Sweet, Sweet Revenge With ASHLEE EVANS-SMITH From THE WORKOUT

Interview by Kris PetersBrisbane rock is alive and well and in good hands if the quality of bands assembling for Infectious Rogues EP launch at The Paddo in Brisbane is anything to go by.Normally the home of The Comedy Club and many refreshing pre and post State Of Origin beers, The Paddo opens its doors this Sunday, April 23 to a stack of local hard rock and metal outfits who have gleefully claimed the downstairs party dungeon as property of metal - for this Sunday at least.Hard rock outfit Infectious Rogues dropped their EP The Alpha Display last week, and this weekend celebrate its arrival with a special launch party which will also play host to legendary Brisbane metal outfit Dreamkillers, rapidly rising rock machine PistonFist and local party outfit Palladone, with Roach Toasters fresh on the chopping block and primed for action!HEAVY caught up with Infectious Rogues lead guitarist Noz on the eve of the launch to find out what to expect and share the joy at having live music back at The Paddo."It's awesome," he nodded. "It's been a long time since they had anything there but everyone remembers the good times so hopefully the good vibes will return. It's perfect for what we're doing."With The Alpha Display being released last week we ask Noz how the early reception has been."Pretty positive so far," he smiled. "Obviously, it's early days yet but it's been well received. We consider ourselves a hard rock vibe but we do dig into the realm of traditional metal. Heavy metal is such a broad category, isn't it? I'd just like to get it back to being one label but we play to what our influences are and what we feel. We just wanted to make something that had a rocking feel to it."In the full interview, Noz talks us through the EP more, gives us two songs as an introduction to Infectious Rogues, gives a bit of history on the band, discusses the other bands on the line-up and why they are there, what to expect from their show, new music and more.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.

20 Apr 202313min

Interview by Kris PetersNormal Behaviour have defied convention from the outset, forming as a band while all members were enrolled at film school. Using that love of film and cinema the band quickly branched into songwriting, blending the rebellious spirit of rock, the dark allure of goth and the raw energy of grunge and funk into a sonic landscape that is as unique as it is captivating.Hot on the heels of their new single She Likes The 1975, Normal Behaviour have been hand selected to open next Wednesday's Adelaide leg of The World Is A Vampire Festival, featuring The Smashing Pumpkins, Jane's Addiction, RedHook, Amyl & The Sniffers and Battlesnake.Not bad for a band still in their formative years.HEAVY caught up with the band earlier this week to find out how they are going to handle the occasion."We're pretty pumped," Nic enthused. "it's a crazy show to be part of.""And an enormous lineup of excellent bands," Lachy added, "and all of them legendary as well." We ask what something like this means to Normal Behaviour as a band."It's the opportunity of a lifetime," Cameron replied.In the full interview we ask the boys how they approach a show like this, why they think they deserve to be opening the festival, who they are most looking forward to sharing the stage with, the large number of Australian bands on the lineup and how good that is for Australian music, which one would volunteer to jump in the ring, the names of their wrestler, signature move and knockout move using their own song titles, new song She Likes The 1975, future music and more.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.

20 Apr 20239min

Interview by Kris PetersNot many bands get to celebrate the release of their EP by sharing the stage with two of the biggest bands in the world, but that's exactly what awaits Melbourne metal outfit XCalibre this weekend when they open The World Is A Vampire Festival in front of their home crowd and headlined by The Smashing Pumpkins and Jane's Addiction.With EP1 seeing the light of day just last week, XCalibre are already riding the crest of a musical wave and were more than happy to sit down with HEAVY to discuss this Saturday's performance."We're pretty stoked to be on the bill with these dudes," Dan smiled. "We've grown up with them and had their posters on our wall so we're stoked to be a part of it.""They're iconic bands," added Vinnie. "I know we're just opening up, but shit, it's not being on that bill (laughs)."In the full interview the boys explain what something like this means to them as a band, which of the two headliners they are bigger fans of, the Australian bands on the bill and getting to play with them, having so many local bands on an international festival, use their song titles to create a wrestler and his moves, the response to EP1, what it contains musically, what fans can expect from their set this weekend and more.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.

20 Apr 20237min

Interview by Kris PetersSeldom does a band come along and deliver a debut album as good as Melancolia have done with HissThroughRottenTeeth.It is an album that captures elements of a plethora of metal genres, with the label winning out being blackened deathcore.But this is so much more.Equal parts sonic density coupled with an overwhelming blanket of heaviness, Melancolia have crafted something that elevates their music beyond the sonic realm and into one which conveys mood, passion and horror.The general sense of foreboding that enshrouds you after listening to HissThroughRottenTeeth is either a masterstroke on the part of the band or the work of something altogether more sinister, but whatever the source the outcome is still the same.Complete musical annihilation.Traversing the different stages of a deity's miserable existence, HissThroughRottenTeeth paints an aural landscape throughout, setting a mood and unnerving calm that almost dares you to turn away.Vocalist and songwriter Alex Hill sat down with HEAVY to unravel the darkness."Essentially I guess you would call it some kind of mutation of the deathcore genre," Hill explained of Melancolia's sound. "Musically it's fairly influenced by early Whitechapel, particularly the A New Era Of Corruption era - that's gotta be a top 10 album for me. We were going for that melodic... I don't wanna say blackened - there's definitely some influence of that in there - but it's definitely more like if melodic death metal was deathcore instead. Think more Black Dahlia Murder with breakdowns and some spooky synth sections."When it comes to HissThroughRottenTeeth Hill is much more definitive."I always write in concepts," he offered. "I never write random songs and the idea for me is to always write a story start to finish. And then it basically incorporates those thoughts and feelings and events that have happened in my life within that. Essentially what we've got is the story of a deity that's sort of been cast from the heavenly realm or whatever the afterlife is - or another universe - and he has been cast as punishment into the human realm and has been birthed as a human while still retaining all of its information and knowledge of being a God. Basically, it's forced to live as this all powerful being with no use of its power, stuck in this mortal vessel and has to go through life as a human while knowing all this stuff and being stripped of its power."In the full interview, Alex goes deeper into the storyline behind the album, the musical side of things, what message can be taken out of the narrative, the cover image and what it signifies, daring to experiment on their debut album, how much thought and planning went into each stage of the album process, using visuals to enhance their music, a typical Melancolia live show and more.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.

19 Apr 202318min

Interview by Kris PetersBrisbane metal outfit Trinatyde enjoyed a frenetic period of activity during the mid 2010s.After forming in 2010 and releasing the album Rising Tide two years later, Trinatyde embarked on a relentless touring and gigging schedule that saw them play as far North as Cairns and down the East Coast of Australia.Their music was second only to their thunderous live shows and it didn't take long for the band to establish themselves amongst the nations elite.Their single Deathplunge in 2014 promised even greater things to come, which Trinatyde delivered in the form of 2018's EP The Murderous Ones.With the metal world seemingly at their feet Trinatyde vanished from our stages around the turn of the decade, with seldom more than a whisper giving any indication as to when and if the band would resurface.HEAVY is pleased to announce that day will come sooner than expected with Trinatyde back in the rehearsal rooms with an injection of fresh blood set to carry the band straight back to their former glory and potentially usher in a new era of metal for Queensland and Australia."We're gonna be writing some new songs," original vocalist Daniel Robinson revealed, "but we're trying to do the back catalogue at the moment. The reason why we went on hiatus was obviously COVID as well, and Rob had a baby back then as well.""We had lots of gigs booked," added drummer Rob, "about five for 2020 and then COVID kicked in and we cancelled all the gigs. By late 2020 my wife gave birth to a beautiful daughter so from then on there was no time anyway. We thought from there it might kick in with some gigs but unfortunately nothing happened. Everything was cancelled and then there was nothing else. Everything slowed down a little bit and then Dan joined another band, so he was good. Our other guitarist wasn't keen to play any more so he sold his gear and his guitar and that was it for a while."We pose the question of whether it was always planned as a hiatus or if there was ever the risk the band would not get back together."There was a risk," bass player Jay Kleinschmidt nodded. "I didn't think we were going to get back together.""But we never split up officially," Rob added. "It was more a pause for a while. Jamming became a duty and it wasn't like we were patient any more. We would jam every week and work out our songs, but we weren't really there in our head. I think two years of a break was quite good. Eventually last year I spoke to Dan and made some jokes about getting back together and we contacted Matty, our old guitarist, and he didn't want to. There was writing back and forth and eventually we said let's do it. Let's get some new talented guys who bring a new spirit on board and a new style. Originally we just wanted to look for one guitarist. It was just a coincidence that it turned out we got two."In the full interview, the boys talk more about the reasons for going on hiatus and what changed to make them come back, introduce the new guys and what they bring to Trinatyde, how they will do things differently this time, rejuvenating old songs, writing new ones, future plans and more.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.

19 Apr 202318min

Interview by Neville Pearce & Kris PetersThe World Is A Vampire Festival - featuring The Smashing Pumpkins, Jane's Addiction, RedHook, Battlesnake and Amyl & The Sniffers - kicked off last weekend in Brisbane with shows at Eaton's Hill Hotel and Sandstone Point Hotel in Bribie Island.HEAVY celebrated this momentous occasion by joining forces with Neville Pearce from Everblack Podcast to conduct backstage interviews, with this chat with Billy Corgan from The Smashing Pumpkins and his World Champion wrestler Carrie Morton a feature of the day.We start by talking about Corgan's goal in bringing a festival like The World Is A Vampire to life."We did it in Mexico City recently and had about 30,000 people in Mexico City," he smiled. "On the wrestling side it was the NWA versus AAA - AAA are the biggest Mexican based wrestling promotion - so it was a real honour to work with them. And then of course we had 30,000 fans coming out to see an incredible line-up of bands. The idea is to try and bring back a true alternative festival. As we've seen with many of the major festivals that were once alternative and they have gone very pop - that's their business so all good - but I came of age with Lollapalooza in the 1990s when it was a travelling festival - and it was very important for us and a generation of fans to see a truly alternative lineup. And think of that lineup. Beastie boys, George Clinton, Green Day, Urge Overkill, The Breeders, it was an incredible lineup and to this day people still stop me and say I was there. So you've gotta make memories but it's important to turnover that alternative culture."Neville elaborates on that by pointing out how important such festivals are to the younger generation who are being brought up more on computer games and the internet and may not have had the opportunity to be swept up in the world of such a festival."In many ways I grew up somewhat dispossessed by the world and I think it's even harder for young people today with the internet and social pressures, identity being a huge issue," Corgan measured. "Who are you? I think it's important that young people, if they feel alienated by society - and many do. Not everybody, but many do. They can come to a festival like The World Is A Vampire and find like minded people and to celebrate like minded artists. People always say, how does wrestling fit into that? Well wrestling really is one of the true last counter-culture things in the world. Just the fact that anybody even asks the question why wrestling? That just shows you that it still remains outside of the mainstream. That's the whole point. We want to present an alternative culture, and it doesn't stop with wrestling. It's fashion and lots of other things."In the full interview, Corgan talks more about the festival, future plans for it, the wrestling side of the entertainment, Carrie's history as a wrestler and putting it all on the line as champ, interviewing Eddie Van Halen, The Smashing Pumpkins new album Atum and more.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.

19 Apr 202321min

Interview by Erin EddySydney alternative rock quartet 51 st Avenue are turning heads with their latest single Remnant.The song, which features Inertia vocalist Julian Latouche, shines light on the struggles of watching a loved one succumb to addiction.“The song explores how the excessive use of drugs and alcohol can drastically change a person,” explains vocalist Aly Zizza, “The core of the person only remains through your memories; everything about them has changed, and it’s hard to see this happen to them.”Remnant is the band’s first release of 2023, with a string of material set to follow throughout theremainder of the year.HEAVY took the opportunity to speak with Aly and guitarist Ash about the new release, what’supcoming for them, how they gel as a band and how they’ve amassed quite a loyal following onTwitch. Listen to the interview to learn more about this charismatic band.Remnant is out now on all streaming platforms.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.

19 Apr 202329min

Interview by Kris PetersPeople tend to forget sometimes that musicians need us as a means of creativity just as much as we need them for a sonic escape.This notion was put to the test with almost catastrophic consequences during the recent closure of the world when British outfit Enter Shikari - like so many others - found themselves shut off from their fans and live audiences and faced the repercussions of art without inspiration perhaps more so than many others.The band members quickly found themselves feeling isolated, lost, and alone - from each other and their massive fanbase - and, unable to focus on what would normally be the simple task at hand of creating music, the band instead found themselves suddenly rudderless and without a way out of the darkness.Prolific songwriter and frontman Rou Reynolds strangely found himself struggling to put pen to paper and as the days turned into months the very real possibility that Enter Shikari might not resurface from the other side began to seem more like a foregone conclusion.Thankfully, as the world began to open up and opportunities came flooding back in the impending veil of darkness gradually lifted, culminating in the band electing to relocate to quieter surroundings to write, plan and record their new album.That album became A Kiss For The Whole World which will be unleashed on April 21, with Reynolds spending some time with HEAVY to run us through the dark times leading to the light."It's quite surreal that you finish an album, have to wait a few months for the manufacturing and everything to get sorted and then it finally comes out," he enthused. "I'm absolutely buzzing. I didn't listen to the album for about two months and then last week we were in Japan and I was very sleep deprived and jet-lagged and took a late night walk across Tokyo - which is always magical anyway - but I started to listen through the album again and it just got me so pumped. Very excited.""Basically, I stopped writing music over the pandemic time. I think retrospectively I realised that it happened for a few reasons, but one of the big reasons was that we weren't playing shows, and without that sense of human connection, without that sense of purpose, without feeling that energy it was like my brain shut off and just said if you can't share music with people what's the point in writing it? And that was quite a disorientating and strange time, really. When we started playing shows again I consequently felt like I could write music again and the sense of relief, the sense of gratitude, the sense of excitement was absolutely palpable. It kind of felt like a bit of a rebirth of the band, so the music on this album is all very high energy and really quite positive and hopefully empowering."In the full interview, Rou runs through the new album more from a musical point of view, the bands ever evolving sound and the extra pressure that creates with each release, relocating for the album process and what effect it had on the album, surviving without being able to perform, how close he came to walking away from music, what gave him his passion and inspiration back, how A Kiss For The Whole World is the beginning of Enter Shikari's second act, what's next for the band and more.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.

19 Apr 202318min