will with the next album. We have a lot of ideas and songs that are coming along really well which will be different to peoples’ ears, but to us it’s progression and moving on. You saw a lot in The Bright Side of us musically, but I think that we still have a lot to give,” Bawden says.

“We all listen to a lot of different things, and that’s a part of growing up. When you’re younger everyone has their bands, and when you start a band you want to be them and you write the songs like that, and even though you try to write them your way but they always end up sounding like the band you look up to.

“That totally shows in our EP [Young At Heart]: we looked up to Miles Away and a few other bands and that came out in

“...We are four totally different people, and we want to show in our music all the different aspects of ourselves...” that CD. But you grow and you learn to appreciate other styles of music and the way that other musicians progress through their albums, and it shows in the music.”

“We are four totally different people, and we want to show in our music all the different aspects of ourselves. It comes out in our music, so it means that things are going to be different every time.

“That’s the thing: sometimes change is good, sometimes change is bad, but for the people that are writing the music change is always good because in the end they’re writing it and they’re doing what they love.”

When Break Even recorded The Bright Side, they were doing

it the hard way: working their respective jobs during the day, working in the studio until 3am in the morning, and then continuing the cycle until the album was finished. Second time around, Bawden and his band mates are making sure that they learn from their first time recording a studio album.

work with a producer, but we worked with friends that hadn’t really worked with hardcore bands before; they had different mindsets to ours, so we joined them all together and a lot of elements came out of that that I couldn’t be happier with.”

“We want to work with a producer that can help us. After The Bright Side – while we love everything about it, but looking back we worked every day and then went and recorded it at night. So if we can spend three weeks just recording with a producer the things that we could do would be amazing,” he says.

One of those elements that came out of The Bright Side were the different entities that were Break Even in the studio and Break Even live, especially when it comes to the vocal delivery of Bawden. Clear and relatively clean on record, Bawden’s voice becomes a howling, discordant beast on the stage. It’s an element of the band that Bawden thinks about often.

“[Recording The Bright Side] was a really rough time, but a great time as well. We didn’t

“There’s the atmosphere in the studio and then there’s the at-

mosphere of a live show. We’re a bit heavier live because of the atmosphere and everyone bringing it up. That’s something that I notice myself. I don’t see it as a bad thing; I see it as an example of how much we express ourselves on stage,” he says.

Words like expression and progression illustrate a musician and a band that is not content to stay in the same place. And it could be quite easy for Break Even to come out and write The

Bright Side II – and undoubtedly a lot of the band’s followers would be happy with that. But Break Even isn’t. They plan to continue travelling down the road less travelled.

“And I don’t think we’ll be stopping anytime soon, but Steffen’s [Sciuto, guitar] married now and everyone’s growing up a bit.

Bands always kind of move on, but I think that we’ll always be playing music no matter what, if it’s in Break Even or not we’ll al-

ways be doing something different with music,” Bawden says.

Whether it’s a new album or new adventures on the road, Break Even are heading in directions that even they don’t even know about yet. But they’re fine with that. Because when it comes down to it, Break Even wouldn’t have it any other way.

Pushover 2011 PHOTOS: BEN CLEMENT

Push Over is Victoria’s longest-running all ages live music festival and in 2011 it returned to Melbourne’s Abbotsford Convent this March just gone. The day included the likes of Break Even, Deez Nuts, Hopeless, I Exist, House Vs Hurricane – all in all some of Australia’s best hardcore talent. These are just a few of the photos from the day.

DEEZ NUTS

BREAK EVEN

DEEZ NUTS

BREAK EVEN

HOPELESS

Miles Away WORDS: LINDSEY CUTHBERTSON – PHOTOS: BEN CLEMENT

IN OCTOBER LAST YEAR, AN ALBUM BY THE NAME OF ENDLESS ROADS REINFORCED THE FACT THAT PERTH’S MILES AWAY CAN NOW SIT AMONG THE LEGENDS OF AUSTRALIAN HARDCORE. CATHARTIC, MELODIC AND UNDENIABLY VIBRANT IN ITS COMPOSITION AND DELIVERY, ENDLESS ROADS SAW THE BAND PROGRESS IN WAYS THAT WERE ONLY HINTED AT ON

PREVIOUS RELEASES. ENDLESS ROADS WAS THE BAND’S FIRST ALBUM IN ALMOST THREE YEARS, BUT THEY WEREN’T EXACTLY LAYING LOW. THEY TOURED ALL OVER THE GLOBE; SPREADING THE TALENTS OF AUSTRALIAN HARDCORE AND THEIR MESSAGE EVERYWHERE THEY WENT. Miles Away vocalist Nick Horsnell spoke to No Heroes

about what inspired their magnum opus, among many other things. Horsnell admits that in many ways they are no longer the youthful band that recorded their energetic debut, the Make It Count EP. In many ways, the 2011 version of Miles Away is in a realm that seven years ago Horsnell could only dream of.

When I was going over the first interview that you did with No Heroes I noticed that you said that you had broken both of your knees. Were they band-related incidents?

“I dislocated one knee about a year ago at a Trapped Under

Ice show. I wasn’t playing but I guess I was involved in the show. I’ve dislocated the other knee a couple of times, just from playing, landing a jump and just rolling the ankle or knee, as well as skating. Neither of them came from playing but I guess they get worse each time I perform.”

When I originally read that, I started thinking about how you guys and most hardcore bands in general are very active. Wear-and-tear wise, you guys must come off at the end of the set and just be exhausted?

“Yeah, just thinking about this tour: I know that nothing bad has happened, but our drummer is always complaining. Because we’re sleeping in the van a lot, and you get in really uncomfortable positions, his neck’s fucked and he’s complaining about that. Anything can happen really: on the day of the launch of our first EP one of our guitarists broke his wrist. Anything can happen.”

Pretty soon you’ll have to invest in a merch person that doubles as a masseuse. You spoke about the EP launch just before. That came out about seven years ago now.

When you first did that, did you ever think that you would actually break out of Western Australia?

“Not really at that point. We’d done a demo and played a few shows around Perth. We were thinking, ‘this is cool’, but that was all that we were really expecting to do, which was fine by us. Then Common Bond got in touch and told us that they wanted to do a record with us.

We were so stoked, so we did that.

“Even then we didn’t think that we would have a chance to tour an east coast of Australia, but then a few months later we were asked if we wanted to come over (to the east coast) and play hardcore. We were like, “Fuck yeah, we’ll come and do that”. We hopped on a tour with another band, and since

then we’ve been able to tour a lot and have a lot of people help us out. It’s been cool and a great experience.”

WA in many ways is so far removed from the rest of the country. Are bands able to just tour up and down the west coast over there?

“Not really. When you’re a band in Perth, the only places that you can play are Perth itself and a town called Bunbury that’s two to three hours away, and you can play that occasionally.

“There’s not much room to move in Perth. If you’re not touring the rest of Australia you sort of get stuck playing the same shows and supports, whereas back in the day we didn’t have that many bands coming over there so that has been cool.

“It can be hard to get out of Perth and it can be expensive, definitely. Even this time we had to book flights at the last minute so it was really expensive for us and we were stuck with that.

As long as the shows are going alright it doesn’t matter to us, but it can sometimes be a risk for smaller bands getting out of there as well, which is tough.

And the good bands, people know who the good bands are and they come out and support them, and they do well off touring.”

I was talking to an indie band today who came from Perth but moved to Melbourne in 2009 because not only did they want a change, but more importantly it made touring easier for them. Have Miles Away ever considered relocation?

“Maybe after Consequences we discussed whether or not we wanted to do this (band) full time, or just tour whenever we can. The idea was brought up, but I think that it doesn’t really make much difference for us. We’ve seen friends’ bands move over and we’ve seen them, not fail, but the move hasn’t really done anything for them. For us, we’re pretty settled in our home lives and we’re

happy doing that and touring when we can. I don’t think we’ll move over here as a band, definitely not now anyway. We’re all getting a bit older.”

2005, 2006 and 2007 sees you release three albums of material – the first one was the re-release of the Make It Count EP and the State Of Affairs split. But regardless of that, you had three records out in the space of three years. Then from 2007 to now there hasn’t been anything.

How has that period of studio silence been?

“It wasn’t weird. At the time we had done the EP and were pretty young, and wanted to back it up straight away to be able to keep touring. We had the whole thing with Bridge 9 as well, so we wanted to tour overseas. We did Rewind, Repeat… and we toured a lot on the back of that.

“There was one four-month block that we did of touring around the world. It was awesome – possibly one of the best experiences of my life – but you come back from that and you just want to chill out for a bit and not think about music at all. So maybe we just chilled out a bit more, and picked and chose our tours out east.

“Then when we finally started writing new songs, Adam [Crowe, guitar] was always writing at home and he’d show us stuff so then we came to the idea of making a record.

It was weird to go back in and do it; and we did it in the USA so it was even more (out of our comfort zones). It was good to finally get in there and it’s cool to be finally able to play the new songs as well.”

Was there a little bit of apprehension of burnout? You talk about touring for four years and then just wanting to chill out.

“Totally, you come off those big tours and you’ve had a good time, but all your friends are doing different things and you’ve lost that kind of social interaction, you might not have

the same house that you live in, things happen when you’re away, relationships are hard to keep going when you’re on the road for that long, and you’re spending every hour of the day with the same people as well.

Everyone gets on everyone’s nerves; it occasionally develops into arguments and stupid fights that aren’t even serious.

“It’s definitely a worry: nowadays we tour a bit less; we try and set the schedules a bit shorter because we’re all a bit older and we have different priorities other than the band as well.”

I was listening to Have Heart’s Songs To Scream At The Sun yesterday, and there’s a song on there called ‘Pave Paradise’ where Pat really hits the nail on the head about touring. He says how he can’t wait to get out of the van, but two weeks home cripple him. Does it sometimes feel like that when you come back from a tour?

“Yeah, it’s totally like that. Even now, I’m on a two-week tour, I’ve been in Europe before this, and I was home for two days in between so I didn’t feel at home again.

ing things, things that I never thought that I’d see in my life, just through being in a small hardcore band, or punk band, or whatever it is. That definitely came through in the writing.

“I’m looking forward to going home, I’m actually looking forward to going back to work as well, which sounds weird. My job is nothing special, but I miss the routine. I know I’ll go back home and after a week I’ll be over it and want to go back out on tour once more. I miss those days so much. It’s hard to find a balance that works, I guess…

“It’s not about only about touring – we’re not saying, ‘You’ve got to go out and tour,’ or anything like that – but even with the layout, we used our own photos. We wanted our stuff to be a real part of the record, not just really nice artwork. It’s good: we can look through the booklet and show people, ‘Look, that’s where we were in Hawaii there,’ or, ‘We were somewhere in Europe there’.”

“Which brings us to Endless Roads, which from an outsider seems to be an album that aurally and visually deals with the effects of touring life. But you take that to a metaphorical nature as well, because it’s about a lot of other things as well.

“It’s not just about touring, but spending so long touring (on the back of) the last record I was able to see a lot of amaz-

Looking back, what do you see as being the main factors that encouraged and inspired the musical progression between Rewind. Repeat… and Endless Roads?

“When we wrote Consequences, going back even earlier, it was a stage of hardcore where everything was getting harder and a lot of bands were moving

away from melody. We were going away from melody, and you can hear that in Consequences. Then we went to Rewind.

Repeat… which was a bit more towards our melodic side again while still retaining those hard songs, the more straightforward hardcore.

day, and that definitely has an influence on us, listening to a variety of musical styles and pulling things from everywhere, not just listening to our favourite hardcore records and saying, ‘That’s what I really like, I want it (our record) to sound like that’.”

“This time, we’ve been a band for a long time, and we looked back and thought about what kind of record we wanted to write. Did we want it to be melodic and catchy, or straightforward hardcore with no bells and whistles or anything? We listened to our first EP to see what we first started out doing – that was the first major thing about this record. Then we listened to a lot of the bands that we hadn’t listened to in a while, bands that we were really into back in the day.

Do you ever think that you guys have creatively gone the full circle, in a sense that you’ve gone so far out with what you want to do as a band that you’ve come back to the core of Miles Away?

“I think so. This record is the perfect combination. It’s not that far removed from Make It Count, and it’s not that far removed from our other albums, I just think that it’s more focused…

“I know I say it so many times but we’re a lot older now and we all listen to different music.

We’re no longer listening to hardcore every minute of the

“I don’t know how to explain it really…You know how when some people get into hardcore and they’re so into it that they forget about all the music that they used to listen to before? They might have grown

up getting into pop punk, and that’s a big part of their lives, but because it’s not cool to like pop punk they stop listening to pop punk. That sort of happens with everyone, but when I grew up I was really into skate punk.

Growing up surfing and skating, that was my thing. It’s so melodic and so catchy for me, and I listen to it a lot.

“Maybe in the middle of this (band’s life) I wasn’t listening to that kind of music that much, and straying away from it a little bit, so maybe that’s part of it as well.”

You recorded Endless Roads in New York, which is the first time that you’ve recorded outside of Australia. New York is a place with so much culture and history. How does recording in a place like that affect the vibe of the record?

“There weren’t any big musical changes; we were pretty set. Dean [Baltulonis, producer of the record and bands such as Sick Of It All and Ameri-

can Nightmare] helped us out with a lot of stuff, but we didn’t have much time there before we started recording, so there wasn’t a chance to immerse ourselves in the culture of the city or anything.

“I spent the first day and night out with people I knew who were over there and we went around, and it was crazy how many things I did in one day.

I saw New York in twenty-four hours, and it’s an amazing place and really inspirational.

“There were a couple of songs that we had ideas for lyrics but didn’t go into the studio with them finished. Cam [Jose, guitar] and I would be in the studio and we’d be sitting there and writing. How we were living came out in those lyrics: we were living out of a hotel in Queens, which isn’t the best suburb in New York. But it was really cool to be there. We’d go down to the deli and eat Philly Cheese Steaks.

“It was a really surreal thing to

come from Perth and then to be in this big city with so many different cultures. It was a crazy experience and I think that if we had more time that experience would have come out on the record a lot more. I think that there’s a touch of it on there though.”

The thing that springs out at me time and time again on Endless Roads is how much you’ve grown as a lyricist.

What I find most interesting about it is that it seems like such a personal record, but at the same time anyone can listen and put themselves in your shoes. Writing can be a very subconscious process; but when you got to look back on it, did you ever look at the lyrics from an outsider’s perspective?

“From the beginning, I’ve always written from a personal angle, and I don’t hide that at all. I definitely think that sometimes I don’t worry but I’m very self-conscious about making sure that I’m not always complaining about something,

whinging about this or that or going on about something in my personal life or love life.

“A lot of the things that I feel, a lot of people feel them as well.

Sometimes you may feel totally lost, or you may be stuck in a job that you don’t like but you have to do it, or you may not know where you want to go.

You might be told to study and you’re off the tracks but you’re still having fun and still feeling happy.

“I try to keep it positive as much as I can and on this record I really tried to do that because I’m not unhappy with my life at all, and I don’t think that anyone should be unless it’s something drastically bad. But there are always things you can do to make your life better and there’s always someone to turn to.

“You (may) read it and it may seem that a lot of the lyrics are coming from a negative point of view, but there’s always a story towards the end where it comes around and shows how you

having something solid in my life? I think we’re all at different stages - Adam has a girlfriend from Germany who can’t live here right now, so he’s going to go over there for a while – so I think we’re going to take it as it comes and tour when we can.

“We do want to explore new places: every time we’ve been to Europe we’ve never gone to Russia, and that’s something we would really like to do.

There’s a couple of other places in south-east Asia that we’d like to go to again, as well as Japan, but for now we’ve done this record and we’re not in any rush to write anything new.

might be able to change that situation.”

The lyrics that always stick with people are the ones that are searching. You address that in ‘Separation Anxiety’ when you say, “We’ll be forever lost”. When you penned those lyrics, what were you looking to find?

“That’s the thing: that’s one of the first songs that we wrote [for Endless Roads]. It’s not a different kind of song, but I was definitely thinking about the last two years that I’d had. I’d definitely done a lot of things.

“I’d moved to Sydney, and that didn’t go as well as I had planned; I was getting to my late twenties and I had tried university, I’d done different jobs, and I was at the point where I was asking myself, ‘Where do I go from here? I’m back at home, what’s next?’

“It was kind of a turning point (for me) and I wrote that song when I felt like that was that, and I was going to go on from

there; all that can be in that song, and hopefully everything is going to move on an upward scale from there. Everyone always feels lost to an extent.

I don’t think anyone feels completely happy with where they’re at; there’s always something more, so that’s what that song is about.”

We talked a little bit at the beginning about the goals that you had for the band when Miles Away first began. It’s pretty much safe to say that in six years you guys have achieved all that. What are your goals now?

“I don’t know. It’s a tough question actually as we’ve done a lot of the things that we never thought we would do – they weren’t goals, but we’ve done them, and it’s amazing to say, ‘Yep, tick that off, we’ve been to America and Japan’.

“I’m now thirty so now I’m thinking from a different point of view: how long can I keep doing this? How can I keep getting time off work and not

“We don’t have to be a band that has to put something out each year otherwise people might forget about us. We’re at the point where people know the band, and we’ll be touring every now and again, but it’s not like we’re a young band that’s touring every couple of months. We’ll tour a handful of times a year, and pick our tours really well to work around our lives.”

Endless Roads seems to be about that unceasing journey of life, the band, yourself as a person; how can you best sum up the journey that Miles Away has had?

“It’s been a rollercoaster of mainly highs. There hasn’t been that many lows. Not many of my friends that I grew up with can say that, ‘I’ve been here or been there in the world’, and (we’ve) done it all because we got together in our early adult lives and started jamming out our favourite covers.

“You just do that as kids, and then a couple of years later you find yourself playing to a couple of hundred people in Sydney or wherever it may be. You just think to yourself, ‘Wow, this is crazy’. You’re doing records and people are being positive about them, and it’s the best thing that can happen for a band, I guess.

As long as your peers respect you and the kids like your music, then that’s enough for us.”

WORDS: DAVE DRAYTON – PHOTOS: JOHN HATFIELD

Adelaide’s Robotosaurus have long been an intriguing bunch.

After forming in 2003 with members of The Rivalry and Love…

Like Electrocution the band commemorated a brash and in your face entry to the live scene with the first of two concept EPs; Last Refuge Of The Exiled Man and Trifornais. They were a mix of bombastic metal, filthy fast grind and intelligent hardcore.

Then came the debut album Manhater, a 25 minute, 13 track exercise in sheer nihilism. It was dark, dirty and more direct, though still true to the band’s trademark bursts of spastic energy.

earn money, but soon found himself returning to Adelaide every three weeks or so to play shows. And so the Robotosaurus juggernaut once more gained momentum, propelled by the bands infamous – if painfully infrequent – live shows.

After a three month stint in the States the band returned somewhat exhausted, definitely poor, and in need of a break.

Izzy moved to Melbourne to

Last year Robotosaurus teamed up with fellow Adelaidians Coerce and progressed their sound yet again. There was

more focus still than Manhater, a relative simplicity that seemed to enhance their cathartic musical abuse. It was dirty, dirty rock’n’roll.

ously) and laughingly says that because he has to close it up at night there’s nowhere left open in Adelaide to drink by the time he clocks off.

moment as far as that goes.

I guess in Adelaide you play shows with good bands because there’s not enough bands to have a separate scenes.”

It’s a Thursday night and I am sitting with Izzy and guitarist Dave at The Town Hall Hotel in Newtown, Sydney, discussing the plans for their next release.

“The next release is in summer.

I lived in Melbourne for a year and I’ve moved back now to get a record done. We’ve already written a new song while we’ve been rehearsing for tour. I’ve personally got a lot of energy to do this now,” Izzy explains.

“I’ve pretty much tried to stop drinking now to get my head together. I’m not really sure how lyrics are going to go. I don’t really,” he pauses to consider, “I always wrote the most as a release and my head was always in a really dark place.”

While it is understandable how their hybrid sound was born out of such an environment, the question remains as to whether their obvious difference to the carbon copy cliché hardcore bands has made it harder or easier? Izzy responds with a by now expected and endearing apathy that reflects their complete disregard for the conventional, “I don’t think we really care. We play a show if we like the bands, that’s pretty much it.”

Dave agrees “That’s just what we do. We play bands that we like playing with and quite often we play with our friends bands as well so that’s good.”

So where does a band that has so consistently reinvented their sound head now? “The split’s a pretty good indication of where we’re heading. I mean, we’re always open to playing anything we want to but we’re sort of feeling comfortable with more of a four to the floor kind of dirty rock sound.

“I don’t think any of us would have the energy or mindset to play our earlier stuff anymore.

I guess we’re taking our seats as washed up hardcore dudes.

Nothing feels as a good as four four dirty rock. Playing shows, it feels a lot nicer than that spastic sort of shit,” says Izzy.

Considering the diverse lyrical content featured on past releases there’s an obvious interest in what stories will be told on the up-coming release. The split was a violent autobiography of a life that was, by the singers own admission, riddled with typical rock’n’roll excess. Amidst song titles like ‘User’, ‘We Don’t Care’ and ‘’ he spits lyrics like I’m a user with my hand in your pocket/So if you love me don’t trust me and Feeling high you’re up, yeah you’re up again/ But if your down well you might as well stick around.

Though tonight he informs me – while drinking a beer no less – that he has changed his ways. He is now managing a bar in Adelaide (one which he has been banned from previ-

After some more beers Izzy later explains said ‘dark place’ further with frighteningly honest detail. “Suicide still seems like a good option, but I’m not considering it every day any more. I’m not just spending every night Googling how to kill myself or how to tie a knot in a noose.” I jokingly suggest the possibility of a Robotosaurus posi-core album. “Maybe,” they both laugh.

The city of churches has played an integral role in the band’s sound and ethos, “Adelaide’s always been a bit of a niche with our brother bands like Coerce and Sex Wizard over there.

There’s not much to do so everybody plays music. It just seems to produce good bands,” explains Izzy.

“That whole Prom Queen thing moved away from Adelaide a long time ago so if there’s ever a larger hardcore act in Adelaide we generally get the support. There’s not a lot else happening in Adelaide at the

With a new album in the works the discussion turns to touring, “I think we’re going to start playing a lot more shows, we’re looking at touring Australia soon,” says Izzy. I push for details, their sporadic touring schedule is notorious. “I think it’s going to be more of that.

We’re just taking it a day at a time at the moment but we’re all pretty psyched to write a new record and the song we wrote the other day – our first practice was a little funny, so was the second, but once we started to get the ball rolling it was really good. We’re really into what we’re writing at the moment and fully backing it.”

Everyone has one of those bands where the first time you heard them, you couldn’t stand them. But as time goes on and you give the band more of a chance, you start hearing things you didn’t hear before. Things that make you sit up, pay attention and want to listen. Before you know it, they’re your new favourite band.

This pattern was precisely the one that I followed with Adelaide’s Coerce and their debut album Silver Tongue Life Licker.

I mean, at first listen the heavily Australian accented vocals are irritating and the music abstract and different enough for my musical palette that I immediately went back to listening to Converge.

But then, as I listened more, the hints of At The Drive In vocal layering came through, along with the complexity of the deceptively simple sounding drumming, the creative melodies of the guitar, the aggression in the vocals and the layering of the

instruments in a way that makes them sound so much bigger than the four piece they are.

Following the debut album came a split LP with hometown heroes Robotosaurus. This release represented a shift in sound for the band – away from the punk and hardcore influences (not that they were even all that apparent in the first place) to a sound that could almost straddle the line between punk and indie, were it not for the heavy guitars, spazzed out melodies and the sheer aggression in the vocals.

Next thing you know, I’m seeing Coerce live at Hermann’s Bar in Sydney, having my mind blown as live they are a force to be reckoned with. Frontman Mike Deslandes goes from creepy to intense to emotional almost with every time change, while Bondy’s technical drumming hold the rhythm section down tightly.

And all through this, that large sound that so impressed me on record is even bigger live, leav-

ing you wondering, “How in hell do they do that?”

And that brings us to now, where I’m having a chat to the entire band before the show about what has brought them to this point, and how do they manage the long-distance relationship (Mike and Karl live in Adelaide, while Bondy and Adey live in Melbourne) that Coerce necessitates.

In the first place, it is clear from the way Mike takes control of the conversation (in much the same way that he takes control of the stage) that Coerce is his brainchild, that it is his band.

And this is something that the band is quite up front about.

“We don’t write music together,” says Adey. “Mike does it all.”

But if you enter a discussion with the band about the way that they write everything, the logistics of having a band split between two states necessitates a split writing process.

“The first album and the split

COERCE WORDS: SARAH PETCHELL

out fine. It’s not like we have to sit there and go over things for weeks and weeks.”

“Ideally we would like to be all together to be able to write together, but if that were the case we probably wouldn’t have finished our first song until 2014!” Mike continues. “It’s definitely more a necessity and more practical for me to do all the work behind the scenes, especially because I seem to set unrealistic goals and schedules in which to execute things.”

Adey explains further, “In a normal sort of scenario, if you were a band in the same state, you would rehearse a couple of times a week and write new songs together. Then once you’ve got a bunch of new songs you’ll start thinking about recording. that we did, was basically just Mike writing at home, then Mike recording stuff with Bondy doing his drum parts,” says Karl. “I didn’t play hardly any guitar on the split.”

The running joke then becomes the fact that Mike is actually a horrible dictator that can’t stand the rest of the guys, but there is a more realistic reason for this, as Adey points out. “It’s just hard. Mike and Karl own a recording studio in Adelaide.

They have the resources to do it, so Mike just goes ahead and does it all, while we put parts in where we can.”

Inevitably the distance also effects the way in which Coerce prepare for a live show, as the only time that they can all get together to practice is usually on the day of the show, no matter where it is. While tiring, Mike is quick to point out that this is not really that much of a hindrance. “We’re all able players, where we can get together and we all know our stuff. It works

“But we don’t have that. We just pick a date where we want to have a record done by and no matter what happens up until that point there is still going to be a record made.”

The distance that separates the members of the band also impacts on the frequency with the which Coerce tours. Tours and shows are a rare thing, dependent almost entirely on the whether the schedules of individual members can converge.

However the rarity of the live show, the fact that they’re not out there playing shows every weekend makes the whole experience of the live show all the more special for the band and the audience. “There is more intensity because of it,” Karl says.

“We would be a lot tighter and a lot better live if we were playing much more…”

“But we probably would have broken up by now as well,” interrupts Mike.

What sets Coerce apart from other bands of their ilk is the fact that they simply sound like no other band at the moment.

Yes, there are references to bands like Refused or At The Drive In in their music, but the reality is that these are bands that none of the members have listened to in years. Bondy, for example, even though he comes from a hardcore background, would be more likely to be listening to Toto than to hardcore right now.

Mike explains, “With my writing, if it sounds like something that I like I’ll go in that direction, but if I don’t like it I will just go somewhere else with it until it sounds like something I like. It’s just what comes up. From a sonic level there is no sonic vision.”

He explains, that as a rock band, there are certain formulas to what they produce. “We’re a guitar band. We like playing aggressive and hard music, but we like melody and harmony.

That’s basically the only guidelines that we have.

“Then Karl and I are real gear nerds so we like sound and tone, and we know what we have to do to achieve the sounds that we want to achieve with this band.

“But that’s just because we like it, not because it’s a planned thing. I think that is what gives us our defined sound.”

This brings us to 2011 with Coerce’s second full-length release out. Titled Ethereal Surrogate Saviour, the band have taken yet another sharp turn into new sonic territory.

Everything is a bit heavier and a bit faster, but there is still that same huge sound that I have come to know and love from what is now one of my favourite Australian bands.

“...There are so many bands that are the fucking same; the same formula to their songs. We want to have a bit of fun with it...”

FORMED FROM THE ASHES OF OHANA AND HOSPITAL THE MUSICAL, WOLLONGONG BASED FOUR PIECE TOTALLY UNICORN ARE THE ANTIHEROES OF AUSTRALIAN HARDCORE. DESPITE ESCHEWING TRENDS THE BAND’S ENERGETIC (AND OFTEN NUDE) LIVE SHOW HAS SEEN THEM PICK UP SUPPORT SLOTS FOR INTERNATIONAL BANDS LIKE THE CHARIOT AS WELL AS COMPLETING A NATIONAL TOUR WITH AMERICAN SPAZZ-CORE GROUP HEAVY HEAVY LOW LOW. On top of this they have recently released their debut EP, Horse Hugger, on Beard Of Bees records, which is run by the members of the band and boasts a roster that includes Nice Guys and up and comers Let Me Down Jungleman.

Gently.

Already there have been some interesting names thrown around, so vocalist and beard enthusiast Drew Gardner clears up the process behind the band’s mystical name and their tongue in cheek EP. “Hardcore and metal seems so fucking serious, so I guess we’re just trying to take the piss and just have a good time.

“We had so many different names – there was ‘Sexy Dad’… We were massive, pretty big stoners and the whole tie dye hippy thing stems a lot from Clancy’s [Tucker, guitarist] youth, hanging out in his house back in the day smoking bongs and doing illicit substances,”

Drew reminisces with a sly smile before explaining how the EP got it’s name.

“It’s about Clancy. A few years back he went to Byron Bay for Blues Festival and he indulged in some hardcore acid. He was feeling really good and decided to wander off into the bush of Byron Bay and stumbled into a paddock and saw a horse just lying there on the ground.

“And he was like ‘Oh fuck, I have never seen a horse lying down on the fucking ground! I’m gonna go and touch this horse’.

And he walked up and started stroking it and it was like,” Drew stops here and attempts to neigh before continuing “It wasn’t sexual, it was just a moment.”

According Drew it was at that point that Clancy had the realisation: “‘I’m becoming one with an animal, and we’re two different species! This is fucking crazy.’ So he was patting it and was like, ‘I’m going to lie down and spoon the shit out of this horse.’ And he was slowly crouching down and laying next to it as it was breathing heavily.

He finally got down and put his arm around it and just had this moment, this orgasmic moment, where he was like, ‘This is fucking incredible’. And then he blanked out.

“He woke up the next day, the sun was beaming on him and he’s like, ‘Oh fuck, where I am? My arm’s wet.’ That’s not a horse. It was a fucking dirty bathtub full of green fucking slime and he had his arm in it hugging it. He got up and got his arm out and it was completely covered in green, he had no shoes or shirt on, just shorts.

“He made his way to the highway, hitchhiking with a green hand trying to catch a car back

into Byron but he had to walk all the way.”

On the back of the EP the band have been throwing the clichés of an often over aggressive and misogynistic hardcore scene out the window, instead forcing the scene to consider their irrationalities.

“The homophobic thing, we didn’t really think about that at the start and then the more we delved into, with our shirts and the film clip and shit, we’ve got a really big gay following, which is really weird. There was a guy from Brisbane messaging us saying this is a really good thing you’re doing for the gay community and stuff like that and

WORDS: DAVE DRAYTON we were like, ‘Ok, that’s fucking cool.’ So hopefully we play Mardi Gras or something.”

The film clip Drew is referencing is for the track ‘Daddy’s Stabby Surprise’. Through out the two minutes and 17 seconds an uncircumcised penis (which may or may not be that of drummer Mike Bennet) that somewhat resembles an ant eater is superimposed over the footage, and also given due time in the spotlight, as are the scantily

clad band members. The shirt in question features that all to familiar image of a mosh pit on the back, but instead of throwing down all the dudes in the pit are making out, and instead of ‘MOSH’ the shirt reads ‘PASH: Circle jerks not circle pits’. On the front is familiar coat of arms imagery that reads ‘M.A.H.C – Magical Animal Hardcore’.

As a parting gesture Drew offers a definition of the somewhat obscure genre, “The characteris-

tics of magical animal hardcore: open with your sexuality, alcohol and drug related, not giving a shit and having a good time.

It’s very, very sexual. There are so many bands that are the fucking same; the same formula to their songs. We want to have a bit of fun with it, try and be a bit odd. And people are lapping it up which is cool.”

Totally Unicorn’s Horse Hugger EP is out now through Beard Of Bees Records.

HEROES FOR HIRE

WORDS: SARAH PETCHELL

You guys released your debut album in April last year and now Take One For The Team is out just over a year later.

Why the quick turnaround between albums?

“I think with the way music is these days bands need to constantly be releasing new material to keep fans satisfied. Especially with pop punk, fans they seem to get bored with bands that take a long time to back it up. So we just want to keep releasing new music whenever we can. We also did a split with The Wonder Years and a few one off singles last year too.”

You headed to Baltimore to record this album with Paul Leavitt. What was that experience like for you guys?

“It was an experience of a lifetime for us. There aren’t many bands that can say they went literally to the other side of the world to record a new album and do something they love. It was freezing cold and we lived right in the city on the harbour for a month in his studio. Fucking awesome.”

What was Baltimore like? I’ve heard it’s a pretty rough place and that The Wire presents a pretty accurate description…

“On the first day we got there Paul said the following: “So if

you walk down the street, you guys can turn left and walk around fine. If you turn right you’re in the ghetto and will most likely get shot or stabbed.”

I hope that answers your question. The people there were rad.

Our friends from Set Your Goals and Fireworks were also in town recording, and at one stage a bloke from Pulling Teeth was going to do a guitar solo on the record!”

album. Well, I mainly slept but you know what I mean…”

What’s your favourite thing about the album?

“As opposed to Life Of The Party, I feel that Take One For The Team so much more upbeat and flowing collection of songs so I really like that aspect of the record.”

What made you decide to work with Paul?

“Paul had worked on a lot of albums that we all really liked as a group and seemed to have a really good knowledge of the genre and what we wanted to achieve. It was just the best option for us to take a chance on him. We couldn’t be happier with the result he got out of us.”

What’s different for Heroes For Hire between the first album and now?

“The first album was basically a collection of songs that we had come up with since the band started. It was just bits and pieces all over the shop, really.

This album we sat down with the goal of writing an album as a whole. So this time around it definitely makes a lot more sense and is a hell of a lot more fun.”

Was it weird or at all hard having to record that far away from your comfort zone?

“At first it was weird, but in the end I feel it produced a much better album for us. At home you have everyday lives to attend to and you record around that. Flying to the other side of the world meant no mobile phones, no distractions and also meant that we could focus 100% on the album. We literally lived, slept and breathed the

What local bands are you psyched on at the moment and why?

“We have some amazing and talented friends in bands that you should all check out like The Bride, Skyway, Tonight Alive and Highways (just to mention a few). They are all killing it at the moment and we are stoked for them.”

TAKE ONE FOR THE TEAM IS OUT NOW THROUGH SHOCK RECORDS.

Bands You’ve never heard of BRAZEN BULL (Brisbane) MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/brazenbullmusic If you feel a migraine coming on, don’t listen to Brazen Bull. Brazen Bull are probably the most emotional and intense band in QLD. There is pain in every word and precision in every note. Formed in 2007, this technical grindcore wrecking ball has endured time and an apathetic public to soon release their debut album The Travelling Parasite. If you cant wait for that, jump online and check out some free tracks, but if you do, either tie your feet and hands down first because you wont be able to stay still. The intricate guitar work is jaw dropping and drumming machine gun precise. Also listen out for the scatting on ‘Dusted Red Lungs’, because grindcore needs more scat and Brazen Bull are possibly the only band bold enough to do it. Oliver Cation

DECEIVER (Byron Bay/Brisbane/Gold Coast) MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/deceiverhc It was proclaimed a few years ago, perhaps jokingly, that Mosh was Dead. In the years since, trends have focused on depressive melodic hardcore, crushing and increasingly tiresome deathcore and more fringe tech and crust hardcore variants. Deceiver are bringing mosh back…properly. Sounding closer to Bury Your Dead than anything else and boasting members of The War, Crime Scene and Before The Throne, Deceiver are the best band to do it. Vocalist Mitch Love has stuck close to his traditional approach to writing lyrics, talking about the issues that are most important to his daily life.

This gives the music al new dimension, allowing Deceiver to be a band that is going to connect with its audience and be much more than just a breakdown. Oliver Cation

HEADACHES (Brisbane) MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/headachesbrisbane Melodic punk of all varieties seems to be back on the rise, and no exception to this is Brisbane’s Headaches. So if you’re a fan of Lifetime, Good Riddance, Bad Religion or H2O then there is probably something here for you. Then once you start looking into who the guys in the band are (they are current and ex-members of The Gifthorse, Army Of Champions, Reach Out and Values Here) you start to get the idea that this is a band that has the potential to deliver something special. And with their eight-song, self-titled EP (out now through Arrest Records) special is definitely what they have delivered. The bulk of the EP is remastered versions of songs from the demo, while the remaining three are new songs. You can catch these guys on the 2011 Poison City Weekender. Sarah Petchell

IRONHIDE (Brisbane) Website: http://www.ironhidemetal.com Ironhide is two vocalists. Ironhide is metal. Ironhide isn’t Iron Maiden. By now you should understand what Ironhide is. No? You have no idea? Oh that’s fine, neither do I. Ironhide are Brisbane based tech metalcore with elements of hardcore and more spazzy sounds, but still oppressively heavy and mentally destructive. Having been around for a few years, Ironhide have just released their debut album Create/Collape/Repeat on DIY Sydney label Six Nightmares Production. Their touring schedule will soon take in the entire east coast, so maybe the best way to figure out what Ironhide is, is to witness them in the flesh. We can give you two facts to get you prepared though: Ironhide aren’t for your grandma and we think they are fantastic. Oliver Cation

ONLY SLEEPING (Ipswich) Website: http://onlysleepingband.com Frantic noise, think Nora or The Chariot. If you aren’t sold already, you probably aren’t going to change your mind on this band. This Brisbane based metalcore quartet are explosive recorded and a demolition live. Bands that can convert you to their cause within a song are rare, but Only Sleeping can do it. Having played with all sorts of bands including their heroes The Chariot, the band has released an EP, Revolutions And Revelations and is starting to hit the road to spread the chaos and noise interstate. It is unfortunate that there is a limited audience for a band like this, but I doubt that will stop their creative drive and musical exploration. Only Sleeping is a band you may have never heard of, but if you like noisy technical music, you should change that. Oliver Cation

TIME HAS COME MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/timehascomehxc Tight tunes. Check. DIY attitude. Check. Vocalist. Sort of. Time Has Come are a growing force in the QLD music scene. Having toiled away for a few years, the band is now packing out rooms across the state and looking to solidify their reputation nationwide. Their one problem is a long list of line up changes, including too many vocalists. For the sake of Australian music, hopefully they can solidify a line up and spread their heavy mosh hardcore the only way they know how, with a strong DIY attitude. Having released their debit EP Disaster Zone on Pee Records, the band supports all forms of DIY initiative in the scene, from booking their own shows to assisting Brisbane’s iconic Kill The Music store. Time Has Come aren’t covered in tattoos and expecting a record deal, they have strength in dedication to playing music they love. Oliver Cation

Bands You’ve never heard of THE BRIDE (Sydney) MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/thebrideband Evolution is an amazing thing. It has turned apes to humans and Squirtles to Blastoises. And when you look to The Bride they have undergone an evolution of their own. Once a flailing, long-haired deathcore outfit, the band have shuffled their line up in the last year. The result is a band with a fresh outlook on their craft and with it an inevitable new sound. Even though it has become a dirty word, this is forward thinking ‘technical metalcore’ far removed from the deathcore of their past.

With advanced time changes, a combination of harsh and clean vocals and a grittier hardcore feel, it makes you look forward to their next release. This is exciting music from a band that should see a resurgence and rise to even greater heights in 2011. Oliver Cation

CIVIL WAR (Sydney/Newcastle) Website: http://civilwar1.bandcamp.com Heavy and pissed off doesn’t even begin to describe Sydney’s newest hardcore act, Civil War. Featuring ex-members of Persist, the contrast between the two bands are stark. But that is not a bad thing, as this is vital, energetic hardcore, just really heavy and really angry. And it is this passionate aggressiveness that sets Civil War apart from their peers. The music of their 2011 demo throws back to bands like Cro-Mags, Suicidal Tendences, Trial and even Anthrax, offering something a little refreshing with the clear amalgamation of New York style hardcore and thrash metal. If you head to their Bandcamp page, you can download Civil War’s demo for a minimal price and get ready to mosh your way through the five tracks, because these songs will inevitably having you flailing through your bedroom, or other designated mosh space.

FISTMOUTH (Sydney) Website: http://www.fistmouth.bandcamp.com You wear a beanie or you wear mosh shorts, increasingly that seems to be the only two options in the homogenised hardcore landscape. Fistmouth are taking us back to the days of not gives two fucks about clothing and just screaming because it feels good. Comprised of young Sydneysiders, the band has already played with bands like Daylight, Such Gold, No Trigger, Knife Fight and Ruiner and built a reputation based on their carelessly exuberant live performances. Aggressive hardcore with a punk rock edge, Fistmouth are here to fuck shit up. With DIY releases coming hard and fast, you wont have much problem finding some tunes, and with DIY label interest coming in there is a bright future for these spirited punks. Oliver Cation

HIGHWAYS (Sydney) MySpace: http://myspace.com/highwayswin Pumping out saccharine sweet pop punk is what these young kids from the south west of Sydney are doing and they do it well. As a female fronted band, they are going to be compared to Paramore and Tonight Alive, but they can more than hold their own, while also providing something different.

Front woman Sarah Buckley has the voice to keep this band on the….highways for a long time. This is music for a fun time with a bit of a bite. If you aren’t bouncing around you probably shouldn’t be listening to it. While they are still young and struggling to achieve recognition in Sydney, check them out and smile for a few extra minutes today. If you head to any of their websites you can find a link to download their debut EP, Enjoy The LIttle Things. Oliver Cation

LET ME DOWN JUNGLEMAN, GENTLY (Sydney) Website: http://letmedownjungleman.tumblr.com/ Since their arrival on the Sydney music scene many moons ago, the young bloods that form the trio that is Let Me Down Jungleman have drawn attention to themselves from young and old, hardcore and indie. Part of the reason for this is that their music defies genre boundaries, which has seen them share the stage with the likes of Totally Unicorn, Coerce, Defiance Ohio and Heavy Heavy Low Low. The trio have an EP (titled Nonchalant) and their Who Knows? single available through their Bandcamp, but really the best way to experience these guys is live. On the stage their infectious rhythms and natural spark come through, leaving an audience in awe. Catch them on tour throughout July up and down the East Coast on their “End Of The World Sex Party Tour”.

WE LOST THE SEA (Sydney) MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/welostthesea If you want the short vitals, We Lost The Sea are an experimental, post-metal nine-piece from Sydney. Their music incorporates relentless sludge with post-rock atmospherics to sculpt a sound is simultaneously as tense as it is beautiful. At the same time, this is a band that is far beyond a mere description of music. This is a band that is rich in story and concept. For example, their first release Crimea (released mid-2010) tells the story of a soldier in the Crimean War. And that it was mastered

by Magnus Lindberg (of Cult Of Luna fame) shows that this is a band that knows their sound and wears their influences on their sleeve. At present, the band are currently recording their follow-up release, to be titled The Quietest Place On Earth, due for release in October 2011.

Bands You’ve never heard of BOWCASTER (Melbourne) Website: http://soundcloud.com/bowcaster Bowcaster are an anomaly, as they are a Melbourne-based, Star Wars themed noise rock band from Melbourne. Born from the ashes of Canberra act Brisk, Mainstay and From These Wounds, Bowcaster have attempted to rewrite the rock rule book, by moving beyond their local inspirations and the pathetic introspection of their early-twenties, to a realm where sci-fi and noise rock combine with folk-song lyricism as vocalist Peter Saladino uses the Star Wars legend to articulate a universal message. The ultimate irony however, is that this is not easy music, but instead is something for fans of The Bronx, Breach, Shellac with some Cult Of Luna thrown in for good measure. You can check out their double A-side 7-inch for ‘Tauntaun/Thermal Detonator’ and stay tuned as a full-length album is in the works.

CAVALCADE (Melbourne) MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/thisiscavalcade Not enough bands are as good as A Wilhelm Scream in my opinion, and Cavalcade from Melbourne come pretty damn. This four-piece play a brand of fast and technical melodic punk along the lines of the aforementioned A Wilhelm Scream, but throw in enough Strung Out and Strike Anywhere influences to mix things up a bit. The guitars and bass are all over their fretboards, while the basic verse/ chorus structure has enough hooks to entice you in from the first listen. By the fifth, you’re singing along. This is definitely a band that is handy with all the tools at their disposal. Having formed only last year, there are only the tracks available on their Facebook for the time being, however the band are currently hard at work preparing to release their debut EP and release a series of split 7-inches.

COLOSSUS (Melbourne) MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/colossus666 To start with, this is one of the bands to spring from the ashes of Carpathian, and considering that members overlap with Hopeless, there are going to be inevitable comparisons. But names, pedigree and hype do not do Colossus justice, for this is definitely a band that has the musical chops to back up the hype. These guys owe more to Rise & Fall and The Hope Conspiracy, playing hardcore that is fast and melodic, but at the same time aggressive and heavy. Having released a demo earlier this year (that is available for download on their Facebook), Colossus have played a couple of shows in and around Melbourne so far. I can’t wait for them to head interstate so I can see if their live show measures up to the promise the demo delivers.

HALLOWER (Melbourne) MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/hallowermelbourne It is great to see a Melbourne band move away from deathcore or NY hardcore, so with their version of melodic hardcore, Hallower have set themselves apart from their peers. Formed in 2009, it was actually in 2010 that Hallower unleashed themselves on the Melbourne hardcore scene with the release of their demo. And now in 2011 the band are making their stamp on hardcore fans, as they play shows wherever they can. Theirs is a heavy yet melodic sound, in the vein of Misery Signals, with their passionate and positive lyrics providing the message. Add to this a strong dose of pure, tough mosh, and there really is something here for fans of all types of heavy music. As long as these guys keep moving forward, developing their skills, they are definitely going to be a band to keep an eye on well into 2012.

ILL VISION (Melbourne) Website: Search for them on Facebook Take five dudes from Melbourne, mix in influences the likes of Terror, No Warning and 50 Lions, and you get Ill Vision. These guys are one of the latest hardcore bands to emerge out of Melbourne to widespread acclaim and, as a result, are making a name for themselves fast. Having been around for less than a year, they have already supported Defeater and Miles Away on one of the Melbourne legs of their recent tour, as well as playing around Melbourne with the likes of 50 Lions, Mindset and Anchors. This is definitely music for people that like their hardcore hard, heavy and full of riffs, while providing plenty of opportunities to mosh. Hopefully 2011 will see them head interstate, but in the meantime head to their Facebook to download their 2010 demo.

OUTRIGHT (Melbourne) Website: Search for them on Facebook It is perhaps unfortunate that a band like Melbourne’s Outright will be pigeonholed as a female fronted band, and while this, in the largely homogenous hardcore genre, sets them apart aurally it is more important that the band provides a platform for the issues that affect women in hardcore and wider society. This is a classic hardcore sound. The music isn’t revolutionary and it doesn’t need to be, because the importance is in the message. Whether raging about female rights, racism or personal triumph, this is something that people should be talking about and should be listening to – that is, music with purpose. Outright are a good hardcore band, irrelevant of everything else, and are an important band to give a voice to the often marginalised in the scene. Listen to Outright.

Bands You’ve never heard of ANTE UP (Adelaide) MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/anteupsucka A relatively young band (I’m talking about the band itself not its members), Ante Up played their first show back in April this year as a part of Stolen Youth’s album launch show. So while not having played together for long, this five-piece have already proven themselves a force to be reckoned with.

Formed from ex-members of God So Loved The World, Stronghold and Back On Track, this is another band with the pedigree and experience to ensure that any new venture will be as good as the one before. With a demo that was released earlier this year, Ante Up have an EP on the way, but no word on when exactly it will see the light of day. In the meantime, keep an eye out for them around Adelaide, and potentially see them interstate soon.

DICK WOLF (Adelaide) MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/dickwolf First and foremost, Dick Wolf describe themselves as “rad dudes playing rad music”. While I can’t comment on the radness of these dudes, I can of their music, and rad is an understatement. This four-piece from Adelaide play a brand of hardcore that sounds somewhere between the guitar riffing of Converge, with a faster rhythm section and a vocal that is desperate and aggressive. But the main thing that makes these guys stand out is just how tight as a band they are and their persistent presence within the Adelaide hardcore scene, playing shows consistently and with the likes of Adelaide staple bands like Robotosaurus and Coerce. With three songs out there doing the rounds of the internet (which includes being available for free download via their Facebook page) I cannot wait to hear what else these guys bring to the table.

HOODLUM SHOUTS (Canberra) MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/hoodlumshouts You’ll probably listen to this and think, “What the fuck is she doing writing about a band that describes themselves as alt-country, in a punk magazine?” The answer to that, is the Hoodlum Shouts are an amazing band out of Canberra that in actuality have more in common with Midnight Oil than they do with anything country. But they main thing is that their genre mashing, infectious melodies and true grit display as much of a punk aesthetic as anything else between these pages. If you listen to the tracks on their MySpace, ‘History’s End’ sounds like a tribute to the aforementioned Midnight Oil mixed with some mid-90’s Australian alternative (think You Am I), while the balladeering of ‘Tony Mudgee’ is heartfelt. Keep an eye out for an album mid-2011 and in the meantime keep an eye out for them next time you’re in Canberra.

LIFE & LIMB (Canberra/Sydney) Website: http://www.facebook.com/lifeandlimbau If Canberra hardcore were to produce a supergroup, then Life & Limb would be it,. The members hail from such bands as Hard Luck, Brisk and I Exist, yet Life & Limb manage to sound nothing like any of these. Instead, the result is veteran blood channelling new and creative ideas of what punk and hardcore, with a bold and reckless abandon that embodies their version of the punk rock aesthetic. Wearing their Fugazi influences on their sleeve, they do so in a manner that is as infections as it is accomplished. Their debut release, the Four Islands 10-inch, perfectly translates the experience of seeing this band live into a release that will have you consistently moving that needle back to the start of the record.

STATUES (Perth) MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/statuesau Statues describe themselves as “four polite, quiet young gentlemen who enjoy coffee”. What this belies is a band that is as frantic, technical and melodic as the likes of The Chariot, Architects or even Converge. This four-piece from Perth started out in the latter stages of 2009, and since then have released a four-track demo called A Human Work and well as a 7-inch entitled Wait For Calm.

They have also made it across to the East Coast, which is a fair effort for a young, Perth band and is demonstrative of their passion and dedication to their craft. Keep an eye out later this year, or early in 2012 for another release, as the boys are in the beginning stages of writing for what will likely be a vinyl release.

VANITY (Perth) MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/vanityhc What makes Perth’s Vanity stand out among their peers is the fact that it is incredibly obvious how much these guys love what they do. Formed in early 2009, they have released two EP’s (2010’s Hitting Home and the recently released A Thousand Feuds) as well as having played with the likes of Converge, Ruiner, The Chariot, Gold Kids, Parkway Drive, The Amity Affliction...the list goes on.

To top it off, they won the Triple J Unearthed competition to open the Soundwave Festival in Perth in 2010. So this is definitely a band that is making waves in a scene where bands go as quickly as they arrive. A combination of Every Time I Die riffs with more typically hardcore vocals, this is fast and aggressive music. Their recent EP A Thousand Feuds, builds upon their unique sound and makes the anticipation for a full-length sweeter.

THE GIFTHORSE 2007 - 2010 Lineup:

Stevie Scott – Guitar Chris Anning – Guitar Adam Brady – Bass Luke Gal – Drums Shane Collins – Vocals

cause of death: Exhaustion

ESSENTIAL LISTENING:

Self-Titled (2008)

I DIDN’T KNOW THE GIFTHORSE FOR MUCH OF THEIR LIFESPAN, BUT THERE ISN’T A DAY GOES BY WHERE I DON’T WISH THEY WERE STILL AROUND. I first heard about them through Hoist Rocky Online – a nowdefunct internet forum frequented by people with an interest in Rockhampton’s live music scene. There were plenty of Rocky ex-pats living in Brisbane and they all raved about The Gifties. I bought their self-titled album at Kill The Music and fell in love with it almost instantly.

I was in the death throes of my first long-term relationship and not coping very well. I was sick of my music course at uni and how they all fawned over synths and computers, sick of bloated alternative and hard rock, sick of calculated and polished pop songs, sick of music and everything to do with it.

The Gifthorse were something else. Their music was raw, simple and real. It was just what I needed: just five guys, all awkward and weird in their own way, making honest and heartfelt music. Their live shows, like all good live shows, were a mixture of joy and catharsis.

From The Floor Up EP (2009) Ed’s note: When I first asked Sophie to write this piece, The Gifthorse were well and truly finished.

The members had moved on to different bands and it seemed that the music of The Gifthorse was going to be left in the past. But lo and behold, they announced that they would be reforming for the Poison City Weekender in September. So rather than cut this out, I thought it would be a good indication of how much The Gifthorse affected people the first time around.

Lead singer Shane Collins was utterly commanding, a mixture of a gospel priest and Henry Rollins, preaching, pacing and singing his heart out. I always got a feeling that the rest of the band were concentrating as hard as they could on putting the largest amount of emotion and feeling into their playing.

Grimaces, yelled harmonies, mic grabs and the occasional smile.

‘Everyone’s got a fear of something/we’re all cut the same way/how close have you been?’

I remember trying to engage guitarist Stevie Scott in conversation about their thenupcoming EP, From The Floor Up, while he was tattooing me in mid-2009. “I’m really excited about your new EP,” I said to him, grimacing as the needle ran along my hip bone. “When’s it coming out?”

He took his foot off the pedal, wiped down where he’d just tattooed and changed his gloves.

“You know my band?” he asked in his thick Scottish accent.

“Yeah, I do. I really like you guys.” He mumbled a quiet “thanks” and told me the release date, but he seemed unconvinced. Maybe he was concentrating on not fucking up the tattoo; maybe he thought I was some kind of annoying fan girl; maybe he honestly just didn’t give a shit. The tattoo and the EP both turned out great.

‘A suitcase/full of nothing now/I take it everywhere I go/to re-

mind me I could’ve built this thing a hundred times/but I throw every chance I get away.’

“The Gifthorse are fucking dead!!!” read their MySpace page. They’d just announced an Australian tour with Polar Bear Club and released a really solid 7”. Why end it all now? It felt like a waste.

I’ve never got a straight answer on why they broke up, but it didn’t seem too acrimonious.

As I understand it, half the band was over the touring and brokeass aspects of being in a band and the other half weren’t.

I happened to be in Melbourne when the Polar Bear Club tour rolled through town, so I headed over to the East Brunswick Club to see the Gifties play their last Melbourne show.

The Gifties played a cracker of a set, but nobody was really that into it except for me and a random guy, who I ended up

making out with later on in the evening.

I’d heard stories from touring bands about how Melbourne crowds were spoilt and aloof but I’d never quite believed it.

Growing up in Queensland, you’re led to believe that people in Melbourne know better than you when it comes to anything cultural. Well, fuck that. Melbourne didn’t know shit when it came to The Gifthorse.

‘Some call it hope, I call it over.’

I was running a fever the night of The Gifthorse’s last show, but there was no way I could miss it. At any rate, my friends had driven eight hours from Rockhampton for the occasion and I wanted to see them.

It was a sweltering Brisbane February night, humidity mixed with sweat. We crammed into Fat Louies pool hall, a loveable dive of a venue in the CBD. I tried my hardest to stick it out,

but I ended up leaving halfway through the second song of the The Gifthorse’s set, delirious with pain and fever.

I drifted in and out of consciousness on the cab ride home, furious and exhausted. The next morning I woke up passed out on the floor covered in an angry red rash. I drove myself to hospital where they stuck me on a drip, did a blood test and sent me home.

As it turned out I had glandular fever, no doubt caught from the random I’d made out with in the crowd at the show in Melbourne. My liver was shutting down, my tonsillitis was the worst case my doctor had seen in years and I’d have to spent the next two months in bed.

Totally worth it though. Viva la Gifthorse.

‘Stay the same/I’ll never change/I’m always gonna be this way/’til the sky closes in.’

WORDS: SOPHIE BENJAMIN

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