Coming To Get Some Down Under With JOHN FAHNESTOCK From SNOT

Interview by Kris PetersGold Coast metal titans Snake Mountain have never been one of those bands to go with the flow.Instead, they have adopted a kind of Cobra Kai attitude of strike first, strike hard and not only become an integral part of the local live music scene, but also a proactive and fundamental link in what is becoming an increasingly more delicate chain.Tonight (September 15) Snake Mountain return to Mo's Desert Clubhouse in Burleigh Heads to spearhead Brutal Coast 4, an annual celebration of live music which they initially started to provide exposure for local bands but what has now become a highlight on the Gold Coast music calendar.Vocalist and all round top bloke Neville Pearce joined HEAVY to tell us more."I think it sounds kind of cool," he laughed when we point out the event name is actually quite intimidating. "You've got to have a cool name. I like having that branding on it. It sounds evil but it's not. We're all happy metalheads (laughs)."When it started four short years ago, Brutal Coast was but a simple idea but over the years has developed into more of a lifeblood of sorts for the local music scene."I just wanted to put together a line-up that was a little bit more diverse than the usual shows we play," he recalled. "Which there's nothing wrong with those because we love doing the heavy, heavy stuff, but I wanted to put on something where it was more diverse with sub genres where you have a bit of melodic metal, or you have a bit of hardcore or you'll have maybe a tribute. I just wanted something that brought all different sides of the scene together and some of their followers might be opened to other bands that they might not usually see. So that was the whole idea to begin with and it took off from there."In the full interview, Neville talks more about his vision for Brutal Coast, what he looks for when selecting bands, the other bands on the bill and why they were chosen, his view of the current local music scene, new music from Snake Mountain and more.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.

15 Sep 202315min

Interview by Kris PetersEmerging Woolongong outfit Brooklyn Comic have an interesting take on music, combining the sounds of emo with hardcore laced with rock sensibilities.It is a unification that, on paper, should not work but somehow Brooklyn Comic have struck that delicate balance between two worlds and harnessed that energy into their music which is a reflection of the world they live and see around them.The band's most recent single Charlie's Song details the repercussions addiction has in relationships and continues their common thread of exploring societal issues and mental health.HEAVY sat down with Jayme, Steve and Emerson to talk more."The band has been around for just over a year," Jayme informed us. "I started writing music pretty heavily during the second lockdown, just as a means of aiding my mental despair. Basically, we have one mission statement and that's to raise awareness for mental health. And I like to scream into a microphone (laughs) and that kind of helps."In the full interview, Brooklyn Comic tell us more about Charlie's Song, what they were going for musically with it, what the song is about and how it addresses modern problems, the film clip and what message they hope we take out of it, future music, upcoming shows and more.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.

14 Sep 202312min

Interview by Kris Peters & Kyra-Jade CoombsKickAss Festival successfully completed its second year last weekend with a bumper show at Kenilworth Showgrounds that emphatically proved rock music is alive, well and thriving.Held over two days with local acts appearing alongside established bands such as James Reyne, Kingswood, Dragon and the Choirboys, KickAss Festival did just that and more with thousands of music lovers taking advantage of the camping facilities on offer to spend the weekend in rock paradise.HEAVY was granted exclusive media access to backstage interviews on the Saturday, and we managed to corner Kingswood, Choirboys and Lecia Louise for some up close and personal time.After speaking to Alex Laska from Kingswood several times via zoom, it was long overdue that we finally got the chance to talk with him in person, and it didn't disappoint.Kingswood are currently riding the crest of a musical wave that is steadily building to a tidal wave. Following the release of their country inspired album Home earlier this year - an album that has since seen them secure ARIA Awards in that genre - and a massive Australian run of shows, Kingswood are now only days away from heading overseas for another European tour. It seems everything they touch is gold. Until they said yes to this interview.Kyra-Jade Coombs and Kris Peters drew the short straws for the day.Kyra kicked things off by bringing up Kingswood's ever changing sound and whether it is a planned progression musically or more a matter of circumstance."To be honest it's so weird," Alex replied. "You would think there would be a distinct conversation and then there's a strategy behind it where we say we should do this, but honestly Fergus and I love so much music and always have done. We've been musical around each other since we were 12 years old. There are so many different influences. These things happen where we eventually just go 'this is inspiring at the moment, what do you think of this?' And there's so much mystery that has made us who we are musically that at some point, once you've exhausted something, you feel like you become accomplished in it…"Nothing is off limits in the ensuing 30 minutes as we cover everything from touring to festival survival tips. Strap in and enjoy the ride.*note due to the live recording of the interviews some background noise and comments can be heard intermittently. Keep an eye on HEAVY over the coming weeks for the full video interviews, uncut and (mostly) uncencored *Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.

14 Sep 202324min

Interview by Kris Peters Depression and mental health are becoming an increasingly prevalent condition, especially in the modern age where sometimes just living can become a struggle. They are real problems with no definitive answer. Problems that could affect any one of us at any time.As much as money always helps in any situation, perhaps more importantly in these cases the vital factor is more awareness. Awareness that it can and does happen. Awareness that it is not your fault or something you should go through alone and awareness of the fact that sometimes it’s okay to not be okay and the most important first step to helping yourself is communication and putting your troubles out there for the world to see, hear and help. One way to do this is by staging events – of any nature – but when music is your life and passion the default mechanism generally switches to live events. And, as we all know, musicians do it better than most. This Saturday, September 16, the Mansfield Tavern in Brisbane will host Rock Beats Depression, featuring an eclectic assortment of local and interstate bands uniting for one common cause. Black Whisky, Goatzilla, Gutterfire, Tailor Made Rejects, Krave and more unite together over two stages for not only a great cause, but also a great afternoon/night of live music. The day will raise not only awareness, but also funding for The Black Dog Institute, Beyond Blue and Headspace with tickets HERE Today we speak with Logan/Gold Coast punk outfit Pugnacious to find out why they volunteered to be a part of this great day.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.

14 Sep 202313min

Interview by Kris PetersUS metal outfit Baroness perfectly encapsulate the notion of the more things change, the more they stay the same.Approaching their sixth album Stone - which is due out on September 15 - Baroness have managed to maintain a trademark sound while at the same time delivering something fresh and original with every release. They have a sound identifiably their own but allow themselves enough scope for adventure to avoid alienating longtime fans while still satiating their own desire to evolve musically.It is a fine balancing act, but one which Baroness have mastered beautifully, crafting a reliable vulnerability that forms the DNA of every album.Frontman John Baizley joined HEAVY to talk more about that growth on Stone."I'm feeling very, very, very ready to release it," he smiled. "We've had this record in the bag for a while. This is potentially the first record we have on my label that I would have spent the adequate time preparing and marketing and promoting and distributing for. The past couple of records have either been rushed or I don't know what I'm doing well enough to understand timelines and schedules. So this time we really decided to take our time and release it as well as we could, but it's been excruciating. I just want everybody to hear what you and I are talking about. I just want somebody to hear it."We ask him to explain Stone in greater detail musically."This was… I've gone from hate to love on this record over the course of the nearly three years that it would have been in the works," he measured. "In 2020 we had just released Gold & Grey, our last record, and we had been on tour in Europe all through late 2019 and coming back in 2020 we were excited about putting together the actual tour for that record. Which was going to start with a trip to Australia and Japan. We were four days away from flying out of the country when the lockdown occurred. Even up to four days before lockdown I still thought we were gonna do it. It was really like having the rug pulled out from underneath you. What followed were several months of extreme confusion and frustration, everybody can identify with that. But what we decided to do mid 2020 was start writing a new record. We planned on how to make it as the global situation developed. What became apparent to us was that we were in for the long haul, so our idea - which incidently was an idea we've had for many years and finally felt like the right time to do it - was to rent an Airbnb cabin in the woods. My rhythm section is in New York, and I'm in Philadelphia, so we chose a spot that was as distant and into the bush as we could but was equidistant from both Philadelphia and New York, so it was roughly two and a half hours up into the country. We found a cabin, but it was more like a big house that had a huge ceiling and tonnes of space and not a tonne of walls, and it had a great sound for tracking. So we rented the place for a month. For 15 years I have been on classifieds and E-Bay buying studio equipment, and we built our own studio in about 36 hours in a house that was not equipped to be a studio but had all the acoustic plusses that we wanted. It was big, and it was a good creative space for us and there was no distractions, no businesses nearby. The nearest grocery was an hour away. No bars, no businesses, nothing. We dedicated ourselves for that month to write and record a record simultaneously. In the course of that month there were only ever four people involved. We had no assistance, no technicians. We had only ourselves and our bullshit ingenuity to get us through the record and I think because of that we were able to dive into some musical territory that was really exciting and compelling for us and a situation I've always wanted to be in where you're just always working and having ideas. And recording and rehearsing 12 to 14 hours a day and really developing a strong musical bond. Whenever we were nearly finished writing we would record to get that early anxious energy into the songs where we hadn't worked everything out. We improvised a lot on the record. There's a tonne of unscripted, unknown things that we captured on tape and ended up turning into songs. It was a pretty exciting thing."In the full interview, John talks more about the writing process, how the environment contributed to the finished product, the opening acoustic track Embers and the thought process behind having it first up, musical direction and growth, touring plans and more.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.

13 Sep 202328min

Interview by Kris PetersFor nearly two decades metal outfit Carnifex have managed to push themselves musically further which each release.Although fitting snuggly into their chosen extreme metal genre, the band have also experimented both within and outside of the conventional parameters of their music, peeling back layers while simultaneously structuring new passages along the way.With their ninth full length studio album Necromanteum set to be unleashed on October 6, Carnifex have tapped into another realm both musically and thematically, exploring the supernatural and sordid tales of nightmares and inner conflict unlike ever before.It is much less introspective and personal than their previous offering Graveyard Confessions, with orchestrations and atmospheric landscapes drafted into the sonic landscape to create a sense of foreboding lyrically to match the musical output.Frontman Scott Ian Lewis joined HEAVY to explore Necromanteum even further."I'm pretty stoked," he smiled when asked about the new album. "I'm excited to get the full record out there. I know we've got a couple of singles, but I'm still a whole record kind of guy so getting the record out to the fans is really what I look forward to the most"We ask Lewis to dive deeper into the musical nature of Necromanteum."It's a bit different to the last one," he measured. "I think a big part of it is we've got a new member - Neal, our new guitarist - so we wrote this album as a five piece, compared to writing Graveside Confessions as a four piece. We were able to work with an outside studio. We worked with Jason Suecof at Auto Hammer out in Florida and we also worked with an outside... I guess composer is the word for all the orchestral arrangements, which we had never done that before. And then lyrically and kind of the themes of the music are pretty different. It's a much more outward looking record. Kind of more universal themes compared to the last album which was very inward looking and kind of more of a self assesment, where this one is an assessment of the space that we all share."In the full interview, Scott talks more about the musical side of the album, the singles released and how they reflect the album as a whole, having Tom Barber from Chelsea Grin guest on Death's Forgotten Children, the central themes throughout the album, what sort of research he did, the pros and cons of self producing an album, Neal and what he brings to Carnifex, using an actual orchestral arrangement, their upcoming tour and more.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.

13 Sep 202321min

Interview by Kris PetersAustralia, prepare for the onslaught!Two of the world's most cutting edge extreme metal bands in Cattle Decapitation and Fallujah have arrived in Australia and already started a run of shows that promises to leave a trail of destruction in their wakes.Bay Area outfit Fallujah are riding high on the recent release of their brooding and atmospheric masterpiece Empyrean, a step even further into the realms of tech-metal for which the band is fast cementing for themselves a place amongst the genres elite.HEAVY caught up with vocalist Kyle Schaefer not long before the band departed for their smash and grab six date conquest."We fly out for a six date tour with Cattle Decapitation," he enthused, "and then on top of that we've got one additional Fallujah headlining show at the end of that so it's basically one full week of Australian shows. It's gonna be a blast."It's a grueling run of high intensity shows a long way from home, and as such we ask Schaefer what sorts of things he does to mentally and physically prepare himself for the trip."Not a whole lot, actually," he laughed. "It depends on whether I have to learn any material for the set, because that's something I spend a lot more time on, like the memorisation of the music. For example, if I'm filling in for a band or Fallujah is doing different songs that I have not performed with the band before - maybe older stuff from before I joined - then I start preparing further in advance. But for something like this where it's all songs that we've done many times on stage, then I'm not too worried about it. I just try to make sure my voice is in shape by practicing pretty consistently for a few weeks beforehand because sometimes if you haven't done screaming vocals for a month or whatever you pick it up again and it's like 'okay, I've fallen off a bit. I've gotta get my voice back in shape' so that's something I really look out for, to make sure I'm feeling normal with my vocals. Two weeks is usually plenty. That's pretty much it. Other than that I just show up and go with the flow (laughs)."In the full interview, Kyle talks more about some of the essential items he takes on the road with him, what has changed with the band since last time they toured Australia, what we can expect, how much of Empyrean they will be playing, recreating the album atmospherics live, touring with Cattle Decapitation, having Psycroptic on board for the Sydney show, what's next for Fallujah and more.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.

13 Sep 202314min

Interview by Kris PetersMost bands that dwell on the hard rock/punk side of town generally walk the walk while attempting to talk the talk but to the discerning eye it is pretty obvious that it is an enforced facade.When shit hits the fan you know many of these bad boys would run cowering to the nearest obstacle and lie in wait until the storm has passed.But there are a small number that are genuine in their disdain. Bands that openly wear their heart on their sleeves and couldn't give a toss what you or anyone else thinks.And those people are the real heroes.Even though they have been around for a quarter of a century, Danko Jones have somehow managed to fly under my radar to this point, but for once I actually feel like I have missed out.Their upcoming album Electric Sounds (September 15) is a rock drenched slab of attitude that promises nothing but delivers in spades.Danko himself joined HEAVY to chat more."We're always excited when we put out an album," he revealed. "The last five albums we've put out has been more excitement than nervousness because we were pretty confident about it. We just want people to hear it. We're kind of impatient about people hearing it so I just want everyone to hear it."We ask Danko to tell us about the musical side of the new album."From a musical point of view it's the same as the last ten albums," he smiled. "It's just a hard rock album, and we're hoping that people who like hard rock like it. We do. We wouldn't have put it out if we didn't (laughs)."In the full interview we ask Danko if the band has a set process when it comes to writing and recording, the statement delivered on the very first track Guess Who's Back?, the guest artists on the album and what they brought to each song, the early days of Danko Jones and where they fit in, his early vision for the band and how it has changed since, surviving nearly three decades in the music industry, their upcoming massive tour schedule and more."Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.

8 Sep 202313min