THE HALO EFFECT: A Conversation with NICLAS ENGELIN On Their New Album And Band Energy

Interview by Kris PetersSpringfield rock outfit Staind are universally recognised for their 2001 smash hit balled It's Been A While.Unfortunately, many people in the hard rock and metal world wrote the band off because of the global success of that song, failing to care or acknowledge the fact that Staind came from much heavier pastures.Their early shows consisted of a sprinkling of originals plus covers of Korn, Rage Against the Machine, Pearl Jam, Tool, and Alice in Chains, among others.These bands had more of an influence on the emerging rockers, who, despite the universal acclaim sent their way because of their success with a rock ballad continued plying their hard rock/alternative trade over consecutive albums.After a five-year hiatus where frontman Aaron Lewis concentrated on his growing country career, Staind reformed in 2019, hitting the touring circuit with renewed vigor and falling in love all over again with the world of music.Last month, after 12 years between studio albums, Staind released Confessions Of The Fallen, reaffirming their status among their peers and casting doubt on all those who had written them off.HEAVY sat down earlier today with guitarist and founding member Mike Mushok to find out more."I'm pretty excited," he enthused when asked about the new album. "We worked pretty hard on this. It's been so long since we put out new music it just feels great to be working again. I'm really proud of the way the record came out."We press Mushok to take us deeper into the musical side of Confessions Of The Fallen."We got together… we hadn't played together in a while, and we got together around 2018 and did some shows in 2019 and signed a record deal then," he explained. "Then COVID happened, and it put all of our plans on hold, but we were able to go on a tour in 2021 with KORN, and Aaron has a successful country music career in the States, so he's always out playing. He doesn't stop (laughs). On that tour with KORN it was a great opportunity - because we were all together - to get him in a room and play him some of the ideas that I had and get his feedback of what he liked and what he didn't. With a lot of those notes I was able to go back and start making changes and follow what his guidance was or what he was into. We actually wrote a lot of the record on that tour. When we finished we chose Eric as the producer and it was funny. COVID was still a thing and him and I were supposed to get together at the beginning of last year and he got COVID, so we ended up doing a lot of stuff through zoom. We tried for a song a day. One week we did five songs, and he put his twist on it because one of the things Aaron wanted to do was introduce more of an electronic element that we'd never really experimented with. I feel like Eric did a great job, because I remember saying to Aaron I play guitar, I don't wanna play any of those electronic elements (laughs). Really what it was is there might be a verse or a riff that I wrote on guitar that ended up getting played on a synthesiser. Eric added in some loops and that type of thing in certain areas and I felt he had a great grasp of adding some of that but not too much, you know what I mean? So it still maintained who we were, yet kind of a little more modern sounding. At the end of the day I think he did a great job in going back and listening to it. I'm happy with the little production things that he added as well."In the full interview, Mike talks about the singles released, why they chose Lowest In Me to be the lead single and first song on the album, how Staind have changed as a band since their last album 12 years ago, the early days of the band and the musical climate that gave birth to them, how Break The Cycle in 2001 changed things for Staind, resisting the urge to recycle the successful formula of It's Been A While, how Staind has adapted to the changing musical landscape and more.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.

12 Loka 202321min

Interview by Kris PetersJust like Santa Claus, Gold Coast rock outfit Veal only come once a year.But it's highly unlikely they would fit down your chimney…After debuting at Wallapalooza in 2014 and making such a huge impact they have been invited back every year since, Veal have shunned the conventional path of music and stuck to their guns in staying faithful to their pledge to play only sporadically - partly for effect and partly because they simply could not be fucked.You might think that a band that dusts the cobwebs off only once every twelve months could be a little shaky when it comes to taking the stage, and usually you would be right, but for these four prime-cut-eating musicians that one night of live release is the culmination of the entire 364 days that preceded it.While the majority of Veal play in other local, well-known bands, when the annual meat-digesting call to arms beckons then it is all systems go. Veal matures from a young, tender cut of beef to a battle-hardened, seasoned side of goodness who take no prisoners and give no quarter.Their EP titles are, as expected, strongly based in the fine art of butchery with The Meating coming out in 2019 and Pleased To Meat You being unleashed in 2021. Veal's lyrics and song titles are planted tongue firmly in cheek, with tracks like Peach, I Could Eat A Peach For Hours and One Of Britney's Mums Pubic Hairs as funny as they are entertaining, accentuating the feel good vibe each tasty morsel of Veal comes served with.This Saturday, October 14, Veal are hosting Vealstock: Veal's 10 Year Anniversary at Vinnies Dive Bar in Southport with special guests including Gutterfire!, Dad Fight, The Green Whistle, Dogshot, Beefed Up and more. It is an eclectic line-up of bands in keeping with the eclectic nature of Veal's music and personality and promises to once again be one of the (literal) gigs of the year.Vocalist/guitarist Dan joined HEAVY to tell us more."It kind of hit me this morning that it's sneaking up," he said sheepishly. "Vealstock in general has been an idea we've had for about three years, and it only hit me this morning that it's only a few days out. I'm not nervous to do it, it's more the nerves of 'fuck, the shows coming'."A tenth-anniversary show - even though it also signifies only the tenth actual gig for Veal - is still a big deal, so we press Dan on what sorts of things we can expect to get us into party mode."The plan is we plan to play every song that we've got, every song we have written," he measured. "We wanted to make the most of it. For those who don't know Veal is a once a year band. We only play one show a year. Long story short, we played the first year and with me and Chris being busy by the time we played another show it was a year later and that kept happening so after three years we made it a one-year thing. To put it in context, our first show was 2014, so this might not be our tenth year, but it's our tenth show. Does that make sense? It's hard to say what we're gonna bring, because we have always - without sounding cliché - we always try and bring our most to it because we only play the once each year. For me, I'm not in any other band, so I only play one show a year, so this really is my one chance to get on stage and just let loose and be as much of a 'rock star' as I can. (We will bring) as much energy as we can, and every song we've ever written we are gonna play, so it's a long set."In the full interview, Dan talks more about the other bands playing and why they were hand-chosen, The Green Whistle coming out of hiding to play, Veal's EP releases, putting in the hard yards for this show, what to expect, the infamous rehearsal room lolly jar and a possible surprise appearance on Saturday night, the importance of Vinnies Dive Bar to the Gold Coast music scene, why Veal play only once a year, the possibility of new material this weekend, what the band plans to do after Vealstock and more.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.

11 Loka 202316min

Interview by Kris PetersWhat better way to celebrate forty years of blood, sweat and beers in the music industry than to announce your final ever tour?While some may brush it off as a clever marketing strategy, those who have followed punk stalwarts NOFX for the duration of their career will know and understand the gravity of the situation, because when Fat Mike says something, you can pretty much put your best pair of Doc Martins on it!Known affectionately by their fans and revered by others as one of the world’s most controversial and significant punk bands of their time, NOFX simply don't, nor have they ever, given a shit.They are punk to the core and have never failed to wear their music on their sleeves, surviving four decades at the forefront of a genre that refuses to cater to trends and smells out imposters quicker than you can pogo.They are, in all aspects of the word, a punk rock institution, spawning classic tracks such as The Longest Line, Cokie The Clown, Soul Doubt, Seeing Double At The Triple Rock and Linoleum to name but a few.But all good things invariably come to an end, and NOFX are planning to go out in style, playing two consecutive nights over three capital cities as part of the NOFX Final Tour 40 Years, 40 Cities, 40 Songs Per Night Tour which hits Australia in January 2024.The final tour will see the band perform songs from their classic releases, Wolves In Wolves’ Clothing, Punk In Drublic, The War On Errorism, White Trash Two Heebs And A Bean, So Long And Thanks For All The Shoes and The Decline over two nights in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, offering fans two completely different shows back to back.Bassist/vocalist Fat Mike sat down with HEAVY to talk all things NOFX."We're very excited to do our final tour in Australia," he beamed back at us. "I mean, who wouldn't be? We will be there in January."We mention the challenging effort of playing three different albums over two nights and what a herculean task the band have set for themselves."It's way too much work," he smiled, "but, you've gotta work hard once with 40 years of being in a band, it might as well be now. We're not doing Punk In Drublic, we already did that last year. That was a mistake so don't count on that."We ask Fat Mike if it is difficult playing full albums considering when they were written the thought of playing them in full one day would not have been on the playing field."Some of the songs are very difficult," he nodded, "which is why we don't do full albums. Fuck that shit. It's not because the songs are difficult. We're doing a lot of hard ones, but it's more it becomes kind of boring. I don't wanna be bored. So we're playing most of those albums."In the full interview, Fat Mike talks more about what to expect from the shows, if they plan on having any guest artists join them on stage, how emotional playing these shows will be, if he will miss touring, their reputation as being a controversial band, the most significant changes in punk music over the last 40 years, how he thinks punk music will change in the future, whether he will stay involved in music and in what capacity, a message to Australian fans and more.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.

11 Loka 20239min

Over my decades as a metal / heavy music “journalist”, I think to myself that there is pretty much nothing else for me to cover or interview people about. But with every new year brings another first for me. And 2023 has been no exception! A lot of books on heavy / extreme music have been written and published over the years, of which I have many. But…I have never spoken to any of those books’ author’s until a month or so ago when I had the pleasure of talking to Mr. Shane Embury in Melbourne as part of Napalm Death’s recent Australian tour.As this chat between Shane and I wasn’t really focussed on an upcoming tour or album release, there was this magnificent freedom to just banter and follow tangents that would necessarily lend themselves to a “normal” interview that am I used to doing, so across our journey into Shane Embury’s life and projects we cover a lot of different territories that are interesting and intriguing you'll have to listen to my (near) exclusive chat with the legend himself as he also chooses Napalm tracks that he enjoys and tells us why he picked them.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.

10 Loka 202334min

Interview by Kris PetersSwedish hard rock outfit Bonafide are set to drop their first new album in six years.Following the forward momentum generated by 2017's Flames, Bonafide decided the best approach was to take their time fleshing out their next slab of rock goodness, focussing on quality over quantity with Are You Listening?, which will be unleashed on October 27.Featuring all of the rock-drenched numbers we have come to love and expect from Bonafide, Are You Listening? also manages to elevate that meat-and-potatoes classic take on the genre and amplify things to 11 in pursuit of rock and roll immortality.HEAVY caught up with vocalist/guitarist Pontus Snibb to find out more."We have released two singles so far and had a really good response, so I'm happy," he began.We ask Snibb to go into more details on what Bonafide were going for musically with Are You Listening?"It's a classic, bona fide rock and roll album," he smiled. "You could say it's the sister album to all of the AC/DC albums (laughs). It's that kind of riff rock. We're proud of it. We once again used Sweden's best rock and roll producer to do it, so it sounds ace as well."In the full interview, Pontus talks more about what to expect from the album, the two singles released and how they represent the album as a whole, having Nisse Hellberg from Wilmer X guest on the track Snacket, the recording process and how it differed to previous albums, capturing a live feel in the studio, the early days of Bonafide and the musical climate that created them, touring plans and more.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.

10 Loka 202311min

Interview by Kris PetersAdelaide thrash outfit Hidden Intent are living proof that hard work and perseverance pay off.The boys have been one of the hardest touring and working bands in Australia for a long period of time and have seen the fruit of their labours rewarded recently by playing at both Wacken and Bloodstock 2023 in the last couple of months.Not content to rest on their laurels, Hidden Intent are back in Australia and are set to headline the growing Metal In The Mountains festival which will be held at the Beechworth Historical Precinct on October 28 alongside 100 Years War, Firing Squad, Duneater, Pissbolt and more.Frontman Chris McThrashy joined HEAVY to talk more about recent and upcoming events."We've been meaning to play in Beechworth because I've actually got a bit of family there," he smiled. "I've been up there a couple of times to visit and strangely enough it's where my late Grandma last resided. There's a bit of history there, which is cool. Sick name. You can't get more metal than that."We run through the line-up and ask McThrashy who he is most looking forward to sharing a stage with."Probably 100 Years War," he replied. "I think I saw them play at New Dead in Adelaide and I didn't get to see too much of them. I walked in as they played their last song, and I was spewing about that. Looking forward to watching them and checking them out and all of the other bands, really. There's some sick bands and not just metal by the looks of it as well. There's some crossover stuff, which I'm really into, so keen to check it out. As I said, first time there, so it will be a fresh audience which is what we're always about with Hidden Intent. We like to play to new ears."In the full interview, Chris talks more about Metal In The Mountains, their next show after that at Froth & Fury Festival, having diversity in festival line-ups, their recent overseas tour, playing at Wacken and Bloodstock, mixing with the bigger bands, what they took out of the experience, new music and more.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.

8 Loka 202320min

Interview by Kyra-Jade CoombsShort Stack are one of those Aussie bands that you mention and unlock a core memory. Whether it be their ultra-catchy tunes or their time-stamped emo’ hair… you remember them. I was keen to catch up with frontman/ guitarist Shaun Diviney to see what’s been happening in the world of Short Stack and what they are looking forward to.Starting off this week, they are taking off on their ‘Regional(ish) Tour’ with Hevenshe and The Beautiful Monument. They’ve got plenty of new stops on the bill and are returning back to towns they haven’t visited in 10 years. Not long after returning home from their tour they will be playing Good Things 2023 alongside some huge names to which Shaun joked about being the representation for ‘Aussie heavy music’ and Limp Bizkit obviously looking forward to seeing/ watching Short Stack. All jokes aside these fellas are ready to hit the stage with our favourite songs from Stack is the New Black to now and will be awesome to watch.Speaking of Stack is the New Black, recently the boys released limited edition vinyl albums to celebrate the album that took Short Stack straight to number #1 on the ARIA charts. Shaun reflected on what it was like to have that experience and release an album with some of the songs written in their high school days. ‘We had such minimal expectations, and it’s set up everything we have done since’, he also joked, ‘It must have been a shit week on the charts’, which gave me a good laugh.After talking about the early days of their careers we delved into what the boys have been up to and spoke about their new release Shotgun Wedding which is an upbeat pop-punk anthem and a taste of what’s to come from Short Stack.Whether an album is on the horizon or not can be left up to speculation but what I can confirm is they are making music that makes them happy and is fun to play live.There’s plenty more that we covered along the way, like whether they will revive their iconic hair and eyeliner for Halloween this year, sharing their musical life with their kiddos, their favourite songs to play and selling out their comeback tour.Be sure to check out Short Stack on their Regional(ish) Tour or Good Things later this year at a location near you!Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.

6 Loka 202310min

Interview by Kris PetersMelbourne metal outfit The Last Martyr have wasted little time entrenching their roots in the Australian music scene.After announcing their intentions in 2021 with the single Hindsight, the band have pressed the accelerator firmly to the floor in pursuit of musical integrity, touring relentlessly and securing spots alongside international heavyweights such as Dayseeker, The Gateway Plan, Story Of The Year and Black Veil Brides.After a successful run of shows last year as part of Sunk Loto's triumphant return, The Last Martyr followed expectations by releasing a banger of a track in Comedy/Tragedy earlier this year, but last month threw that script into the abyss by turning their focus back to the turn of the century with a reworked version of Bomfunk MC's hit song Freestyler.Featuring J-Figure from Sydney's The Weight Of Silence alongside frontwoman Monica Strut, Freestyler has shown a more adventurous and dangerous side to The Last Martyr that can only be the by-product of a band completely at ease with themselves and their music.Strut sat down with HEAVY to discuss the single and more."We were so nervous about this one," she smiled, "but so far, so good. It's one of those songs that is a little bit more obscure, but everyone knows it once they hear it. It's been a good reminder for people that grew up in the 90s and were kids in the 90s like we were. Maybe it's even introduced it to some new people as well. I think it's going well."That whole era was rich for tracks such as this, leading us to ask Strut as to why The Last Martyr chose this particular song to cover."I have no idea," she laughed. "We're one of those bands where we've all got eclectic music tastes, and it's really, really difficult for us to agree on a cover. I think it was Ben, our drummer, who originally came up with the idea, and we thought why don't we play a snippet of a cover, just to break up the set a little bit. We used to play a Linkin Park cover, so that was our designated cover, but we had this idea to do a verse and a chorus of another song into an original song and have it as a little bit of a feature. So Vin was on an absolute mission to track down the samples for the original version, and we could not find it anywhere. He actually came across someone he found I think on YouTube from somewhere in Europe and reached out on Instagram and kept following up, and eventually he was good enough to give us the samples. So we started playing that live and playing it into our song Like A Ghost, which worked well."In the full interview, Monica talks more about the song, having J-Figure as guest vocalist, how they dismantled then reassembled the original song from the ground up, whether Freestyler is a stand-alone track or part of a bigger picture, progress on new music, what direction it might take, their two upcoming headline shows and more.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.

5 Loka 202332min