Shifting Transmission With JJ McCANN

Interview by Kris PetersSydney alternative metal outfit Fifth Dawn are taking to the road early next year with a string of three shows along the East Coast of Australia to showcase their new music and prepare fans for an album later in the year.Their music transcends genres, enabling Fifth Dawn to appeal to a large scope of music listeners, with a cinematic underlying element adding yet more layers of goodness to discover.With the band already planning new music and getting ready to hit the stage, vocalist Samantha Faul took some time out for a chat with HEAVY."We're all very excited," she smiled. "It will be good. We haven't yet played a show in Brisbane before."We ask Faul to tell us a bit more about Fifth Dawn for those unfamiliar with the band."We formed in 2015," she began. "We were all quite young when we first started, so it's been quite a journey. We're very proud of the music we are playing. It's definitely what we want to be projecting to the world. We get a lot of comparisons to Evanescence style, so it's a powerhouse quality of vocals. We're blending more heavier elements to our music as well, which is good."In the full interview, Sam talks more about the band, their most recent single The Day Brings and how that represents the band's sound, a typical Fifth Dawn live show, what they expect from crowds live, taking Aurateque on tour and why them, the local support bands for each show, mixing cinematic elements into their music, new music and more.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.

21 Des 202313min

Interview by Kris PetersWhen Dez Fafara announced that Coal Chamber was on indefinite hiatus in 2016, stating that the success of DevilDriver was taking precedence, the heavy metal community to a man fell under a thick wave of despair.Bridging the gap between metal and industrial groove with an impossibly infectious tempo, Coal Chamber helped revolutionise the sound of metal, spawning a movement that has rapidly grown into a way of life.Songs like Loco, Sway, Big Truck, and Oddity are etched into the annals of metal forever, and Coal Chamber became more than a band.They become an institution.Fafara has previously steadfastly refused to discuss let alone entertain the thought of a reunion despite repeated pleas from metalheads the world over, appearing to shun any notion of a reunion to the point many stopped even asking.But public hope and expectation simmered once more in late 2022 when Fafara announced Coal Chamber would reform and play the 2023 Sick New World Festival, and the rest, as they say, is history.That festival turned into another and then more shows before the dream pairing of Coal Chamber and Mudvayne joined formidable forces to announce a US run that had fans clamoring for tickets for what promised to be the concert event of the year.With both bands set to include Australia on their tour of domination in February, Fafara sat down with HEAVY for an open and honest discussion about the past, present and future of Coal Chamber."Cannot wait," he enthused. "We're excited. We went out with Mudvayne all Summer and did big amphitheaters. It was an amazing package. All the crews and everybody got along really well, so no drama over a seven-week tour was a great thing. Obviously, the pairing works extremely well, so when it was put to us to come over we decided yeah, we cannot say no to this."Often with tours that generate this much excitement so far out from the shows, it can feel like an anti-climax of sorts by the time the stage lights actually go down, so we ask Fafara what Coal Chamber will be doing to make sure the reality by far exceeds the hype."We're gonna bring good production, and we're gonna be on it, man," he promised. "Some of the shows that I saw from the Summer on YouTube were the tightest we have done in our entire lives. So you're getting a very special Coal Chamber right now. We're firing on all cylinders, and we cannot wait to come down. Last night we were texting for two hours straight, and I was laughing hysterically. We were just having such a great time, and that's what you want out of a band. You want a band that enjoys what they're doing, and we're gonna enjoy coming down and giving it 110%."We push Fafara to tell us more about the recent run of US shows so we can gain even a small insight into what to expect."The shows were great," he affirmed. "The Summer was fantastic, and it was great to see the audience out there, which was predominantly the younger generation… I mean people that were 22, 20 years old and born when we broke up (laughs). It's pretty crazy. Some of the biggest bands anyway in the genre have always been Korn etc, but I think us as a pairing coming to Australia will be fantastic shows and everyone should get their tickets right away because it's definitely gonna go clean. They're definitely gonna sell out."In the full interview, Dez talks more about the recent shows, if he felt nervous the first show back with Coal Chamber, tapping into different sides of his musical personality going from DevilDriver to Coal Chamber, the early days of the band and the scene that inspired them, promoting before internet and tricks of the trade, what drew people to Coal Chamber in the beginning, their album Rivals and how he feels it was 10 years too early, new music and more.To get this interview plus more great yarns, music and news delivered FREE to your inbox every week simply follow this link and subscribe now https://heavymag.com.au/subscribe/Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.

20 Des 202319min

Interview by Kris PetersIt is too easy to get stuck into playing a certain brand of music as an artist.This can be for a variety of reasons such as the popularity of your band, public expectations, being pigeonholed - any number of reasons. This problem is accentuated when your band is well known for releasing a certain brand of music, where often any deviation or experimentation is met with hostility by existing fans.It is a situation DevilDriver guitarist Michael (Mike) Spreitzer has found himself in for a prolonged period of time, despite having an unwavering desire to explore other elements of his music personality.His love for DevilDriver and the music they perform is still as strong as ever, but there has always been a gnawing yearning to explore another side of metal which has always held his interest.Industrial metal.After resisting the urge for too long, Spreitzer finally turned his talents to another passion within the realm of metal, forming Verona On Venus (VOV) as a side project to DevilDriver with the sole intent of showcasing yet another of his loves musically.VOV has released two singles now - Rodent and Monarch Acid Test - from their 2024 debut album Popular Dimensions, expelling some musical demons while simultaneously feeding others.With a strong emphasis on industrial and goth metal laced with the heavier sounds of the 1990s, Popular Delusions is a collection of songs that are personal in musical nature to Spreitzer, with him also taking the surprise step of assuming vocal duties.HEAVY recently caught up with Spreitzer to talk about his new project."This is something I've been wanting to do for a while," he began. "When I was in high school, I grew up on more… I transitioned from heavy metal into more industrial metal and goth, and Verona On Venus is the result. This is something that has taken me back to my roots and gives me an outlet for that genre of music that I can't really do with DevilDriver."In the full interview, Mike talks more about Verona On Venus and how long he has been wanting to do something like this, the mysterious campaign that introduced the band and their music, the single Rodent and what he was going for with it, stepping up to sing and how difficult that was, what he gets differently out of playing guitar and singing, the musical nature of the album, covering an Acid Bath song and why, future plans for VOV and more.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.

20 Des 202312min

Interview by Kris PetersWhat do you do as you near the twilight of an illustrious music career?Set course for Australia, apparently!After pushing 40 years in the music industry, English alternative rock outfit Pop Will Eat Itself have finally decided to bring their pasty white legs Down Under for the first show of their careers on our shores in February and March of next year. The loveable poms have promised to treat their neglected fans to a set of Greatest Hits, and, just to soften the blow, have invited UK indie/dance/rock outfit Jesus Jones to share in the fun with them.It is an upbeat and lively union of bands, with Jesus Jones frontman Mike Edwards stopping in for a chat with HEAVY to get us acquainted.We start by asking what delights Jesus Jones have in store for their Australian fans."You've put me on the spot there," he laughed. "Delights? Don't know if it's delights. It makes it sound like we should be bringing Frankincense and Myrrh (laughs). I was gonna say the same thing that we normally do, but it's not quite right… My strapline for this tour is 'all of the energy you're used to seeing, all the songs you wanna hear, but this time played better than they were in the past. How's that?"In reality, either band could have come over here by themselves and pulled decent crowds around the country, so we quiz Mike as to why they chose to come together."They're a band that we have a lot of affinity with," he replied. "We've played with them in various guises before and done tours with them. Great bunch of guys, easy to get on with, plus, more than anything else, do you want to go to Australia? Hell yes!"In the full interview, Mike tells us what we can expect from Jesus Jones' shows, being aware of your limitations as you grow older, the early days of the band and where they fit in, coming up with their eclectic sound, being part of a musical movement that changed the musical landscape, future plans and more.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.

17 Des 202315min

Interview by Kris PetersMelbourne metal legends Frankenbok celebrated their 25th anniversary at The Tote on December 12, 2022 in the most positive and emphatic way possible by assembling every one of Frankenbok's many line-ups from over the years to perform songs from their era.It was a unique and highly ambitious project that could have gone off the rails at any juncture, but, to their credit, the Bok boys smashed it out of the park and the couple of hundred lucky fans who converged on The Tote that evening were left with a lifetime of memories.BUT, if you missed out on that one-off performance, fear not!After 12 months of painstaking editing and quality control, the good folk at Fair Dinkum Records have finally put the finishing touches to not only an audio CD, but also the full video concert, with both out now for your viewing and listening pleasure.Current Frankenbok vocalist Dan McDougall sat down with HEAVY to tell us more."It was a killer night," he recalled, "and we got it recorded and filmed, and we have just finally put it out. We've got it as a live album and also the full show can be watched on YouTube as well."The album is called 25 Years Of Noise In One Form Or Another, which perfectly sums up what to expect, and we question Dan on who actually came up with the title."I did," he smiled. "I was just trying to think of a name and that just popped into my head. It's the truth. The band has been through many different changes over the 25 years, so with each different line-up it's brought something… it's changed every time, but there's been a running thread through the whole thing. I was in the band twice with two of those line-ups, but there's been four different singers. With every different singer you're going to have a different sound, but, like I said, there's a thread running through the whole thing and that's Azza who has been there from the start. His riffs and his music runs through the whole thing, so it's quite an eclectic bunch of songs when you put it all together."In the full interview we discuss that night, go through what each line-up contributed, his highlight of the concert, the singles released in the lead-up and why they were chosen, getting the sound right on the live release, the new line of merchandise, new music and more.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.

15 Des 202314min

Interview by Kris PetersGold Coast heavy outfit Kaosphere have been quiet by their standards of late.Once known for their prolific output and presence, Kaosphere decided to reevaluate their goals around 18 months ago and knuckle down with the emphasis of quality of quantity with devastating results.The band recently released the single Chain Breaker, the first of a string of new songs planned from next year's debut album In Scars We Trust, promising an album with more energy and intensity than anything previously heard from Kaosphere.They also announced their signing to the label XMusic and, with a great deal more planned for the future, sat down with HEAVY to discuss the new single and more."It has been a long process, but we wanted to take our time with it," vocalist Ricci Dyer began. "With EP's you can slap out a few songs and a video and tour, and it's a much quicker process, but with an album it just takes a long time and Chain Breaker is part of it. We've had a lot of this music ready for a long time, but it hasn't been right to release it."In the full interview Ricci and Big T tell us more about Chain Breaker, what it's about, why it has taken so long to put out new music, their slightly heavier direction, the introduction of clean vocals and why, the full album In Scars We Trust and what to expect, signing to XMBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.

15 Des 202321min

Interview by Kris Peters Obituary are deservedly known as one of the pioneering forces behind death metal. In a career spanning almost four decades, the band have redefined the term heavy metal and consistently led through actions, leaving words to go down in history amongst their brutal lyrics. With the band set to invade Australia once more in early 2024, HEAVY had the pleasure of spending some time with drummer Donald Tardy to gauge just what to expect. "We're down here in Florida," he began. "We've been home now for two or three months, so the band's ready to get things going and get on an airplane and get down there and rock some Australian shows." The tour starts here on January 5 in Auckland, bringing in the New Year in scintillating fashion. "We're excited about it," he smiled. "We know that we don't get to Australia often enough. It's so damn far away from us that it's only so many times we can get there, but we're excited. We're excited about the tour, but we're also excited about these pre-sales and these venues and the fans. They really seem to be as excited as we are to get this thing going." We point out the name of the tour - the Barely Alive Tour - and ask if that is in reference to the band or their fans. "I think that's the band after that flight trying to get to you," he laughed. "I think this time it's a 26-hour journey just for us to make it because we head to New Zealand first. It's just brutal. From Florida to your side of the world, there's no easy way around it. So the band's gonna definitely be barely alive by the time we make it there (laughs)." In the full interview, Donald talks more about the tour and what to expect, what has changed with Obituary since they were last out here in 2020, writing a setlist to please everyone, having Psycroptic and Black Lava as supports, the early days of Obituary and where they fit in, changing with the times musically, their latest album and how it was received and more.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.

15 Des 202312min

Interview by Kris PetersRising from the ashes of the supposed next big thing, Sparta attacked the music industry as a whole with a point to prove.And prove it they did, releasing their debut album Wiretap Scars in 2002 and almost single-handedly redefining the term experimentation in music as the world had previously known it.When At The Drive-In split in 2001 the music world was left in shock. Coming seemingly from nowhere with an effervescent approach to music that combined genres unlike never before, At The Drive-In were quickly lauded with the title of the next big thing, and who was there to stop them?It is highly even the band themselves knew exactly what they were doing or what direction they were headed.The band was riding the crest of a wave that would sweep them however far they wished to go before the unthinkable happened and ATDI were no more.Spurred on by this, former backup vocalist Jim Ward and two other ATDI members Tony Hajjar and Paul Hinojos quickly turned their creativity to Sparta and before long the three musicians who had been reduced to supporting cast members previously were now in command of the ship.Sparta has had a spluttering progression - due mainly to Ward operating by his own rules and shunning industry expectations - but they are still very much a band with a point to prove and an axe to grind.That axe comes out of the shed next May when Sparta heads to Australia on the tail end of a massive tour that has seen them play and celebrate 20 years since the release of Wiretap Scars.HEAVY sat down with Ward to run through memory lane, starting with how long it has been since Sparta last toured this country."It will be about 12 years by the time I get there," he almost apologised. "Too long, for sure."We ask him what has changed with the band in that time."Members," he laughed. "We play as a three-piece now. It's still Matt Miller on bass, but we have sort of a rotating cast of drummers depending on the tours. Really the only two band members are Matt and I, so we make the records, we sort of have other friends play drums on stuff, and then we tour with whoever. Other than that, we have just aged gracefully (smiles) and are better looking than ever."In the full interview, Jim talks about the other shows on this tour and how playing the album in full has been received, the difficulties in reproducing a whole album live, the time in which Sparta made the album and how their recent exit from ATDI influenced the finished product, making the transition from back up singer to lead vocalist, why he thinks Wiretap Scars has stood the test of time, what to expect from the shows and more.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.

10 Des 202316min