HEAVY Music Interviews

Frenzal Rhomb are like that petulant child you see at birthdays sticking all of the chocolates in his pocket and unwrapping all of the presents at somebody else’s party.
As in you don’t know who the fuck invited them, but you are also glad they did!
Since their formation in 1992 Frenzal Rhomb have been one of the finest punk exports to come out of this country, with a string of albums and songs that look at life and situations from every angle except straight on.
They are notorious for their flippant sense of humour and ability to offend even themselves, with a musical outlook that is still as fresh and vibrant nearly three decades into their career with no sign of conforming just yet.
Despite not releasing an album since 2017’s awesome High Vis – High Tea, Frenzal Rhomb are front and centre on nearly every festival lineup that has happened between lockdowns this year and leading into 2022.
They will perform at Spring Loaded, Full Tilt and Scene & Heard Festivals next year, and have also recently announced their own Gone To The Dogs tour that sees them playing from late December 2021 through to October next year.
It’s almost as if the band are going through a reverse midlife crisis where people are gravitating to their music more than ever, a point not lost on vocalist Jason Whalley.
"I know,” he nodded. “I know, right. Where were you 25 years ago? Actually, they were probably there, they were just younger. It’s pretty wild how that music still resonates with people after all these years. It’s pretty cool that people are still interested in it and want to pay us actual money to come and play in their town. It's good."
When the conversation turns to the sheer volume of shows Frenzal Rhomb has committed to for the next ten months, Whalley’s tone becomes more somber.
"We will build up some match fitness I’m sure, after we have a few goes at it,” he said, almost trying to convince himself. “Hopefully it will be second nature... I was talking to Gordy yesterday, our drummer, and I said gee, I don’t think we're even going to have a chance to rehearse before this run of 40 shows or something and he said remember last time we played and I said yeah, and he's like yeah see, it's not hard (laughs). As long as I can remember half the words I’m doing alright."
In the full interview Jay runs through some of Frenzal’s more controversial moments, fans enduring love for the band, having fun with music, some of the actual people behind some of the bands best songs, what it takes to get a song written about you, their live show, new music and more.

Following the frustrations of an idle last eighteen months, Sydney metalcore outfit Bury Me have announced the Deadly Alliance tour in January and February 2022, which will be co-headlined with Adelaide metal machine SIGNV/S.
After establishing a name for themselves on the back of their intense live performances before that option was cruelly stripped away from them for a long period of time, Bury Me have since released their debut EP After The Suffering that only served to reaffirm their growing status and also set the bench higher again for the time when the band could reclaim the stage.
After managing just the one recent show in Dapto on Halloween, Bury Me are champing at the bit to get back out there, with vocalist Brendan Clark joining us to talk about the tour.
"It was different,” he conceded, talking about getting back on stage again. “We only had one practice before the show, but we were prepared as we could be and I was happy with our performance. The crowd loved it.”
The run of four dates sees the Deadly Alliance tour stop at Adelaide, Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney, with both bands undertaking their first major run of dates.
"It will be our first tour,” Clark offered. “We were meant to tour back in June to follow up the debut EP we released but unfortunately lockdown number two jeopardized that pretty heavily."
In the full interview Brendan talks about After The Suffering, the response from the fans, the thought process going into their debut release, what to expect from the tour and more.

Lordi have not just embraced the festive season with their recent offerings, they have pretty much smashed it out of the ballpark!
Not only have the band released their own special yuletide carol, Merry Blah, Blah, Blah, which is one of the most entertaining and thought provoking Christmas songs EVER, but they have also delivered a seven album Best Of series that covers all of their hits from the 1970s to the 1990’s – despite the fact they didn’t form until 1992!
Confused?
Me too, but in typical fashion Mr. Lordi himself manages to enlighten while still confusing the hell out of you so for that reason HEAVY tracked him down to his home base in Finland to try and set the record straight.
“"I don’t know if it was anything important”, he bellowed when asked about the importance of releasing a Christmas song. “I'm from the Arctic circle, which is pretty much exactly on the other side of the planet from where you guys are. Here in Europe, it is all Santa Claus here, it is Santa Claus’ home town. So, for me, Santa and Christmas is 365 days a year. There are a few Christmas songs from rock bands - my absolute favourite is King Diamond's No Presents For Christmas - but other than that Twisted Sister has done a full album and stuff like that but they really didn’t do any of their own Christmas songs - rock or metal - so I thought it would be cool for us to do a Christmas song. On our second album there was a song called Blood Red Sandman, which was originally called Blood Red Santa, and the record label at the time said no,no,no you have to change the title, otherwise the radio stations won’t play it, or only play it around Christmas time and the rest of the year they won't. That was a time almost 20 years ago when they still played rock and metal on mainstream radio, at least here in Finland and Europe. I thought it would be fun to do that, and it was. I've always.... I wrote 70 something songs last Summer... and this was one I thought has to be a single for Christmas."

They say good things come to those who wait, and that is certainly the case with the debut album from Melbourne rock outfit Shake The Temple which took nearly three years from conception to release.
Not that the band deliberately took their time, but a combination of health scares and the pandemic combined to stagger the production of the album, which was finally released earlier last month.
After the success of lead single Huntsman, Shake The Temple have followed that up with the awesome track The Devil’s Approach, in the process showing off yet another side of their musical psyche.
Front man John Joseph sat down with HEAVY to discuss the lengthy timeframe and the new single.
"It was a very organic album”, he began, “in that we didn’t set out to write an album, and we didn't even set out to record an album. I kind of like it for that reason, that we didn't go into it with any preconceived plans or visions or anything. It just happened really naturally for us. The album is nine tracks. Some of them are new that we wrote and some of them are tracks that are resurrected from my past. There's an interesting mix there and it will be interesting to see how people hear it."
The stop/start process mentioned earlier had much to do with a brain aneurysm suffered by Joseph in early 2020, not that stopped his progress.
"It was pretty strange”, he laughed. “I just felt motivated, and I had a long period of time that nothing was happening for me musically and I felt like it had ended, even though it had been a part of my life for so long. When I hooked up with Dave, who plays drums, he really energised me, so we started writing and recording the stuff, then I got sick, ended up in hospital and in bed for a long time but I just felt so driven to get the material out there. The way I got through it was to release three lyric videos, because we couldn't get together because of lock down, and I orchestrated all of that from my bed believe it or not. Doing posters and all sorts of dreams and visions that I had in the hope one day I might recover and if I was able to return, we would be good to go and that's exactly what happened."
In the full interview John talks more about the album, the overall vibe of the music, overcoming health issues, how his writing style and approach changed over the course of writing the album, signing to Sliptrick Records, future plans and more.

Despite their relative youth, New Zealand rock outfit Voodoo Bloo are showing maturity beyond their years with the release of their latest single Skin.
Following on from the bands impressive debut album Jacobus, which had more of a punk rock vibe, Skin is taken from Voodoo Bloo’s yet to be released sophomore effort and proves that there is much growth yet to come from this exciting young outfit.
Three of the members – Rory, Jackson and Ollie – sat down with HEAVY to discuss the new music.
"I guess with a lot of material that comes from Voodoo Bloo I write the guitar and do the vocals at the same time”, offered Rory. “It's almost a singer/songwriter type thing. Obviously, a lot changes when we bring it in to the band. Jackson made quite a lot of changes to the song as we went on, but I guess the main inspiration musically was Gorillaz or Radiohead sort of groove that was supposed to be going on and focusing more on the rhythm than too much of the melody."
"I guess the drum and bass groove is very Radiohead”, Jackson agreed, “and from there we made it heavier and leaning more towards our style with less of a meandering structure and more of a straight to the point thing."
In the full interview the boys talk more about Skin and the meaning behind it, their change of direction musically and why, future music including next years album, surviving lockdown and more.

What do you get when creative minds suddenly become idle?
Well, the answer to that could admittedly be anything, but in the case of Jackson Bentley and Ben Heidrich the answer is A LOT.
Better known for their part in more alternate bands Rumours (Bentley) and The Daily Chase (Heidrich), both boys gave in to their inner demons and created the project Oddbo¥ which is about as far removed from their comfort zone as you could get.
Essentially a metal/rap hybrid, but already promising so much more, Oddbo¥ have just released their crushing debut single Cut From The Crypt, with both boys joining HEAVY to chat about the track.
"This song started... I think it was a product of lockdown last year”, Heidrich mused. “I jumped in my home studio and started writing music on the side as a side project from my other band to help develop my skills in the studio and I showed Jackson the track and he was into it straight away. He said let’s get some vocals down and making something of this - because I sort of just had sections, I didn't have a full song - and Jackson came around and we built this thing into a track with a lot of heavy sections and aggressive parts and some spooky noises and weird shit going on. Probably things I couldn't put in my other band, just an outlet of stuff that probably wouldn't fly with my other band (laughs)."
In the full interview, Ben and Jackson talk more about the single, where the ideas came from, why they chose to do something outside of what they are known for, the creepy film clip, future music and more.

Since bursting onto the music scene with their debut EP The Concept Of Dreaming in 2010, L.A metalcore outfit Volumes has ridden somewhat of a rollercoaster ride of success.
While their music has always been highly appealing to their massive legion of fans, the band themselves often courted controversy and infamy to the extreme and as such were shunned by certain sectors of the industry.
In a sign of their growing maturity and dedication to music itself, Volumes have turned themselves around in recent times, towing the line to some extent and relying on their music to provide the headlines.
With the recent release of their latest album Happier?, Volumes have solidified their growing reputation with a collection of tracks that leaves the band exposed and vulnerable, but in a much better state than ever before.
Vocalist Michael Barr sat down with HEAVY to discuss Happier?
"The album spans between the original Volumes sound” he began, “which is something we really leant into on this tour, mixed with four or five huge singles that are super radio friendly, with big, big singing choruses. It has the culmination of what I would say this band has done and what we've been through for a lot of years coming out sonically for the first time. We feel like we've done this the right way for the first time and it's finally all paying off."
In the full interview Michael discusses the bands mature sound and approach to this album, their chequered past and how they are aiming to improve on that, their new vision, the question mark after the album title and what it signifies, recording through lockdown and more.

Blackpool rock outfit Boston Manor are riding high on the back of their recent EP Desperate Times, Desperate Pleasures which highlights generational change in the modern society we all live in and with.
It is an EP about dealing with the cards life has dealt us in a positive light, especially in the current turmoil the vast majority of the planet finds themselves drawn into.
It is somewhat of a step into unchartered territory for the band, with a more expansive sound hinting at a more grandiose future for a band who many see as already being at top of their game.
Guitarist Ash Wilson joined HEAVY to chat about the EP and its musical pedigree, starting with the bands claim they wanted to make something that was heavier, but still accessible.
"We're at that point in our lives now where we're kind of like let's not think about genres so much and lets just write a song, and if we think that song is good then it stays on the EP. I feel like that’s what snowballed into the album."
Desperate times, Desperate Pleasures is the fifth EP released by Boston Manor, as opposed to just three full length albums. It seems as people’s attention spans get less and less, bands are slowly gravitating towards the shorter format, a point which Wilson at first struggles to explain.
"I have no idea”, he laughed. “I've kind of grown towards the idea of more of an EP format, but I'm a big album guy. I know a lot of people like listening to the records from front to back, and I'm one of those people, but I do feel like kids these days with stuff like TikTok where every video is 10 or 20 seconds... I think kids don't have the same attention span. People can't sit through a full record so an EP might be a little bit more digestible for them."
In the full interview Ash talks more about the sound of the EP, the future direction of the bands music, experimenting with music, surviving COVID and more.

Following up on the success of their recent EP Disgrace, Adelaide metalcore outfit Signv/s have just announced a co-headlining tour with Victorian ??? Bury Me.
After their recent sold out album launch show, Signv/s are hitting the road nationally for the first time in late January and early February, travelling through four states on the Deadly Alliance tour.
Band members Kynan and Dylan joined HEAVY to chat about the tour and what to expect.
“It's just a four day tour, so it's only a major city thing” Kynan said. “We're starting in Adelaide on the 28th then we head over to Melbourne on the 29th and Brisbane on the 4th and Sydney on the 5th. That's going to be with Bury Me headlining Brisbane and Sydney and us headlining Melbourne and Adelaide."
In the full interview the boys discuss their touring partners Bury Me, what we can expect from the shows, the pressures of their first national tour, the reception for Disgrace, surviving COVID and more.

With music and genres becoming increasingly entwined by sheer volume of releases, becoming a band that stands out from the pack is becoming increasingly more difficult.
Sydney metalcore outfit Together In Tragedy noticed this, and instead of continuing the direct path created by their debut EP Delirium, instead decided to shake things up a little on the recently released follow up Memoriam.
Bringing in elements outside of the general metalcore umbrella such as spoken word and touches of hip hop, Together In Tragedy haven’t so much as changed their sound, they have more refined it into a strangely recognisable beast while still maintaining an air of freshness that is all too rare in modern music.
Vocalist Alex Woollams joined HEAVY to talk about the bands new music.
"Musically we went into it... we wanted to retain our...let me back up a bit,” he measured, searching for the right words. “Obviously we're a metalcore band - or Nu-Metalcore band if you wanna put us into a genre - and we like to focus on the groove of our music. We've always described our sound as aggressive groove because the music is obviously aggressive and heavy. We like to focus more on the groove of the music, rather than try and be the heaviest band or write the heaviest breakdowns, we try to focus on making something that makes you move and bop your head to. With Memoriam we wanted to take elements from the debut Delirium, but we wanted to expand on it and create something that was familiar sounding enough but still each track had some new elements to bring in. We wanted the EP to pretty much sound familiar, but also have fresh ideas and new sounds. This EP does utilise choruses a lot more. There's spoken word, which is a first, there's some hip hop elements and beat stuff in there, so I think we achieved exactly what we were going for."
In the full interview, Alex talks more about Memoriam, the new musical direction and where it came from, fitting spoken word pieces into music, the overall theme of the EP and how it resonates, future plans and more.