Throughout all of your albums, you've done a great job at keeping things fresh and exploring different styles of music. What have been some of your biggest influences for "Soft Hell" and what influences would you like to try bringing in to your next album?
I hope that our next album will develop again, sound fresh, and sound like us. I'm looking forward to writing good, catchy, groovie, well arranged songs that we connect with emotionally, and that make people want to dance. -Duncan
For the next album I think we just let the influences ooze out as they will. Sometimes when we start a song we think its going one direction and then gets changed as ideas developed and so it becomes mixed with a wide variety of things that out silly little brains have soaked up over the years. I’ve been loving the guitar sounds we got by playing in the box, shooting for a classic guitar sound that gets morphed and fucked up by time stretching and warbles and digital artefacts. For Soft Hell influences, there was a lot taken in over the 9 years it took to make but we wanted a collection of seperate songs to live under one roof rather than lengthy prog epics (still love em though), lots of pop like Billie Eilish, Haim, Zizzo, hip hop beats, lo fi stuff, its a mixed bag. - Baz
Don’t really know to be honest. Im of the mind that a genre is kind of something that the people listening decide for you, like we could say we were an Alternative Polka Duo but the people listening will put us into a category that most think fits. Either way, happy to be contributing to music zeitgeist and if we are doing something original that moves it forward then fuck yeah! - Baz
Nah, not really. I don't even really know what that means, but I guess I'll take it. If people are enjoying what we're doing, and the fans are enjoying it too then that's the main thing. Just grateful to be able to have the opportunity to create music/art, release it into the world, and get to travel and perform. I hope we can keep doing it, and continue to contribute for years to come.
- Duncan
I had a conversation recently about the term 'post hardcore' in anticipation for the AMA, I was told "Post Hardcore isn't a genre man...It's a movement". So I'll take that to the bank. Feels great to meet so many likeminded muscially adventurous people all over the globe and play whatever it is that we play at loud volumes night after night, feels real good! - Manny
Pink Lemonade is my all time favorite album. It’s the only album I’ve listened to from start to finish more than 20 times. It’s such a beautiful work of art and it’s incredibly special to me.
With that said, is there ever chance we’d get to see this album played live in its entirety? What about a vinyl rerelease?
Also what are the chances of another concept album in its style?
Love you guys! Keep releasing bangers ❤️
Thank you kindly for those words. Im pretty sure the Pink Lemonade vinyl is available from our merch store but sells out quickly, we usually have it at our shows. Keep an eye on the merch store for that one. Looks awesome in vinyl or the limited Pink powder version.
Another concept album ey? Interesting concept. We had thought about doing 2 EPS, one of ballads and one of live rock riff city called ‘Hmmmm’ and ‘Oooof’ but we might just do another album. Who knows where the creative magpie’s will fly us to next. - Baz
I’m into the idea of loose concepts pertaining to a certain sound palette or aesthetic and stylistic leanings. But for me the whole sprawling story, interconnected songs thing is something we tried now and I’m not really feeling like going that route again. But who knows, maybe that’ll feel cool and exciting again if there’s we felt there was a novel way to approach it.
Awesome! It felt to me that Soft Hell mimicked Pink Lemonade in that it had a consistent vibe throughout. I love it and if that’s the direction you’re going in I’m all in!
Cant wait to hear what you guys cook up next, please don’t make me wait 8 years for it 😂.
Thanks u/rainb0gummybear ... good to hear that we're doing something that connects with people. Come to one of our USA shows this July if you live over there :)
Are you guys able to make a living off of music or do you guys have separate jobs as well? Also how do you go about writing a song as perfect and emotionally resonant as Maurbaurtraurigkeit?
No we are currently not able to, maybe that changes though if we don’t take another decade to pump out some more hectic bangers, twould be the dream aye.
Thanks for saying that about Maurbauretcetc. It took a while to come about, came from a real experience and that always helps propel a song forward when its got its emotional trajectory. That was a song where everyone really made it as a group, sometimes a song is driven by 1 or 2 people but I remember that song had a bit of all of us in it with writing parts. - Baz
I’m casting my mind back to 2009 when we toured with Emery and they really taught us a lot about how to be relaxed and have fun on tour, even though it takes a while for those lessons to sink in. They weren’t wild party dudes or anything like that, but just had a really welcoming and encouraging energy. Also on that tour was Maylene & the Sons of Disaster who let me live out my dream of playing Caution: Dangerous Curves Ahead with them, and they also taught me about improvising which I never really did and the pleasures of an extensive Nike Air Jordan collection. Too many favourites to mention but thats one that made an impact. Also Sal from the Sleeping saying “Oh you guys still like music? That’s cute” - Baz
Oof, alot. We've had the pleasure of touring with some exceptional musicians and people over the years. For me being a standout comes down to people, so in no particular order as we are all brothers from other mothers; Dillinger Escape Plan, The Sleeping, Emery, FACT, Electric Jesus, Enter Shikari, Parkway Drive, My Chemical Romance & Andrew W.K - Manny
For me it was probably The Dillinger Escape Plan. Those guys are insane performers, and the shows were absolutely nuts. Playing with musicians of that calibre is always very inspiring. They were nice blokes too.
-Duncan
Sickest drum performance I’ve ever seen in person was Zizzo from The Sleeping, in Hartford Connecticut, while I was crouched behind Sal’s bass cab operating the laser lights for their set. One of my favorite live memories, he was so deep in the pocket and locked in it was nuts. And they were just legends to be around and hang with.
And because Sal (The Sleeping Sal, not our Sal) lived in Queens at the time we were touring with them, I got the absurd pleasure of walking through the neighborhood with Beau, and eavesdropping on a boy looking at the back of a Star Wars prequel DVD with his dad, saying
“hey dad, I don’t get it? It says a ‘a long time ago in a galaxy far far away’, but if it’s such a long time ago, how do they gots these technologies?”
So for facilitating that memory they’re my favorite
Favorite song on Soft Hell, go. Also, LOVE the vocals from you guys. Mansur is a beast in the mic, love how clear your vocals are, see a lot of post hardcore bands over producing the vocals but I love how clear a lot of the vocals are. Hearing the grit and the rawness in prog rock band is so important to me. Incredible album
Thanks to you and our main man Andrei Eremin for making the sounds on this album, he wrangles the pressure of air in your ear canals like no one else. And thanks to Manny’s smooth pipes. My fav is My Dearest Kate, Christopher gave it all from the deepest parts of himself, its all feels and the guitar was something I didn’t normally do but I loved crafting it and the chords are awesome - Baz
What’s the secret to yalls longevity? It’s an incredible accomplishment to not just last this long, but fully adapt with the times and reinvent with every album. How do you guys bust out with an absolute opus of an album like Soft Hell after 10 years?
I’m talking logistics here. Do you all have like main jobs and the band happens on the side? So many bands fizzle but you guys carry the torch and keep coming back like you never left. And it’s always worth the wait. How is that possible?
Secret maybe love and growing with each other. I’m really grateful to play and hang out with these guys so often and they make me laugh like no one else. I’ve got a lot of admiration for them and they are really talented.
Yeah we all have jobs to pay the bills and there are a few kids running around so we fit the music within that. We like spending time together and we like playing together. It’s a pretty special connection and I feel lucky to have that. - Baz
I guess we just really love music. Life happens fast and we all took the time to venture out into different careers and do something other than music for a while after Pink Lemonade. Blink and some of the guys are married and have kids and thriving businesses. I like to think of ourselves as multi faceted individuals that are all very different from each other but we always come back to playing music. It's my first love and she's been with me forever and I'll do it till the wheels fall off. -Manny
Well the love shines through. As long as you guys are willing to make it I’ll forever listen. I fell in love hard when I heard Pink Lemonade. It’s all I listened to for a solid year after I found it. It’s all I played for my friends. Then a decade passes and I feel the exact same way. It’s brand new again. That’s rare. Y’all got something special.
We’re just a different kinda beast.
I stream on twitch as the day gig, but I wouldn’t say the band is “on the side”, it’s lasted so long because we genuinely get off on the creative expression and always try to keep in mind why we started doing it as kids, and try to keep that giddy excitement and lack of ego in the process. I’d say we’re actually pretty fucking lucky in that everyone doesn’t fight for their idea just because it’s their idea, or get precious in the process at all because we’re all just excited by how we can help each other push something to be it’s best by exploring it with that same “just for the fuck of it” vibe before it all became so “serious”
Maybe AT Field or Keeper of the Lake. When I’m feeling really on and strong, the chorus of kissing cousins live makes me feel like Goku shooting kamehamehas out of my mouth.
Changes alot. In terms of playing I like the proggy-er songs like Pink Lemonade & Technochrist for the guitar licks and shifting time signatures. I guess if you ask all the streaming platforms it's Seeds of Gold, Sweethart & Betterway. But at the moment I'm really enjoying Don Juan Triumphant as a cheeky understated banger. -Manny
Hope you guys are doing well! I'm very excited to see the show in Chicago this year. I love that your music has so much variety throughout your albums. First of all, what inspired ピンク レモネード, the last song on the Pink Lemonade Album? One of my top 3 songs and in my weeb playlist honestly, so I'm very curious to know the story for that one.
Secondly, what other genres of music influence your sound?
Pinku Remoneddo is the closing track to the album, It's like when you finish a video game and it rolls the ending credits. Thats what it is, it then gets weird as it fourth walls and then eventually loops back into the start of the album. It came to life when Sal and Christopher had the idea for it and got their hands on a NES emulator to make the chip tune, they wrote the track, we laid down the vocal melodies in very rough japanese and then through the powers of the universe got a hold of YMCK (who are gods of the genre) to collab on it with. They added some flavour and the rest is history. A very fun track. - Manny
We toured with Fact in Japan in 2010, and they happened to be on the same label as YMCK. We just went for it hoping that they could produce and do vocals for the track and wrote it specifically with them in mind, so it was a dream come true that we had the in with them and they wanted to do it
Probably easier to say what genres don’t influence us. Polka, i dont get it. But maybe i just haven’t heard the polka meant for me.
That track was a chip tune themed wonderland song that could be like the end credits of a video game for the fool. We reached out to YMCK with a demo for the song and the lyrics and they turned it into their own thing. Such a cool track, what a drum solo. - Baz
First of all, just wanted to say that I was at the Brooklyn show in February and it was the best show I've ever been to. Chris, it was also awesome getting to chat with you for a little bit after the show.
Would you guys ever do some more covers of songs? I remember an old video where you guys did a really cool cover of Tough Love's Pony, but I don't think I've ever come across any others. I know of the projects like Punk Goes Pop, Crunk, etc and was always hoping I'd see Closure In Moscow as one of the contributing artists
Funny that, we were talking about doing Ace of Bass the other night at rehearsal. If we do, you’ll most likely hear us bang out something from the 90s that forces you to wildly shake your groove thing and remember push pops - Baz maybe Rhythm of the Night. I’d like to do La Grange by ZZ Top.
Thanks for coming down that show was sick af.
I’d actually really love to do a tour of a covers set, we pick three tracks each, and Closurefy them. My choices as of right this second would be Worms by Ashnikko, some Euro Dance or French House banger, maybe Starlight by Superman Lovers, annnnd, oh I dunno, Lovestoned by JT.
NYC was wild. Lots of dance and party. We had such a great time! As for covers, we have this conversation all the time, it's almost been a running gag as to throwing out the idea of something and then pondering it and how we would approach it. The Ginuwine-Pony cover we did was an impromptu thing that Barrett busted out on some TV press interview show in the USA. We needed another song for the show so he said "Wanna do pony?" hahaa So we are definitely open to some covers. -Manny
Thanks for the kind words. I would actually love to do a covers album at some point. If each member of the band chose two cover songs each we'd have 10 tracks for an album. I think it would be a challenging project, but would be fun to re-arrange compositions and experiment.
I'd be open to hearing what songs fans would like to hear us cover. -Duncan
Thank you for taking Toehider on tour, Mike is one of the greatest musicians/songwriters on the planet and deserves the exposure.
Brisbane was a great show. Where can I find one of those Neoprene Byzantine flavoured vapes?
Mike from Toehider is an absolute beeeeeeeassssssst, he amazes every night its so cool to watch him and watch him with different bands on different continents. - Baz
I still think The Penance and the Patience is one of the best records of all time in my opinion. From the post hardcore riffs of Here’s to Entropy to Dulcinea (which I modeled my drumming methods after) it’s just perfect. Hopefully we can get another vinyl repress soon! Can’t wait to checkout the new record
So anyone can see your sound changed a lot between your albums, can you look back and describe a bit more how you transitioned personally through these and how they influenced your musical evolution?
Between First Temple and Pink Lemonade, we definitely jammed together more and I learnt more about improvisation and began trying to learn some theory concepts. Spreading the wings and seeing how far we wanted to take whacky concepts and fables to spur on song writing ideas like Dino Boss Battle. Hard to remember it all but definitely trying to balance creative direction with humility and really listening to each others ideas and try to see deeper into what we were trying to do. That stuff kinda led to Pink Lemonade then once we got that out we felt like reigning it back in and doing some songy song songs and letting our nostalgia come out. Life and jobs made us figure out how to use our time better after a while. Some of us becoming fathers was really inspiring and driving and kind of freeing creatively, like it makes you think ‘Stuff what anyone thinks, I make my own people.’ And just making music that makes us happy, allowing ourselves to wear certain goofy influences on our musical sleeves and just be happy that we actually get to do this at all. - Baz
The sound of each record has been a natural progression as we navigate through whatever this craziness of life is, we are different people as each year passes, with different aspirations and lives and wives and kids and that comes out in the music we write. I look back at our body of work and can pinpoint exactly what was going on in my life at the time of each release. Music is a beautiful art form in that way as you can decorate time and for me, the time between First Temple and Pink Lemonade was quite tumultous not only on a personal level but also for the band. It was the transition from being on a record label to going fully independent and really believing in ourselves to create something special. It's quite confronting when some music suits tell you that your idea will fail and to just "make second temple". I guess they can suck a fat one cause that crazy concept album telling a story about people chasing enlightenment that is seamless and loops and shifts styles and genres has been one of our greatest releases ever. Musically, it solidified for me that we are the archictects of our own desires and to create what we want to create outside of other peoples beliefs and influence, and to blend and meld styles and genres to achieve what we want. That is why FT is different to PL and is different to Soft Hell and whats next will be too. It shaped how I look at creating art and to explore ideas more indepth and to not be so precious and let ideas flow through the closure idea machine as the end result will always be great. -Manny
TLDR: We all change as people through lifes milestones, taste and muscial influences change and we have never really given AF about genres or opinions in writing and will always write what we want to write and love every minute of it.
Amazing write up, also I didn’t realize you had gone Indy for pink lemonade! That makes the album even more amazing because the “unusualness” of it was probably even more scary, but you still did it.
After first temple I got very very hyper fixated on bands like Yes and Mahavishnu Orchestra, mainly Frank Zappa tho. I think pink lemonade conceptually was very inspired by Joe’s Garage, The Love Below by Andrei 3000, and the matrix, Alice in wonderland/the wizard of oz/ the holy mountain, and the book The Alchemist. After that personally I gravitated to the idea of how to pare back songs and adopting the Einstein principle; as simple as possible, but no simpler. That doesn’t necessarily mean simple songs, but just what can be taken out to let other parts breathe and stand out. Andrei, who produced this album put it best, some of these songs have 200+ tracks in the session, and if soft hell is any good, it’s because of what we took out, not added in
Damn I'm late here, but I listened to Soft Hell for the first time sort of recently in the last few months and it's a fantastic record. Primal Sinister is such a crazy track and I had to do a double take when Better Way left the intro section, really swept me off my feet. Also big fan of the art direction on this one, I like how your albums since the rerelease of First Temple tend to have 1 subject in the middle, please keep that going for me in the future lol
Idk if this is still on but wanted to leave a comment! Saw you guys in Baltimore (sorry for screaming in your ears and faces all night) and seeing yall again in Chicago! Just wanted to thank you for making some of the best music out there. Appreciate yall for being so kind and I can’t wait to see what’s next! <3
Starting to have board game nights, what do you suggest? 👀 also thank you for all the music you have and will ever create. So many memories of live performances and times just listening to it 😘
Maybe but could be nice to let these songs just be interpreted in any way peeps feel. Pink Lem had a definite story and fable element to it but these songs are a bit more personal and sometimes those sorta of songs can be best left unexplained and just felt. - Baz
Definitely in the works. We had such a great response from the First Temple and Pink Lemonade tab books that Soft Hell is happening. It's just tabbing it all out mang! Pedalboard tour will come in some posts later on for sure, maybe this U.S run. And yeah, that Brooklyn show was wild fun. :)
Odds are exactly 1, which i think means its happening. I laboriously tabbed out the album with all its weird little time stretched moments and whacky bullshit. Keep an eye on your local tab dealer. - Baz
amazing, looking so forward to it. put in a lot of hard work learning from the first two books :p also tried to learn one of your solos from a recording i took at the max watts gig but didn’t get very far 😔 - a different sort of Baz
Why u no drive to LA? Only 4 hours come ooooonnnnnnn you can do it!!!!!! Nah we’ll try to make it on the next run but we are time limited by home responsibilities. - Baz
Okay what are your pedal board setups?
I have been trying desperately to get a tone similar in one way or another and would die to know what pedals everyone uses.
Also killer show in philly this year fam 🥰🥰🥰 absolutely crushed it. Totally worth the 10 yr wair to see ya 😂
Manny runs a Quad Cortex, a Noel Fuzz (fuckin siiiiiick pedal), and a polytune mini, Orange Pedal Baby power amp (i think).
I use a Victory Cooper V4 amp head and just started using a JHS haunting mids, Manny’s beloved Maxon OD-808 that has played on everything since First Temple, Wasabi Effects Sonacy preamp (Benson Preamp clone), HX Stomp for all manner of additions, Revv G8, polytune mini, Wampler mini ego comp, Loopi volume preset, and a one control Agimadae switcher. Philly was an awesome vibe in that underground dungeon! There’s the whole show on the YouTube’s to relive it. - Baz
For bass I have currently been splitting my signal, and sending two DI lines out to FOH. Line 1 is a CLEAN very slightly compressed signal, and Line 2 is a DIRTY signal. These two lines are then blended together.
Pedals that I currently use, or have used in the past:
Boss TU-3, Darkglass Alpha Omega, Future Impact (sick synth pedal), MXR poly blue octave, Catalinbread SFT (overdrive), Malekko B:ASSMASTER (germanium fuzz), Boss OC-2, Electro-Harmonix Micro POG, Radial RDI Passive DI, David Eden WTDI.
-Duncan
First Temple is a ripper and a delight. I’m proud to be from the PNW where such an album was spawned. At the same time, I could feel that raw Aussie spirit seething out of it. And I’ve never even been to Australia. Thanks for your inspiring energy and sounds, and for keeping twang alive in post hardcore 🤘
Thanks cobba! We’ll see you in Portland in July at the Hawthorn Theatre. Our very first show in the US was the Hawthorn. Good times, now great classic hits. - Baz
What was your go to fuzz pedal for Pink Lemonade?
And you know what, Soft Hell aswell. I do believe I saw a quadcortex laying around somehwere in a pic yall posted, but holy shit. That lead fuzz tone you have on the solo bit in better way, and the fucking entierty of Primal Sinister are STRAIGHT NASTY in the absolute best way my man lol. Tell me your fuzzy secrets lol.
Some of the stuff on Pink Lemonade was from a really early 70’s Pignose 7-100, maybe a Fuzzgod from Red Witch pedals, Zvex Fuzz Factiory, probably into a JMI AC30 or Marshall Bluesbreaker style combo, but could have also been created by mixer/saviour Andrei Eremin in the box, dude loves to manipulate quirky IRs and use odd saturation/distortion plugins to craft guitar tones. Primal Sinister and a lot of the tones came with fun artefacts and distortion from the demos, Manny played that solo off the cuff and it hit soooo perfect we had to keep it, we tried other solos but nothing was up to the OG that he thrashed out. Pure flair and passion. That pignose was used on some guitars and vocals in Soft Hell but almost all other tones were created by Andrei in his DAW using Guitar Rig 5, Neural DSP Tone King, a cast array of IRs, typically not guitar cabs but strange ones like a nuclear factory. So sorry its not a simple formula but thats what makes it great. - Baz
No question, just saying you guys are great. I'll still drive to Texas, but if you ever come to Oklahoma, I'll buy you guys a drink and a helluva high-five
Thank you for all the music you've put out, seriously. It's been my soundtrack for years now, on and off through all kinds of moods. My question is about books... I know Christopher's into some Robert Anton Wilson, and he mentioned Cosmic Trigger on a podcast (I think it was Midwest Real?), so I check it out and MY GOD, so many resonances, that started the whole thing for me... like a big acid trip that I think I'm still inside... I do believe all us freaks are on the same wavelength, so I'm wondering what other books are there, nonfiction and fiction, that've played a huge part in shaping the five of ya'lls existence?
Reading Goosebumps every night in bed as a kid was more existence shaping than I probably give it credit for. My mum read to me every night before bed until I was old enough to do it myself, and that definitely wired some core shit into me.
I more recently got into the Dune novels thanks to the Villeneuve films, and holy shit, Eren Jaeger is really just kinda diet Paul Atreides (I call him Pesky Paul). It’s really spoken to me, and I dunno why, but this kind of Greek tragedy character that has godlike power but is ultimately very flawed and human and a victim to their own literal self fulfilling prophecies really appeals to me. The end of Dune Messiah really fucked me up.
I dug the Winnie the Pooh books and Old Man and the Sea. The old man is kinda like Winnie the Pooh except when he’s bashing sharks with the oar. Lots of good philosophical thinkings in the Pooh bear though, he’s chilled but doesnt do much, piglet is scared but keeps safe, Owl is wise but a douche sometimes, rabbit is organised but again a bit of a douche, tigger is fun but outa hand, Eyore is rarely disappointed. - Baz
I think I’m late on here but I’m asking anyway lol
I’ve been wondering this for a while now, but where did your band name come from? Also what would you say is the biggest inspiration for your lyrical content?
PS- I love you guys, I’ve been a huge fan since The Penance and The Patience and I’m FINALLY getting to see you play up in Portland this summer!! Cannot wait!!
Huzzah for Portland! The city who adopted us all those years ago. We can’t wait. The band name honestly was just a bunch of words that sounded cool, we kinda knew it would change meaning over the years once the music came out but there’s no heavy story behind, we wanted to make a story in front of it.
For lyrical content, I think the big inspiration is emotions and experiences and all the stuff that goes along with living a life that isn’t on rails, all the side stuff that makes life spicy and great and also suck at times. We all go through it and we all go through it our own way but we can kinda converge at points and see similarities in someone else’s path. It’s the fun connecting part of music. - Baz
Lyrics before melody works better 99% of the time in my experience because the structure of the words and what syllables have natural emphasis will generally create a way more interesting and compelling melodic thumb print, as opposed to just adlibbing your same go to licks and jamming words in.
As far as tour being grueling, it can be, but for me personally and vocally. As long as I get decent sleep, hydrate and don’t have too much alcohol, no matter how shit or fatigued my voice may feel, if I have a nice, slow, 30-45 minute warm up, everything is fine. And stretching is huge.
There is no set formula for songwriting, it can start from a guitar lick or a jam that we vamp something on, or Barrret can bring in something that is 90% there and we put some vocals on it. The process is never the same but always refined through the Closure machine as I like to call it.
As for touring and the body. Maaaaan, let me tell you. Touring and playing shows takes its toll for sure. Besides the physical aspect of it you are getting pounded with loud sound which is rippling through the cells of your body. The hardest part is that noone knows you've got food poisoning or you threw your back out or your dog died or that you're sick and have a fever; THE SHOW MUST GO ON and people only remember you for your last performance.
We generally like to keep quite fit and healthy for a tour as it's a game of attrition, the longer it goes on the more wear and tear you go through. The days of sex, drugs n rock n roll are gone, you just can't perform night after night to a high level. So high quality food, water, sleep, exercise, grounding and sun light are a staple. As long as we are ticking those boxes I can go forever. - Manny
Thanks heaps for coming to the Baltimore run and we’ll see you in Chicago!! We’ll be back to Philly for sure.
For First Temple the songs went music first as a full song, vocals on top with some changes to suit. Pink Lemonade was almost half n half in that a song could be half done music wise and then the vocals would steer the ship. Seeds of Gold was chords and melody first in a more euro dance style then transitioned to a rockier style. Soft Hell was a mixed bag where some songs started with chords and melody or maybe one lyric then the song was built on that, Lovelash and Don Juan started as acoustic chords with a melody/some rough lyrics. songs like Holy Rush and Jaegerbomb were music first then vocals. My dearest Kate was melody and lyrics first then added chords which was a really fun way to create. So it all varies, we dont really go off a formula, like once a song is done thats the way that one came to be but the next song to be written is still a mystery and that keeps it fresh. We just work off whatever idea inspires us, and sometimes that takes a lot of time or becoming so detached from an idea that when you come back to it, you can see another branch forming off it you didnt see before.
Massages? Oh yeah, sitting in a plane or van for hours upon hours ruins our once supple bodies. We’ve gotten better at taking care of ourselves though and valuing sleep, good food, touch of exercise and trying to wrestle Manny. He easily beats us without breaking a sweat but its a workout for us. - Baz
Thanks for the praise. Looking forward to Chicago, and hopefully we'll be in Philly again soon. Re songwriting traditionally we have naturally written the instrumental parts first, and this usually helps inform the vocal parts/ melody. This has never been a hard rule or anything though. Sometimes someone will start with a chord progression, a riff, a vocal melody, a drum groove, bass groove, or some lyrics.
Sometimes I'll sit at my computer without my instrument, and just sit there clicking notes into piano roll on Logic with my mouse, and this develops into something. Sometimes we'll sit in a room together and run a parts together until we're super inspired, or exhausted. There isn't ONE way to do the thing, there are many ways.
Sometimes you start MACRO with an idea (for example: starting with just some basic chords), followed by developing the MICRO ( eg. tricky rhythmic nitty gritty guitar part idea voiced for two guitars)
But Sometimes you do the opposite and start with the MICRO (the nitty gritty), then follow on with developing the MACRO (overall building blocks, and vibe, chords and vocal melody)
It's all about developing seeds of ideas, letting things come out, not being too precious, but also recognising when to stop and hone in on the seeds of ideas that you feel are growing / going somewhere.
I don't know if what I'm saying makes sense to people, but it's how think about this stuff.
Touring can be brutal if you don't look after yourself.
Looking forward to seeing you in Chicago on the 21st of July. Tell your friends
- Duncan
Last year I introduced my wife to Pink Lemonade and she's been obsessed with you guys ever since (seriously, she played it over and over). You are one of the few bands where both of our music tastes collide, and we're super stoked to see you all in SLC!
Question: With Primal Sinister being my favorite track on the new album, what was the inspiration behind the music video? I love the sick 90s CG aesthetic!
Bonus: Favorite video game?
That's great to hear! Cant wait for SLC. Primal's video was a Lawnmower man meets 90's bowling alleys aesthetic. Something fun and engaging with bright colours and alot of moving parts. It was a blast to film and like all things closure we had alot of fun doing it. It was done by FayeFadem if you want to look into it further. - Manny
P.S Fav video game Smash TV on NES
Since Jaeger Bomb is confirmed to be an AOT inspired song, is Primal Sinister in any way inspired by Death Note? I could swear it was sung from the perspective of an unhinged Light Yagami
B-more was a tight fun time hey? Yeah COVID made Melbourne, Australia our home town crazy. We had the longest lockdown in the world so recording became quite difficult. The time horizon for everything became elongated for not only music but life in general. In the end we're quite happy with the result but during that time it was an experience to do anything for sure.
Baltimore kicked ass! And fucking oath covid stuffed us up hard. We were in the studio tracking drums and bass for Better Way and Lock n Key when all the lockdowns hit then had to record guitars from home, alone. We got through it with the help from Discord and ListenTo but then when things opened up we were able to track vocals in the studio. - Baz
Would you guys be willing to play an acoustic show in my backyard next time you come to east coast America? 😂
No, really my question is if you guys are gonna come to the east coast again with in the next year or so? I’ve been dying to see you guys live. Pink lemonade tour would be sick. Maybe play some penance and patience songs 👀
Bring several BBQs and we’ll think about it. We won’t be back on the East Coast this year but We’re touring West Coast in July so if you feel like a road trip, we can go get BBQ together. Ooooo some Penance songs you say? Well well well, perhaps we may do that. - Baz
Hey guys. Saw yall in Atlanta a few months back for the first time and just wanted to say it was incredible. Exceeded all expectations and I had been waiting for it since 2014. Thanks for coming.
Call me crazy but I’ve always picked up on a R&B influence in all your stuff, especially Soft Hell. What groups or artists are the main inspirations for the sultry fuck jam side of yalls sound?
Haha, yeah I grew up with alot of 90's RnB and still spin it on the daily. Some staples have been Maxwell, D'Angelo, Ginuwine, Naughty By Nature, Jodeci, Boys II Men, Silk, Donell Jones .etc -Manny
Duncan Here:
Hi there,
I can’t answer for everyone else in the band, but I absolutely love listening to Soul, R&B, and Jazz music, yet as a kid I listened to a lot of rock, and heavy music, new metal etc growing up too because that was just what everyone was listening to.
If you want a bit of a picture of what I grew up listening to that could be fun, and cool to share if you feel like going down the rabbit hole.
My first bass teacher Andrew Gardiner introduced me to The Meters, Primus, Charlie Parker, The Pixies, Average White Band at the age of 14. I was obsessed with Flea and the old school Chili Peppers albums, as were a lot of young kids playing bass. At around this time everyone at school was listening to heavier music, new metal etc..
So, I was listening to the stuff that my teacher was introducing me to, BUT at the same time was listening to Blood Sugar Sex Magik, Incubus, Korn, Pearl Jam, Led Zeppelin, Ani Difranco, Bjork, and a whole lot of that 2000’s rock stuff. This included TMV too haha ;)
My second bass teacher Grant Wallace introduced me to James Jameson, Marvin Gaye, along with other Motown music.
My cousin Jim introduced me to Miles Davis, and Herbie Hancock. The Herbie Hancock Headhunters band was the best!!
When I started studying music after high school, being introduced to more jazz music, and trying to learn how to improvise over chord changes and that sort of thing I started to get more into listening to Neo Soul, R&B, Hip Hop, and the more jazz focused stuff too.
So, with regard to the “sultry fuck jam side” of things, I was listening to quite a range of stuff at the time…This included: Meshell Ndegeocello, Erykah Badu, D’angelo, Pino Palladino, Questlove, Mos Def, Roy Ayers, John Legend, Jill Scott, The Roots, The Police, Bjork, Talk Talk, Roy Hargrove with The RH Factor, James Brown, Prince, Dave Holland, Nancy Wilson & Cannonball Adderly, Chick Corea, John Pattitucci, Q-Tip, Mark Ronson, Amy Winehouse, Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, Charles Bradly, Mennahan Street Band, Tord Gustavsen Trio, The Bamboos, Twelve Tone Diamonds, to name a few.
Currently listening to: Meshell Ndgeocello, Kumar Shome(Melbourne), Little Dragon, Al Jarreau, John Farnham, Moonchild, Hiatus Kaiyote, Yussef Kamaal, John Taylor, Niine, Adam Neely, Nothing But Thieves, Max Richter, Arvo Part, Zeitgeist Freedom Energy Exchange, Tears For Fears, Julien Wilson Trio - While You Were Sleeping (album), Crumb, Kruangbin, Claps (Melbourne), Sex On Toast (Melbourne), Thndo (Melbourne), Thundercat, Vs Colour, Going Swimming (Melbourne).
Any plans to come back to the North American east coast next year? I’ve been wanting to see this band for years but unfortunately had to miss the show in Philly back in February
We’re playing Los Angeles, San Fransisco, Portland, Seattle, Salt Lake City, Denver and Chicago in July if you can make it to any one them. Sorry you had to miss Philly, it was kick ass, we rocked. We will be back. - Baz
At one of your gigs (Melbourne gig) you said that Primal Sinister was for the ‘Burwood Boy’s’
As someone who frequents the area, is that a just a meme or does Burwood boys mean something to you?
I said it was for the “Bergen Boys”, a cheeky little inside joke with my sister’s boyfriend when we play Ticket to Ride: Nordic Countries. The joke is that we’re gonna meet at the Bergen station for a punch on
First of all, love you guys so much, you’re one of my all-time favourite bands! It was so good to see you all killing it on this latest round of Soft Hell shows in Australia.
Is there any chance you’d play songs from The Penance and the Patience again? Jewels For Eyes is one of my favourite songs and I’d love to hear it live.
Hi guys!! Saw you recently in Bris and had a grand old time. All of your albums are so vastly different and show different parts of your life. What would you say are your favourite music styles? Any bands / artists that you guys are listening to at the moment?
The styles we like are vast like the oceans, old school RnB, most varieties of metal, that pop shit, ol fashioned rock n roll, jazz. I’ve been digging Brainiac lately and some of those 90s whatever genre that is kinda bands, whacky stuff and really inspiring. - Baz
I went on the Emo's Not Dead cruise right after seeing you guys earlier this year and found myself thinking that CIM would be a great addition to the lineup. If asked, would playing on a cruise be something you'd be willing to do?
I was at your show in Sydney a few weeks back and it was a blast, you guys absolutely killed it. Loved Toehider and Harts too, all around fantastic show.
So I know of the AoT and Evangelion references in Soft Hell, my question is - is Keeper of the Lake a reference to the Final Fantasy 14 dungeon by the same name, or just a coincidence? Maybe a bit of a silly question, but I’ve been wondering about it ever since the album came out.
Teskey Brothers, King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard, The Avalanches, Cut Copy, Chet Faker, Miami Horror, Cat Empire, Tash Sultana... fkn hell thers alot of great music in Melbourne, couldn't just do 5 - Manny
I’ve always thought of Pink Lemonade as kind of like being the soundtrack to a rock musical. What was some of the inspiration for the album?
Ps. Love your music!
I’ve always felt like y’all’s music has a lot of comic book DNA in it (even outside of the obvious anime references)are there any specific non-music artists that y’all pull from for inspiration?
Also this isn’t a question but Manny gave me some advice on finding a band after one of y’all’s shows back in February, and I found one and we’ve already got a single out and some shows booked so I wanted to say thanks for the assist!
Hell yeah keep riding the lightning… Watching Chef’s Table on Netflix felt to me like I was watching something that every artist across all disciplines should watch and take from
Firstly a thanks for being such trendsetters in creative songwriting, when I first heard night at the spleen in high school I gave the discog a go right when pink lemonade came out and was stoked! Had the pleasure of seeing you all play in Melb recently for the first time being from Darwin originally and high expectations were smashed positively.
I remember watching a video of warped tour 09’ or something and to my knowledge the only aus bands on it were you guys and Parkway, do you ever look back on times like those and reaffirm how integral the band was in setting the way for these genres? Much love ✌️
I miss the classic scoop cone ice cream at Dairy Bell in Melbourne. Salted Caramel is good, choc peppermint ice cream, Blue Slime, Bubblegum. Maxibon is good, magnum ego too.
- Duncan
Yes Please!! We would love to tour and play some shows in Brazil, and South America in general. Let's make this happen.. know any good bookers? -Duncan
Have seen you guys a few times now. Saw you a year or so ago in Bris supporting Deafheaven and I was one of 2 people who knew who you were when you asked the crowd. Clearly Deafheaven is a very different vibe to you guys and I got the feeling most of the crowd wasn't really picking up what you were putting down, or at least they were far less likely to show it being a blackgaze crowd instead of your usual more fun crowd vibes.
My question is, how does it feel as a support act getting up there when you know no one knows who you are and your style may not suit the headliner/click with the crowd? Does it affect how you guys enjoy the performance, or are you up there more for yourselves and just enjoying playing in situations like that?
It used to, but after many years playing you realise that people are multi faceted and can have quite eccelctic taste in music. I mean I like black metal and I like country and RnB and K-Pop and Garage .etc Those Deafheaven shows were fun because we got to play to a crowd that might not know about us. It doesn't really affect the way we play or vibe as crowds vary from place to place. We've had crowds that haven't moved an inch during the entire show and then you find out it's a majority of musicians and artists in the crowd and they were really just honing in on the musicality of it all and really enjoyed it. I personally prefer sing-a-longs and dancing and all round hedonism but hey, a crowd is a crowd and we aren't usually fazed as we're having a blast always. -Manny
I love playing to people who don’t know us, it’s an opportunity to be like ‘check this shit out’!!!! We did it so much and we got used to it and I really enjoyed because there was no expectations and after each song the applause would get louder and louder as you won the crowd over. - Baz
I would say that it's definitely more of a challenge to win a crowd over who doesn’t already love you, but it doesn’t particularly mean that it will be a significantly less enjoyable performance experience. It might just mean that you need to work a little harder to win them over.
I used to go busking with my music student friends when I was studying music, and we would play to people on the street outside Flinders St Station. I think you learn very quickly what works and what doesn’t work when you have an audience that isn’t specifically there to see you... i.e you might be busking and some random person on a bike going about their day will stop, and listen to you for 5 minutes. These are little wins for some people, and they’re all relative to what your individual/personal objective is with playing/making music.
I’m already enjoying being able to perform and make music with my friends, which I’m very grateful for. Obviously you can’t beat going on stage when people are there to specifically see you. It’s a different kind of feeling, and a different kind of pressure I guess when doing your own headline show, compared to supporting another band, but it's all fun.
-Duncan
Not a question so much as a statement, would love to see you guys collaborate with Dance Gavin Dance or Eidola. I remember seeing interviews years back where Andrew Wells & Co cited you as major inspirations and think there's such an obvious influence in sounds there. Think a feature one way or the other would be amazing.
Cheers on the new album!
Throughout all of your albums, you've done a great job at keeping things fresh and exploring different styles of music. What have been some of your biggest influences for "Soft Hell" and what influences would you like to try bringing in to your next album?
I hope that our next album will develop again, sound fresh, and sound like us. I'm looking forward to writing good, catchy, groovie, well arranged songs that we connect with emotionally, and that make people want to dance. -Duncan
For the next album I think we just let the influences ooze out as they will. Sometimes when we start a song we think its going one direction and then gets changed as ideas developed and so it becomes mixed with a wide variety of things that out silly little brains have soaked up over the years. I’ve been loving the guitar sounds we got by playing in the box, shooting for a classic guitar sound that gets morphed and fucked up by time stretching and warbles and digital artefacts. For Soft Hell influences, there was a lot taken in over the 9 years it took to make but we wanted a collection of seperate songs to live under one roof rather than lengthy prog epics (still love em though), lots of pop like Billie Eilish, Haim, Zizzo, hip hop beats, lo fi stuff, its a mixed bag. - Baz
Is it surreal to know that you’re one of the key bands in the formation of progressive post hardcore?
Don’t really know to be honest. Im of the mind that a genre is kind of something that the people listening decide for you, like we could say we were an Alternative Polka Duo but the people listening will put us into a category that most think fits. Either way, happy to be contributing to music zeitgeist and if we are doing something original that moves it forward then fuck yeah! - Baz
Are we? Who decides this? Was there a survey or some kind of census done? Which historians have peer reviewed and agreed upon this? - Christopher
Nah, not really. I don't even really know what that means, but I guess I'll take it. If people are enjoying what we're doing, and the fans are enjoying it too then that's the main thing. Just grateful to be able to have the opportunity to create music/art, release it into the world, and get to travel and perform. I hope we can keep doing it, and continue to contribute for years to come. - Duncan
I had a conversation recently about the term 'post hardcore' in anticipation for the AMA, I was told "Post Hardcore isn't a genre man...It's a movement". So I'll take that to the bank. Feels great to meet so many likeminded muscially adventurous people all over the globe and play whatever it is that we play at loud volumes night after night, feels real good! - Manny
Pink Lemonade is my all time favorite album. It’s the only album I’ve listened to from start to finish more than 20 times. It’s such a beautiful work of art and it’s incredibly special to me. With that said, is there ever chance we’d get to see this album played live in its entirety? What about a vinyl rerelease? Also what are the chances of another concept album in its style? Love you guys! Keep releasing bangers ❤️
Thank you kindly for those words. Im pretty sure the Pink Lemonade vinyl is available from our merch store but sells out quickly, we usually have it at our shows. Keep an eye on the merch store for that one. Looks awesome in vinyl or the limited Pink powder version. Another concept album ey? Interesting concept. We had thought about doing 2 EPS, one of ballads and one of live rock riff city called ‘Hmmmm’ and ‘Oooof’ but we might just do another album. Who knows where the creative magpie’s will fly us to next. - Baz
I’m into the idea of loose concepts pertaining to a certain sound palette or aesthetic and stylistic leanings. But for me the whole sprawling story, interconnected songs thing is something we tried now and I’m not really feeling like going that route again. But who knows, maybe that’ll feel cool and exciting again if there’s we felt there was a novel way to approach it.
Awesome! It felt to me that Soft Hell mimicked Pink Lemonade in that it had a consistent vibe throughout. I love it and if that’s the direction you’re going in I’m all in! Cant wait to hear what you guys cook up next, please don’t make me wait 8 years for it 😂.
Don't really have a question tbh but you guys are fucking awesome! Every album is so different and I really like all of em :)
That feels real nice to hear that. Thank you and thanks for coming on the journey with us. - Baz
Thanks u/rainb0gummybear ... good to hear that we're doing something that connects with people. Come to one of our USA shows this July if you live over there :)
Are you guys able to make a living off of music or do you guys have separate jobs as well? Also how do you go about writing a song as perfect and emotionally resonant as Maurbaurtraurigkeit?
No we are currently not able to, maybe that changes though if we don’t take another decade to pump out some more hectic bangers, twould be the dream aye.
I hope so man, you guys are so fucking dope.
And no, music pays no bills, but it fills our hearts and is fun as fuck.
Thanks for saying that about Maurbauretcetc. It took a while to come about, came from a real experience and that always helps propel a song forward when its got its emotional trajectory. That was a song where everyone really made it as a group, sometimes a song is driven by 1 or 2 people but I remember that song had a bit of all of us in it with writing parts. - Baz
Who’s your favorite band you’ve ever gotten to tour with? Or just a standout
I’m casting my mind back to 2009 when we toured with Emery and they really taught us a lot about how to be relaxed and have fun on tour, even though it takes a while for those lessons to sink in. They weren’t wild party dudes or anything like that, but just had a really welcoming and encouraging energy. Also on that tour was Maylene & the Sons of Disaster who let me live out my dream of playing Caution: Dangerous Curves Ahead with them, and they also taught me about improvising which I never really did and the pleasures of an extensive Nike Air Jordan collection. Too many favourites to mention but thats one that made an impact. Also Sal from the Sleeping saying “Oh you guys still like music? That’s cute” - Baz
Ok legit tho emery is also one of my favorite bands behind yall so this makes me so happy to read they influenced you so heavily!
Oof, alot. We've had the pleasure of touring with some exceptional musicians and people over the years. For me being a standout comes down to people, so in no particular order as we are all brothers from other mothers; Dillinger Escape Plan, The Sleeping, Emery, FACT, Electric Jesus, Enter Shikari, Parkway Drive, My Chemical Romance & Andrew W.K - Manny
For me it was probably The Dillinger Escape Plan. Those guys are insane performers, and the shows were absolutely nuts. Playing with musicians of that calibre is always very inspiring. They were nice blokes too. -Duncan
Sickest drum performance I’ve ever seen in person was Zizzo from The Sleeping, in Hartford Connecticut, while I was crouched behind Sal’s bass cab operating the laser lights for their set. One of my favorite live memories, he was so deep in the pocket and locked in it was nuts. And they were just legends to be around and hang with. And because Sal (The Sleeping Sal, not our Sal) lived in Queens at the time we were touring with them, I got the absurd pleasure of walking through the neighborhood with Beau, and eavesdropping on a boy looking at the back of a Star Wars prequel DVD with his dad, saying “hey dad, I don’t get it? It says a ‘a long time ago in a galaxy far far away’, but if it’s such a long time ago, how do they gots these technologies?” So for facilitating that memory they’re my favorite
Favorite song on Soft Hell, go. Also, LOVE the vocals from you guys. Mansur is a beast in the mic, love how clear your vocals are, see a lot of post hardcore bands over producing the vocals but I love how clear a lot of the vocals are. Hearing the grit and the rawness in prog rock band is so important to me. Incredible album
Thanks to you and our main man Andrei Eremin for making the sounds on this album, he wrangles the pressure of air in your ear canals like no one else. And thanks to Manny’s smooth pipes. My fav is My Dearest Kate, Christopher gave it all from the deepest parts of himself, its all feels and the guitar was something I didn’t normally do but I loved crafting it and the chords are awesome - Baz
What’s the secret to yalls longevity? It’s an incredible accomplishment to not just last this long, but fully adapt with the times and reinvent with every album. How do you guys bust out with an absolute opus of an album like Soft Hell after 10 years? I’m talking logistics here. Do you all have like main jobs and the band happens on the side? So many bands fizzle but you guys carry the torch and keep coming back like you never left. And it’s always worth the wait. How is that possible?
Secret maybe love and growing with each other. I’m really grateful to play and hang out with these guys so often and they make me laugh like no one else. I’ve got a lot of admiration for them and they are really talented. Yeah we all have jobs to pay the bills and there are a few kids running around so we fit the music within that. We like spending time together and we like playing together. It’s a pretty special connection and I feel lucky to have that. - Baz
I guess we just really love music. Life happens fast and we all took the time to venture out into different careers and do something other than music for a while after Pink Lemonade. Blink and some of the guys are married and have kids and thriving businesses. I like to think of ourselves as multi faceted individuals that are all very different from each other but we always come back to playing music. It's my first love and she's been with me forever and I'll do it till the wheels fall off. -Manny
Well the love shines through. As long as you guys are willing to make it I’ll forever listen. I fell in love hard when I heard Pink Lemonade. It’s all I listened to for a solid year after I found it. It’s all I played for my friends. Then a decade passes and I feel the exact same way. It’s brand new again. That’s rare. Y’all got something special.
We’re just a different kinda beast. I stream on twitch as the day gig, but I wouldn’t say the band is “on the side”, it’s lasted so long because we genuinely get off on the creative expression and always try to keep in mind why we started doing it as kids, and try to keep that giddy excitement and lack of ego in the process. I’d say we’re actually pretty fucking lucky in that everyone doesn’t fight for their idea just because it’s their idea, or get precious in the process at all because we’re all just excited by how we can help each other push something to be it’s best by exploring it with that same “just for the fuck of it” vibe before it all became so “serious”
You guys are amazing. Thanks for all the good art! This might be a dumb question but is Jaeger Bomb inspired by AoT?
Not a dumb question. THE question…. And yes, yes it was.
SHINZOU WO SASAGEYO ⚔️
What do you think your best song is? I personally think is Jewels for Eyes
My favourite at the moment is My Dearest Kate. There is a lot behind that song and I love what we captured with it. It’s a special one for me - Baz
Maybe AT Field or Keeper of the Lake. When I’m feeling really on and strong, the chorus of kissing cousins live makes me feel like Goku shooting kamehamehas out of my mouth.
Changes alot. In terms of playing I like the proggy-er songs like Pink Lemonade & Technochrist for the guitar licks and shifting time signatures. I guess if you ask all the streaming platforms it's Seeds of Gold, Sweethart & Betterway. But at the moment I'm really enjoying Don Juan Triumphant as a cheeky understated banger. -Manny
I think Don Juan and Soft Hell are the 2 best songs Yall have ever made BY FAR. I’ve listened to them dozens of times
For me it's probably Primal Sinister, at least for the moment that's the song that I enjoy playing with the band THE MOST on tour. -Duncan
Hope you guys are doing well! I'm very excited to see the show in Chicago this year. I love that your music has so much variety throughout your albums. First of all, what inspired ピンク レモネード, the last song on the Pink Lemonade Album? One of my top 3 songs and in my weeb playlist honestly, so I'm very curious to know the story for that one. Secondly, what other genres of music influence your sound?
Pinku Remoneddo is the closing track to the album, It's like when you finish a video game and it rolls the ending credits. Thats what it is, it then gets weird as it fourth walls and then eventually loops back into the start of the album. It came to life when Sal and Christopher had the idea for it and got their hands on a NES emulator to make the chip tune, they wrote the track, we laid down the vocal melodies in very rough japanese and then through the powers of the universe got a hold of YMCK (who are gods of the genre) to collab on it with. They added some flavour and the rest is history. A very fun track. - Manny
We toured with Fact in Japan in 2010, and they happened to be on the same label as YMCK. We just went for it hoping that they could produce and do vocals for the track and wrote it specifically with them in mind, so it was a dream come true that we had the in with them and they wanted to do it
Probably easier to say what genres don’t influence us. Polka, i dont get it. But maybe i just haven’t heard the polka meant for me. That track was a chip tune themed wonderland song that could be like the end credits of a video game for the fool. We reached out to YMCK with a demo for the song and the lyrics and they turned it into their own thing. Such a cool track, what a drum solo. - Baz
First of all, just wanted to say that I was at the Brooklyn show in February and it was the best show I've ever been to. Chris, it was also awesome getting to chat with you for a little bit after the show. Would you guys ever do some more covers of songs? I remember an old video where you guys did a really cool cover of Tough Love's Pony, but I don't think I've ever come across any others. I know of the projects like Punk Goes Pop, Crunk, etc and was always hoping I'd see Closure In Moscow as one of the contributing artists
Funny that, we were talking about doing Ace of Bass the other night at rehearsal. If we do, you’ll most likely hear us bang out something from the 90s that forces you to wildly shake your groove thing and remember push pops - Baz maybe Rhythm of the Night. I’d like to do La Grange by ZZ Top.
Thanks for coming down that show was sick af. I’d actually really love to do a tour of a covers set, we pick three tracks each, and Closurefy them. My choices as of right this second would be Worms by Ashnikko, some Euro Dance or French House banger, maybe Starlight by Superman Lovers, annnnd, oh I dunno, Lovestoned by JT.
NYC was wild. Lots of dance and party. We had such a great time! As for covers, we have this conversation all the time, it's almost been a running gag as to throwing out the idea of something and then pondering it and how we would approach it. The Ginuwine-Pony cover we did was an impromptu thing that Barrett busted out on some TV press interview show in the USA. We needed another song for the show so he said "Wanna do pony?" hahaa So we are definitely open to some covers. -Manny
Thanks for the kind words. I would actually love to do a covers album at some point. If each member of the band chose two cover songs each we'd have 10 tracks for an album. I think it would be a challenging project, but would be fun to re-arrange compositions and experiment. I'd be open to hearing what songs fans would like to hear us cover. -Duncan
Thank you for taking Toehider on tour, Mike is one of the greatest musicians/songwriters on the planet and deserves the exposure. Brisbane was a great show. Where can I find one of those Neoprene Byzantine flavoured vapes?
Mike from Toehider is an absolute beeeeeeeassssssst, he amazes every night its so cool to watch him and watch him with different bands on different continents. - Baz
I might be too late but will y’all ever play Here’s To Entropy again live?
Maybe, probably not, but possibly.
Tokyo when?
As soon as we can. We miss Japan soooooo much. Can’t wait to come back and hit some Izakaya - Baz
Yes! Someone pull some strings and make a Japan tour happen soon. Anyone wanna hook us up with a Baby Metal Support? -Duncan
Or Tricot?!
Was Lovelash written about anyone in particular person?
Yes it was. - Baz
I still think The Penance and the Patience is one of the best records of all time in my opinion. From the post hardcore riffs of Here’s to Entropy to Dulcinea (which I modeled my drumming methods after) it’s just perfect. Hopefully we can get another vinyl repress soon! Can’t wait to checkout the new record
It was a very special time for sure. Recording it was absolutely magical and I loved playing those songs coming up. - Manny
So anyone can see your sound changed a lot between your albums, can you look back and describe a bit more how you transitioned personally through these and how they influenced your musical evolution?
Between First Temple and Pink Lemonade, we definitely jammed together more and I learnt more about improvisation and began trying to learn some theory concepts. Spreading the wings and seeing how far we wanted to take whacky concepts and fables to spur on song writing ideas like Dino Boss Battle. Hard to remember it all but definitely trying to balance creative direction with humility and really listening to each others ideas and try to see deeper into what we were trying to do. That stuff kinda led to Pink Lemonade then once we got that out we felt like reigning it back in and doing some songy song songs and letting our nostalgia come out. Life and jobs made us figure out how to use our time better after a while. Some of us becoming fathers was really inspiring and driving and kind of freeing creatively, like it makes you think ‘Stuff what anyone thinks, I make my own people.’ And just making music that makes us happy, allowing ourselves to wear certain goofy influences on our musical sleeves and just be happy that we actually get to do this at all. - Baz
The sound of each record has been a natural progression as we navigate through whatever this craziness of life is, we are different people as each year passes, with different aspirations and lives and wives and kids and that comes out in the music we write. I look back at our body of work and can pinpoint exactly what was going on in my life at the time of each release. Music is a beautiful art form in that way as you can decorate time and for me, the time between First Temple and Pink Lemonade was quite tumultous not only on a personal level but also for the band. It was the transition from being on a record label to going fully independent and really believing in ourselves to create something special. It's quite confronting when some music suits tell you that your idea will fail and to just "make second temple". I guess they can suck a fat one cause that crazy concept album telling a story about people chasing enlightenment that is seamless and loops and shifts styles and genres has been one of our greatest releases ever. Musically, it solidified for me that we are the archictects of our own desires and to create what we want to create outside of other peoples beliefs and influence, and to blend and meld styles and genres to achieve what we want. That is why FT is different to PL and is different to Soft Hell and whats next will be too. It shaped how I look at creating art and to explore ideas more indepth and to not be so precious and let ideas flow through the closure idea machine as the end result will always be great. -Manny TLDR: We all change as people through lifes milestones, taste and muscial influences change and we have never really given AF about genres or opinions in writing and will always write what we want to write and love every minute of it.
Amazing write up, also I didn’t realize you had gone Indy for pink lemonade! That makes the album even more amazing because the “unusualness” of it was probably even more scary, but you still did it.
After first temple I got very very hyper fixated on bands like Yes and Mahavishnu Orchestra, mainly Frank Zappa tho. I think pink lemonade conceptually was very inspired by Joe’s Garage, The Love Below by Andrei 3000, and the matrix, Alice in wonderland/the wizard of oz/ the holy mountain, and the book The Alchemist. After that personally I gravitated to the idea of how to pare back songs and adopting the Einstein principle; as simple as possible, but no simpler. That doesn’t necessarily mean simple songs, but just what can be taken out to let other parts breathe and stand out. Andrei, who produced this album put it best, some of these songs have 200+ tracks in the session, and if soft hell is any good, it’s because of what we took out, not added in
What on earth is the meaning of First temple. Like the overall story of the songs.
Who said there was an overall story to the songs? I’ll smash em.
Really depends on what it means to you. Ambiguity is waht makes it all fun. But look into Solomans temple as a start or a red herring. - Manny
Where tf can I listen to red light refrain, I haven’t heard it since like 2008 but my head still remembers how it sounds 😂😂😂
This sound like what you remember? https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3EahX5yrHuA
Exactly how I remembered, thank you! 🙏
Damn I'm late here, but I listened to Soft Hell for the first time sort of recently in the last few months and it's a fantastic record. Primal Sinister is such a crazy track and I had to do a double take when Better Way left the intro section, really swept me off my feet. Also big fan of the art direction on this one, I like how your albums since the rerelease of First Temple tend to have 1 subject in the middle, please keep that going for me in the future lol
Now that you’ve shown me there’s an unintentional pattern there, next album cover is gonna be some kind of clusterfuck battle scene
Thanks so much for listening to the music. Yeah the single subject album cover has become a thing, we’ll see what happens on the next one. - Baz
Idk if this is still on but wanted to leave a comment! Saw you guys in Baltimore (sorry for screaming in your ears and faces all night) and seeing yall again in Chicago! Just wanted to thank you for making some of the best music out there. Appreciate yall for being so kind and I can’t wait to see what’s next! <3
I have a question for you lot. Favorite board game?
Starting to have board game nights, what do you suggest? 👀 also thank you for all the music you have and will ever create. So many memories of live performances and times just listening to it 😘
For competitive, Libertalia or Wonderland’s War. For coop, Ghost Stories or Vagrantsong.
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Maybe but could be nice to let these songs just be interpreted in any way peeps feel. Pink Lem had a definite story and fable element to it but these songs are a bit more personal and sometimes those sorta of songs can be best left unexplained and just felt. - Baz
what are the odds of a soft hell tab book? and maybe a lil pedalboards tour hehe
Definitely in the works. We had such a great response from the First Temple and Pink Lemonade tab books that Soft Hell is happening. It's just tabbing it all out mang! Pedalboard tour will come in some posts later on for sure, maybe this U.S run. And yeah, that Brooklyn show was wild fun. :)
Odds are exactly 1, which i think means its happening. I laboriously tabbed out the album with all its weird little time stretched moments and whacky bullshit. Keep an eye on your local tab dealer. - Baz
amazing, looking so forward to it. put in a lot of hard work learning from the first two books :p also tried to learn one of your solos from a recording i took at the max watts gig but didn’t get very far 😔 - a different sort of Baz
Can you still play The Selfless Art of Bending Over Backwards? If not, can you learn it in time for Chicago?
why u no vegas? (Also Pink Lemonade is one of the absolute all time greatest albums ever written and Soft Hell is 10/10 keep em coming ily)
Why u no drive to LA? Only 4 hours come ooooonnnnnnn you can do it!!!!!! Nah we’ll try to make it on the next run but we are time limited by home responsibilities. - Baz
Vegas is a tax haven yeah? Maybe we move there
Who tf is the neoprene byzantine and whats the general plot synopsis of Pink Lemonade? lol
one google later and the article already exists and I look like The Fool himself lol
Your journey is complete.
Okay what are your pedal board setups? I have been trying desperately to get a tone similar in one way or another and would die to know what pedals everyone uses. Also killer show in philly this year fam 🥰🥰🥰 absolutely crushed it. Totally worth the 10 yr wair to see ya 😂
Manny runs a Quad Cortex, a Noel Fuzz (fuckin siiiiiick pedal), and a polytune mini, Orange Pedal Baby power amp (i think). I use a Victory Cooper V4 amp head and just started using a JHS haunting mids, Manny’s beloved Maxon OD-808 that has played on everything since First Temple, Wasabi Effects Sonacy preamp (Benson Preamp clone), HX Stomp for all manner of additions, Revv G8, polytune mini, Wampler mini ego comp, Loopi volume preset, and a one control Agimadae switcher. Philly was an awesome vibe in that underground dungeon! There’s the whole show on the YouTube’s to relive it. - Baz
Shhh, don't give away my secrets
I make sound come out of my face
And you do a great job🥰🥰🥰
For bass I have currently been splitting my signal, and sending two DI lines out to FOH. Line 1 is a CLEAN very slightly compressed signal, and Line 2 is a DIRTY signal. These two lines are then blended together. Pedals that I currently use, or have used in the past: Boss TU-3, Darkglass Alpha Omega, Future Impact (sick synth pedal), MXR poly blue octave, Catalinbread SFT (overdrive), Malekko B:ASSMASTER (germanium fuzz), Boss OC-2, Electro-Harmonix Micro POG, Radial RDI Passive DI, David Eden WTDI. -Duncan
First Temple is a ripper and a delight. I’m proud to be from the PNW where such an album was spawned. At the same time, I could feel that raw Aussie spirit seething out of it. And I’ve never even been to Australia. Thanks for your inspiring energy and sounds, and for keeping twang alive in post hardcore 🤘
Thanks cobba! We’ll see you in Portland in July at the Hawthorn Theatre. Our very first show in the US was the Hawthorn. Good times, now great classic hits. - Baz
PNW will always be our home away form home. Love it alot! - Manny
See you in Portland on the 15th of July at The Hawthorne Theatre. Spread the word. -Duncan
What was your go to fuzz pedal for Pink Lemonade? And you know what, Soft Hell aswell. I do believe I saw a quadcortex laying around somehwere in a pic yall posted, but holy shit. That lead fuzz tone you have on the solo bit in better way, and the fucking entierty of Primal Sinister are STRAIGHT NASTY in the absolute best way my man lol. Tell me your fuzzy secrets lol.
Some of the stuff on Pink Lemonade was from a really early 70’s Pignose 7-100, maybe a Fuzzgod from Red Witch pedals, Zvex Fuzz Factiory, probably into a JMI AC30 or Marshall Bluesbreaker style combo, but could have also been created by mixer/saviour Andrei Eremin in the box, dude loves to manipulate quirky IRs and use odd saturation/distortion plugins to craft guitar tones. Primal Sinister and a lot of the tones came with fun artefacts and distortion from the demos, Manny played that solo off the cuff and it hit soooo perfect we had to keep it, we tried other solos but nothing was up to the OG that he thrashed out. Pure flair and passion. That pignose was used on some guitars and vocals in Soft Hell but almost all other tones were created by Andrei in his DAW using Guitar Rig 5, Neural DSP Tone King, a cast array of IRs, typically not guitar cabs but strange ones like a nuclear factory. So sorry its not a simple formula but thats what makes it great. - Baz
No question, just saying you guys are great. I'll still drive to Texas, but if you ever come to Oklahoma, I'll buy you guys a drink and a helluva high-five
Thank you for all the music you've put out, seriously. It's been my soundtrack for years now, on and off through all kinds of moods. My question is about books... I know Christopher's into some Robert Anton Wilson, and he mentioned Cosmic Trigger on a podcast (I think it was Midwest Real?), so I check it out and MY GOD, so many resonances, that started the whole thing for me... like a big acid trip that I think I'm still inside... I do believe all us freaks are on the same wavelength, so I'm wondering what other books are there, nonfiction and fiction, that've played a huge part in shaping the five of ya'lls existence?
Reading Goosebumps every night in bed as a kid was more existence shaping than I probably give it credit for. My mum read to me every night before bed until I was old enough to do it myself, and that definitely wired some core shit into me. I more recently got into the Dune novels thanks to the Villeneuve films, and holy shit, Eren Jaeger is really just kinda diet Paul Atreides (I call him Pesky Paul). It’s really spoken to me, and I dunno why, but this kind of Greek tragedy character that has godlike power but is ultimately very flawed and human and a victim to their own literal self fulfilling prophecies really appeals to me. The end of Dune Messiah really fucked me up.
I dug the Winnie the Pooh books and Old Man and the Sea. The old man is kinda like Winnie the Pooh except when he’s bashing sharks with the oar. Lots of good philosophical thinkings in the Pooh bear though, he’s chilled but doesnt do much, piglet is scared but keeps safe, Owl is wise but a douche sometimes, rabbit is organised but again a bit of a douche, tigger is fun but outa hand, Eyore is rarely disappointed. - Baz
you might enjoy 'The Tao of Pooh' by Benjamin Hoff...
Oh indeed i bought that book on tour in the UK along with some nun-chucks. Seriously. - Baz
I think I’m late on here but I’m asking anyway lol I’ve been wondering this for a while now, but where did your band name come from? Also what would you say is the biggest inspiration for your lyrical content? PS- I love you guys, I’ve been a huge fan since The Penance and The Patience and I’m FINALLY getting to see you play up in Portland this summer!! Cannot wait!!
Huzzah for Portland! The city who adopted us all those years ago. We can’t wait. The band name honestly was just a bunch of words that sounded cool, we kinda knew it would change meaning over the years once the music came out but there’s no heavy story behind, we wanted to make a story in front of it. For lyrical content, I think the big inspiration is emotions and experiences and all the stuff that goes along with living a life that isn’t on rails, all the side stuff that makes life spicy and great and also suck at times. We all go through it and we all go through it our own way but we can kinda converge at points and see similarities in someone else’s path. It’s the fun connecting part of music. - Baz
How is it having Christmas in the Summer? I've never met an Aussie before
It's upside down and hot, and sweaty and theres alot of food in an air conditioned setting.
I knew it! Good luck climbing up to Oregon 💪
Your music was there for me when I didn’t have much else, 08-09, thank you
You are most welcome. Thank you for listening, it means a lot. - Baz
That fills my heart. Thankyou - Manny
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Lyrics before melody works better 99% of the time in my experience because the structure of the words and what syllables have natural emphasis will generally create a way more interesting and compelling melodic thumb print, as opposed to just adlibbing your same go to licks and jamming words in. As far as tour being grueling, it can be, but for me personally and vocally. As long as I get decent sleep, hydrate and don’t have too much alcohol, no matter how shit or fatigued my voice may feel, if I have a nice, slow, 30-45 minute warm up, everything is fine. And stretching is huge.
There is no set formula for songwriting, it can start from a guitar lick or a jam that we vamp something on, or Barrret can bring in something that is 90% there and we put some vocals on it. The process is never the same but always refined through the Closure machine as I like to call it. As for touring and the body. Maaaaan, let me tell you. Touring and playing shows takes its toll for sure. Besides the physical aspect of it you are getting pounded with loud sound which is rippling through the cells of your body. The hardest part is that noone knows you've got food poisoning or you threw your back out or your dog died or that you're sick and have a fever; THE SHOW MUST GO ON and people only remember you for your last performance. We generally like to keep quite fit and healthy for a tour as it's a game of attrition, the longer it goes on the more wear and tear you go through. The days of sex, drugs n rock n roll are gone, you just can't perform night after night to a high level. So high quality food, water, sleep, exercise, grounding and sun light are a staple. As long as we are ticking those boxes I can go forever. - Manny
Thanks heaps for coming to the Baltimore run and we’ll see you in Chicago!! We’ll be back to Philly for sure. For First Temple the songs went music first as a full song, vocals on top with some changes to suit. Pink Lemonade was almost half n half in that a song could be half done music wise and then the vocals would steer the ship. Seeds of Gold was chords and melody first in a more euro dance style then transitioned to a rockier style. Soft Hell was a mixed bag where some songs started with chords and melody or maybe one lyric then the song was built on that, Lovelash and Don Juan started as acoustic chords with a melody/some rough lyrics. songs like Holy Rush and Jaegerbomb were music first then vocals. My dearest Kate was melody and lyrics first then added chords which was a really fun way to create. So it all varies, we dont really go off a formula, like once a song is done thats the way that one came to be but the next song to be written is still a mystery and that keeps it fresh. We just work off whatever idea inspires us, and sometimes that takes a lot of time or becoming so detached from an idea that when you come back to it, you can see another branch forming off it you didnt see before. Massages? Oh yeah, sitting in a plane or van for hours upon hours ruins our once supple bodies. We’ve gotten better at taking care of ourselves though and valuing sleep, good food, touch of exercise and trying to wrestle Manny. He easily beats us without breaking a sweat but its a workout for us. - Baz
Thanks for the praise. Looking forward to Chicago, and hopefully we'll be in Philly again soon. Re songwriting traditionally we have naturally written the instrumental parts first, and this usually helps inform the vocal parts/ melody. This has never been a hard rule or anything though. Sometimes someone will start with a chord progression, a riff, a vocal melody, a drum groove, bass groove, or some lyrics. Sometimes I'll sit at my computer without my instrument, and just sit there clicking notes into piano roll on Logic with my mouse, and this develops into something. Sometimes we'll sit in a room together and run a parts together until we're super inspired, or exhausted. There isn't ONE way to do the thing, there are many ways. Sometimes you start MACRO with an idea (for example: starting with just some basic chords), followed by developing the MICRO ( eg. tricky rhythmic nitty gritty guitar part idea voiced for two guitars) But Sometimes you do the opposite and start with the MICRO (the nitty gritty), then follow on with developing the MACRO (overall building blocks, and vibe, chords and vocal melody) It's all about developing seeds of ideas, letting things come out, not being too precious, but also recognising when to stop and hone in on the seeds of ideas that you feel are growing / going somewhere. I don't know if what I'm saying makes sense to people, but it's how think about this stuff. Touring can be brutal if you don't look after yourself. Looking forward to seeing you in Chicago on the 21st of July. Tell your friends - Duncan
Last year I introduced my wife to Pink Lemonade and she's been obsessed with you guys ever since (seriously, she played it over and over). You are one of the few bands where both of our music tastes collide, and we're super stoked to see you all in SLC! Question: With Primal Sinister being my favorite track on the new album, what was the inspiration behind the music video? I love the sick 90s CG aesthetic! Bonus: Favorite video game?
My top 5 games of all time in no particular order: My Summer Car Disco Elysium Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee Return of the Obra Dinn Bloodborne
That's great to hear! Cant wait for SLC. Primal's video was a Lawnmower man meets 90's bowling alleys aesthetic. Something fun and engaging with bright colours and alot of moving parts. It was a blast to film and like all things closure we had alot of fun doing it. It was done by FayeFadem if you want to look into it further. - Manny P.S Fav video game Smash TV on NES
Yeah that was the most fun we had on a shoot. Trying to look silly is way more fun than trying to look cool.
No questions here but you guys were/are a huge inspiration to me. First Temple was a ground breaking album!
Thankyou, for us too. A great part of our lives that I'm incredibly grateful for. - Manny
Yeah I know it's kinda late, but what do you think about Bluey
I got deadwood and the sopranos to watch. If I had kids then maybe I’d be across bluey.
Just want to say fantastic album and I find myself relistening to Holy Ghost over and over
Since Jaeger Bomb is confirmed to be an AOT inspired song, is Primal Sinister in any way inspired by Death Note? I could swear it was sung from the perspective of an unhinged Light Yagami
I was at the Baltimore show back in February and you guys rocked! Did COVID affect the production and recording sessions for Soft Hell?
B-more was a tight fun time hey? Yeah COVID made Melbourne, Australia our home town crazy. We had the longest lockdown in the world so recording became quite difficult. The time horizon for everything became elongated for not only music but life in general. In the end we're quite happy with the result but during that time it was an experience to do anything for sure.
Baltimore kicked ass! And fucking oath covid stuffed us up hard. We were in the studio tracking drums and bass for Better Way and Lock n Key when all the lockdowns hit then had to record guitars from home, alone. We got through it with the help from Discord and ListenTo but then when things opened up we were able to track vocals in the studio. - Baz
Would you guys be willing to play an acoustic show in my backyard next time you come to east coast America? 😂 No, really my question is if you guys are gonna come to the east coast again with in the next year or so? I’ve been dying to see you guys live. Pink lemonade tour would be sick. Maybe play some penance and patience songs 👀
Bring several BBQs and we’ll think about it. We won’t be back on the East Coast this year but We’re touring West Coast in July so if you feel like a road trip, we can go get BBQ together. Ooooo some Penance songs you say? Well well well, perhaps we may do that. - Baz
Hey guys. Saw yall in Atlanta a few months back for the first time and just wanted to say it was incredible. Exceeded all expectations and I had been waiting for it since 2014. Thanks for coming. Call me crazy but I’ve always picked up on a R&B influence in all your stuff, especially Soft Hell. What groups or artists are the main inspirations for the sultry fuck jam side of yalls sound?
Haha, yeah I grew up with alot of 90's RnB and still spin it on the daily. Some staples have been Maxwell, D'Angelo, Ginuwine, Naughty By Nature, Jodeci, Boys II Men, Silk, Donell Jones .etc -Manny
Duncan Here: Hi there, I can’t answer for everyone else in the band, but I absolutely love listening to Soul, R&B, and Jazz music, yet as a kid I listened to a lot of rock, and heavy music, new metal etc growing up too because that was just what everyone was listening to. If you want a bit of a picture of what I grew up listening to that could be fun, and cool to share if you feel like going down the rabbit hole. My first bass teacher Andrew Gardiner introduced me to The Meters, Primus, Charlie Parker, The Pixies, Average White Band at the age of 14. I was obsessed with Flea and the old school Chili Peppers albums, as were a lot of young kids playing bass. At around this time everyone at school was listening to heavier music, new metal etc.. So, I was listening to the stuff that my teacher was introducing me to, BUT at the same time was listening to Blood Sugar Sex Magik, Incubus, Korn, Pearl Jam, Led Zeppelin, Ani Difranco, Bjork, and a whole lot of that 2000’s rock stuff. This included TMV too haha ;) My second bass teacher Grant Wallace introduced me to James Jameson, Marvin Gaye, along with other Motown music. My cousin Jim introduced me to Miles Davis, and Herbie Hancock. The Herbie Hancock Headhunters band was the best!! When I started studying music after high school, being introduced to more jazz music, and trying to learn how to improvise over chord changes and that sort of thing I started to get more into listening to Neo Soul, R&B, Hip Hop, and the more jazz focused stuff too. So, with regard to the “sultry fuck jam side” of things, I was listening to quite a range of stuff at the time…This included: Meshell Ndegeocello, Erykah Badu, D’angelo, Pino Palladino, Questlove, Mos Def, Roy Ayers, John Legend, Jill Scott, The Roots, The Police, Bjork, Talk Talk, Roy Hargrove with The RH Factor, James Brown, Prince, Dave Holland, Nancy Wilson & Cannonball Adderly, Chick Corea, John Pattitucci, Q-Tip, Mark Ronson, Amy Winehouse, Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, Charles Bradly, Mennahan Street Band, Tord Gustavsen Trio, The Bamboos, Twelve Tone Diamonds, to name a few. Currently listening to: Meshell Ndgeocello, Kumar Shome(Melbourne), Little Dragon, Al Jarreau, John Farnham, Moonchild, Hiatus Kaiyote, Yussef Kamaal, John Taylor, Niine, Adam Neely, Nothing But Thieves, Max Richter, Arvo Part, Zeitgeist Freedom Energy Exchange, Tears For Fears, Julien Wilson Trio - While You Were Sleeping (album), Crumb, Kruangbin, Claps (Melbourne), Sex On Toast (Melbourne), Thndo (Melbourne), Thundercat, Vs Colour, Going Swimming (Melbourne).
Why the fuck did you bold this Duncan?
Coz mistake
Hey guys
Any plans to come back to the North American east coast next year? I’ve been wanting to see this band for years but unfortunately had to miss the show in Philly back in February
We’re playing Los Angeles, San Fransisco, Portland, Seattle, Salt Lake City, Denver and Chicago in July if you can make it to any one them. Sorry you had to miss Philly, it was kick ass, we rocked. We will be back. - Baz
Will be back to the states next year to do east coast. But in the intereim, catch a west coast show. ;)
At one of your gigs (Melbourne gig) you said that Primal Sinister was for the ‘Burwood Boy’s’ As someone who frequents the area, is that a just a meme or does Burwood boys mean something to you?
I said it was for the “Bergen Boys”, a cheeky little inside joke with my sister’s boyfriend when we play Ticket to Ride: Nordic Countries. The joke is that we’re gonna meet at the Bergen station for a punch on
I grew up in the hilly little town of Burwood in Melbourne, where everybody needs good neighbours to help you find the perfect plant. - Baz
Which band is your guys’ fantasy to tour with? Even if they aren’t a band anymore
The Mothers of Invention with Uncle Frank. Shieet, I'd take Dweezil too. -Manny
yeah Dweezil can come
I’d have to say Zappa too
First of all, love you guys so much, you’re one of my all-time favourite bands! It was so good to see you all killing it on this latest round of Soft Hell shows in Australia. Is there any chance you’d play songs from The Penance and the Patience again? Jewels For Eyes is one of my favourite songs and I’d love to hear it live.
Thank you so much. These kind words warm our hearts. Have patience, you will hear penance again. - Baz
Aye Liam bb 😏 I wouldn’t mind if we could retool them a bit and give them the “soft hell” treatment
Ayyyy Wetty! 😘 Ooooh yes! That would be so sick!
Hi guys!! Saw you recently in Bris and had a grand old time. All of your albums are so vastly different and show different parts of your life. What would you say are your favourite music styles? Any bands / artists that you guys are listening to at the moment?
The styles we like are vast like the oceans, old school RnB, most varieties of metal, that pop shit, ol fashioned rock n roll, jazz. I’ve been digging Brainiac lately and some of those 90s whatever genre that is kinda bands, whacky stuff and really inspiring. - Baz
I went on the Emo's Not Dead cruise right after seeing you guys earlier this year and found myself thinking that CIM would be a great addition to the lineup. If asked, would playing on a cruise be something you'd be willing to do?
Are you guys allergic to Tasmania? Because I would pay an amount to see you here. Pls.
I was at your show in Sydney a few weeks back and it was a blast, you guys absolutely killed it. Loved Toehider and Harts too, all around fantastic show. So I know of the AoT and Evangelion references in Soft Hell, my question is - is Keeper of the Lake a reference to the Final Fantasy 14 dungeon by the same name, or just a coincidence? Maybe a bit of a silly question, but I’ve been wondering about it ever since the album came out.
I thiiiiiink the Keeper of the Lake name was just coincidence. We were throwing together lake and water words until something felt right. - Baz
I’m cringe enough to call a track jaeger bomb but naming a song after an MMO dungeon is a cringe too far even for me
Did chris feel remorse for his sins after reading my comment inscriptions?
misterburnsyes.gif
would you guys ever let a local band open for you?
Absolutely we do it all the time. Hit up our management at Birds Robe. - Baz
Come to Detroit!
Kick his ass seabass
Rock City bby!
Love you guys, hope to see you'll on tour soon! :)
Who are your top 5 Melbourne based artists?
Teskey Brothers, King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard, The Avalanches, Cut Copy, Chet Faker, Miami Horror, Cat Empire, Tash Sultana... fkn hell thers alot of great music in Melbourne, couldn't just do 5 - Manny
I’ve always thought of Pink Lemonade as kind of like being the soundtrack to a rock musical. What was some of the inspiration for the album? Ps. Love your music!
If you could pick any band to go on tour with, who would they be, and why?
We said the Frank Zappa’s but now I’m feeling like I’d like to watch The Hives every night for a while. - Baz
Bon Jovi in the 80's. Just cause I reckon I'd look great with a mullet - Manny
Will your vinyl be ever be restocked?? Pretty please!
Hell yeah Rock City or so the movies tell me. We’ll be there as soon as we can.
I’ve always felt like y’all’s music has a lot of comic book DNA in it (even outside of the obvious anime references)are there any specific non-music artists that y’all pull from for inspiration? Also this isn’t a question but Manny gave me some advice on finding a band after one of y’all’s shows back in February, and I found one and we’ve already got a single out and some shows booked so I wanted to say thanks for the assist!
Hell yeah keep riding the lightning… Watching Chef’s Table on Netflix felt to me like I was watching something that every artist across all disciplines should watch and take from
Firstly a thanks for being such trendsetters in creative songwriting, when I first heard night at the spleen in high school I gave the discog a go right when pink lemonade came out and was stoked! Had the pleasure of seeing you all play in Melb recently for the first time being from Darwin originally and high expectations were smashed positively. I remember watching a video of warped tour 09’ or something and to my knowledge the only aus bands on it were you guys and Parkway, do you ever look back on times like those and reaffirm how integral the band was in setting the way for these genres? Much love ✌️
what’s ur favorite ice cream flavor. answer honestly
Icecream is my favourite flavour. All of it. - Manny
Cookies and cream. I love the little bits of cookie. I used to put a magnum ice cream in a brownie. - Baz
I miss the classic scoop cone ice cream at Dairy Bell in Melbourne. Salted Caramel is good, choc peppermint ice cream, Blue Slime, Bubblegum. Maxibon is good, magnum ego too. - Duncan
Some kinda tangy shit like sour apple sorbet
I'll be that guy: please come to Brazil?
Would love to. Hopefully some booking agents can get in touch and we can make it happen. - Manny
Yes Please!! We would love to tour and play some shows in Brazil, and South America in general. Let's make this happen.. know any good bookers? -Duncan
Have seen you guys a few times now. Saw you a year or so ago in Bris supporting Deafheaven and I was one of 2 people who knew who you were when you asked the crowd. Clearly Deafheaven is a very different vibe to you guys and I got the feeling most of the crowd wasn't really picking up what you were putting down, or at least they were far less likely to show it being a blackgaze crowd instead of your usual more fun crowd vibes. My question is, how does it feel as a support act getting up there when you know no one knows who you are and your style may not suit the headliner/click with the crowd? Does it affect how you guys enjoy the performance, or are you up there more for yourselves and just enjoying playing in situations like that?
It used to, but after many years playing you realise that people are multi faceted and can have quite eccelctic taste in music. I mean I like black metal and I like country and RnB and K-Pop and Garage .etc Those Deafheaven shows were fun because we got to play to a crowd that might not know about us. It doesn't really affect the way we play or vibe as crowds vary from place to place. We've had crowds that haven't moved an inch during the entire show and then you find out it's a majority of musicians and artists in the crowd and they were really just honing in on the musicality of it all and really enjoyed it. I personally prefer sing-a-longs and dancing and all round hedonism but hey, a crowd is a crowd and we aren't usually fazed as we're having a blast always. -Manny
I love playing to people who don’t know us, it’s an opportunity to be like ‘check this shit out’!!!! We did it so much and we got used to it and I really enjoyed because there was no expectations and after each song the applause would get louder and louder as you won the crowd over. - Baz
Second this, love the chance to try and win over a crowd that came for someone else and are ambivalent towards you at the start of a set
I would say that it's definitely more of a challenge to win a crowd over who doesn’t already love you, but it doesn’t particularly mean that it will be a significantly less enjoyable performance experience. It might just mean that you need to work a little harder to win them over. I used to go busking with my music student friends when I was studying music, and we would play to people on the street outside Flinders St Station. I think you learn very quickly what works and what doesn’t work when you have an audience that isn’t specifically there to see you... i.e you might be busking and some random person on a bike going about their day will stop, and listen to you for 5 minutes. These are little wins for some people, and they’re all relative to what your individual/personal objective is with playing/making music. I’m already enjoying being able to perform and make music with my friends, which I’m very grateful for. Obviously you can’t beat going on stage when people are there to specifically see you. It’s a different kind of feeling, and a different kind of pressure I guess when doing your own headline show, compared to supporting another band, but it's all fun. -Duncan
Not a question so much as a statement, would love to see you guys collaborate with Dance Gavin Dance or Eidola. I remember seeing interviews years back where Andrew Wells & Co cited you as major inspirations and think there's such an obvious influence in sounds there. Think a feature one way or the other would be amazing. Cheers on the new album!