Interview by Kris Peters
Sydney metal outfit Inertia announced themselves on the scene last year with the release of their debut album, Second Shadow.
Blending the boundaries of the genre by bringing elements of dark pop and soul to the surface of a melting pot that traverses the darkest reaches of hard rock and metal, Second Shadow opened Inertia up to a generation of music lovers yearning for acceptance through music.
It helped secure the quintet a host of shows, touring the nation extensively supporting Polaris, Dayseeker (US), Bury Tomorrow (US), Northlane, Holding Absence, Caskets (UK), Thy Art Is Murder, Thornhill and more. They played Good Things Festival Sydney last December, and recently travelled their way across regional Australia with In Hearts Wake.
It has been true reward for effort, culminating in their own headline Australia tour, starting April 19 in Sydney and hitting Brisbane and Adelaide before finishing in Melbourne on April 27.
HEAVY caught up with guitarist Mark, bass player Oliver and vocalist Julian to find out the details. We mention the compact nature of the tour, focusing on the capital cities.
"We just wanted to hit the capital cities, and hopefully we can get to some of the regional spots later on in the year," Mark explained. "But yeah, just for our first headliner tour for the album, we'll keep it short and sweet."
Which leads to HEAVY asking how Inertia thinks the public reacted to Second Shadow.
"The reception's been really good," Oliver smiled. "It has exceeded expectations for us. Streams are going really well and live, people seem to receive the songs really well as well. So, yeah, it's blown expectations out of the water."
In the modern age of music where streaming is king and figures are readily available, we ask how deeply a band looks into the rabbit hole and how they measure expectations when it comes to a debut album.
"I think it's just do better," Julian measured. "Each record needs to be bigger and better. I don't think we go into an album thinking we're going to get a specific result. We just write the best music that we can at that given time and push ourselves to be better. The result in terms of how fans latch onto the record and the streamings… everything's secondary to making good music."
In the full interview, discussion centred on Inertia's upcoming headline tour. The band shared their excitement about promoting their debut album, Second Shadow, emphasizing their dedication to quality music and the evolution of their sound, which blends various influences and defies strict genre classification.
The band reflected on their recent tour experiences with In Heart's Wake, Reliqa, and Ocean Sleeper, highlighting both the challenges and memorable moments, such as a humorous birthday celebration. Looking ahead, they plan to focus on writing new music and organizing future tours, encouraging fans to follow their social media for ticket updates.
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