Suze Blacketer 3/11/20 Suze Blacketer 3/11/20

INTERVIEW: REINS TALKS WHAT KEEPS HIM HERE

Since first listening to Chris Pearce’s solo project last year I have been waiting for more to be released. What Keeps Me Here is what Reins have blessed us with. I reviewed it recently and that just left me with more questions than answers, so I asked Chris if he was keen to have a chat about the EP

Since first listening to Chris Pearce’s solo project last year I have been waiting for more to be released. What Keeps Me Here is what Reins have blessed us with. I reviewed it recently and that just left me with more questions than answers, so I asked Chris if he was keen to have a chat about the EP

So this is a little bit different to Saviour!

Yeah it is, big time. I’ve always done stuff like this, but I’ve always loved metal as well. It wasn’t a big change for me. If anything I was probably way less metal by the time I joined Saviour. Joining Saviour made me get back into metal again.

I’ve been following Reins for a while and I have a feeling that it was Nick Deveril that put me onto you.

He’s the most supportive dude.

Yeah we met through our common love for Saviour.

What Keeps Me Here is so good, I couldn’t believe that nobody had done a write up about it.

I didn’t really send it around. I probably should have. I had one review in the works but never followed up on it.

I had it on loop for about 3 or 4 hours when I wrote the review. There are so many messages in the songs

It’s an awesome review. Thanks for that.

The more I listened to it the more I got out of it. Then I realised that it loops from Losing Your Mind back around to Storm Clouds. Just like the pattern of depression can repeat itself. Did you know you had done that?

Nope not at all. I just wrote all the tracks and chucked them together on the EP the best I could kind of thing. Its even interesting hearing people see it as like this release around the one thing. When I was writing the songs they were all so separate. Every track was separate, and I pieced them together. I guess it’s worked out because they all flow well into each other.

I actually thought you were telling a story because when you listen to it from start to finish you start with that depressive state, you hit rock bottom and then you start to come good only to fall into that state again.

Some songs are obviously specifically dark and angry like Storm Clouds. I get weird sleep paralysis and start doing weird stuff in my sleep which my girlfriend has to put up with. So Losing My Mind is about that.

See I took a totally different meaning

I always try and write lyrics that are not super obvious, they are more that you can take it on however you want.

Which is what I did because that’s not how I interpreted it. I took it as when you are in that depressive state it paralyses you.

I write a lot of songs that are specific and others that aren’t. Temporary Fix is about when you have a problem with something, or you are unhappy, and you turn to alcohol or anything to try and numb the pain and forget about it. It doesn’t work, it always comes back in full force. It’s just that temporary fix.

I took Temporary Fix as being in that dark spot and self-medicating.

It’s all along those lines

When I published the review I was like OMG I hope I got this right!!!

I really found it an interesting read. It was almost more in depth than what I’d kind of processed my own songs. I just write them I don’t really think about them.

Grey and Old to me was someone at that suicidal point of depression looking forward into the future at what they might miss if they were to take their life. I’ve got this whole story from this EP!

That’s cool. Way more in depth than I went. Grey and Old for me is just every lyric is a specific memory that I have, something that has happened. It’s all good memories, yeah it’s more just memories to take when I am old really.

I’m still over here following this story that I have got happening.

I like that though, that’s cool. I like that your getting that vibe from it. I think it’s very upbeat and happy music wise, but a lot of people reckon there is still a darker tinge to it which is surprising. Because I listen to heavier music and emo music I see that song as a super happy boppy song, but other people are like no its still not that boppy.

The first few weeks I played it I was bopping around, and I was singing but not actually listening to what I was singing. It wasn’t till I sat down to review it and I’d already written this big blurb about what a happy boppy EP it was, I had to scrub it and start again haha.

Some of the songs have that emo vibe, like Storm Clouds. It probably makes the rest seem like they are emo, and they are probably not. Brightness is a happy song, that’s about family. But also acknowledging that you should put more effort into seeing your loved ones.

And I took a different take on that one as well

Whatever you wrote was almost that kind of vibe but more in depth. I think it was more feeling bad that you’re not being present for your loved ones.

I think my favourite is What Keeps Me Here but choosing one is hard. And I took that as, going back into that cycle again, and there’s that one person that is holding you here.

I don’t really know what I meant with that song, but it makes sense at the same time. It’s like a sad love song but its not at the same time. It’s for the people that put up with you through the bad times. They’re what keep you around when you could obviously be anywhere else. They are the reasons that you are where you are.

I think I wrote that it’s not the physical space of home it’s the people that you surround yourself with.

For sure.

Do you have more songs piled up?

I’ve got so many honestly. It’s hard to get through them there is such a big pile of songs to finish. I’ve got another EP, hopefully I finish it this year and release it early next year. It’s a follow up to ‘What Keeps Me Here’, like a part two.

Do you do a lot of the writing for Saviour?
No not a lot. I think I did three songs on A Lunar Rose. We all throw in our little 2 cents worth, but Bryant does most of it. He’ll send stuff over and get me to have a listen. I’m not as good a metal guitarist these days.

You do alright playing stripped back guitar. Like I said WKMH is an EP that you can throw on Sunday mornings and get that chill vibe.

Yeah it’s definitely that kind of vibe. Mellow, chilling kind of vibe. The next one is going to have a bit more of a full sound I think. I’m going to write it as if it’s a band rather than a solo act. I’ve got a band that can play my songs, I’ve got some mates that can jump on board.

You’ve got some older stuff up on Spotify as well that I love.

Yeah the older stuff still sounds like a full band. I’m going to stick with a similar sound to what I’ve done previously but I just want to make it more fine and crisp I think.

This one is definitely different to your older stuff.

Some of the songs on this EP I wrote back when I did that older stuff. It was just finally getting around to them.

Do you do the recording yourself?

Yeah I do all the recording here and then send it off to a guy who does all the mixing and mastering for me. He recorded the drums on the EP as well for my drummer who is really good.

Did you have a band at the EP launch?

Yeah they all played at the launch. They are pretty much band members, but they don’t have to deal with all the other stuff. It was a good night, even though there are restrictions it sold out.

That’s great that it sold out. So they just turn up and play?

Yeah pretty much.

I guess that means that you can probably tour eventually???

Hopefully. Obviously touring is a bit out the window at the moment. Lots of people are touring WA at the moment though. I actually didn’t even record any music during lockdown. I’ve just been gardening, cleaning out the shed. Stuff I normally neglect!

It’s been a productive time. For the normal everyday stuff that you neglect, but also for bands to regroup and write new stuff.

Yeah. The number of albums that are dropping now, that are quarantine albums, is actually crazy.

Anything else you want to tell us about the EP

Not that I can think of. You went pretty far into it (laughs) better than I did. I think I just write these songs and chick them out and don’t think too deeply as to what they are about. Storm Clouds is such an emo song, I wrote that in one session. Wrote and recorded it before I even had a chance to think about what it was about! That happens frequently. I wasn’t even going to put it on the EP but once I wrote it I really liked it and I released it straight away. I got it out there as quickly as I could. That song did way better for me than anything else I have done so far. I was really surprised at how quickly it came together.

Sometimes they are the best ones!

For sure. Other songs like Grey and Old, I wrote the first half of it 4 years ago. I’d kind of forgotten about the track. My partner kept telling me it was a really good song and I needed to finish it. I was like yeah one day! Eventually I decided that I should try and finish it so the last half of the song I wrote 6 months ago. It’s kind of like a different track the bridge onwards but it works. I’m really happy with that song.

When you posted about which one was our favourite I couldn’t even really pick one because they are all good in their own way.

There doesn’t seem to be a clear favourite that I have seen. I thought Temporary Fix would be the least liked, but a few people have said that was their favourite. Heaps of people are liking the title track too. All my favourite songs I haven’t even released yet, that’s the funny thing.

That’s good then! Are they coming on the next EP?

Yeah. I have to get a move on I guess and get it finished. It always takes longer than you expect though.

Hopefully it doesn’t take too long! What Keeps Me Here is one of my favourite EP releases this year and one you should definitely throw on Sunday morning while you’re having your morning coffee.

READ THE ‘WHAT KEEPS ME HERE’ REVIEW HERE

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Suze Blacketer 4/9/20 Suze Blacketer 4/9/20

INTERVIEW: ILLYRIA TALK WARMING UP TO NEW MEMBERS WITH ‘FROSTBITE’

With a new line-up, Perth based Illyria have just released a new single Frostbite. Don’t be deceived by the beautiful, melodic beginning to this song because things heat up to a frenetic pace pretty quick! I’m loving everything about this tune and how it captures so many elements seamlessly. I caught up with vocalist Ilija to talk bands, black metal, self-production and everything in between!

Hey Ilija thanks for taking the time to chat. What does the world need to know about Illyria?
We’re a very small band from Perth just making our way through in this very competitive and busy world. We are currently working on our third album. We play a form of progressive metal that has black and post rock elements it and because of the whole crazy 2020 scenario we are just trying to consolidate and find our feet again.

It’s trying to navigate releasing stuff in a whole new way I guess

It’s not only the whole studio thing. We really miss being on stage and doing the whole live performance thing because that’s another service you provide as a live band. When you’re in Perth, which is so isolated, it’s kind of restrictive.

That’s it. It’s not only having no gigs but having that distance as well.

Especially with the border restrictions. I understand that, but obviously you have to find new ways of getting your music out there which has been a very big learning process.

Totally. The good thing is more people are taking to social media and things like Spotify to discover new music seeing as there isn’t really any other way at the moment. People are engaging more with the bands to which is good to see.

It’s very true. We have noticed an influx for sure. It’s the retention now that we are learning to maintain. It’s cool that you have 25,000 people listening to you this month but how many more are going to keep listening. There’s a lot of new bands and endeavours that are coming in that you have to stay on top of, so we are just still trying to find our way through this. It’s a big learning curve.

It’s good that everyone is in the same position but it’s also really good because it means that everyone is involved. And everything you do doesn’t just represent your backyard it represents the whole planet really. We definitely keep that in mind when we release our music because I think we can safely say that our biggest audience is everywhere but Perth. Not saying that we don’t succeed here, its great but we have a lot of loyal fans in Europe and the Americas and you have to honour that as well.

You having that black metal element would get you a lot of that European audience. Black metal in Australia isn’t as big as it is overseas.

When I created this project it was because of that dire need and urgency that I wanted to bring that sound to somewhere new like Australia. I was living in Europe at the time and got exposed to the sound while I was there and feel in love with it and wanted to bring it back. It’s worked really well. For me personally I actually enjoy the post rock side, the members that used to be in the band were more the black metal side. I still love black metal, but I don’t get into the dark, gloomy clique sort of thing. For me it’s more a way of expressing an atmosphere and ambience to my liking without getting to depressive. I like to think that our music is a little more upbeat, a lot more Australian in some kind of way. We like to bring that charm in.

I think the best way we like to explain our sound to people instead of whipping out genres is us just saying it’s a roller coaster ride of emotion.

I’m not a fan of the genre label.

Yeah. It’s hard to bottleneck bands into genres in my opinion. I think the best way I like to explain it is I like to bring up emotions instead, I think people get that more. We definitely take pride in our music and lyrics.

So who does most of your writing?

I do most of it in terms of the way its all arranged, the foundation of it. I write the guitars and vocals predominantly and the bass player and drummer will review what I’ve done and then we come together and amalgamate it all and put our own bits of flair in. It’s initiated by me or the other guitarist and then we get together and refine it.

Have you guys toured over this side of the country yet?

As Illyria we have only played in WA, but we have all toured over east with other projects. We were looking forward to taking that leap of faith, but this year has been quite the hinderance and I don’t think we are going to be able to do anything anytime soon.

Where did the name Illyria come from?

I was in Ancient History class in year 11 and my first name is Ilija. I was trying to make a solo project at the time and I was struggling with it all and my ancient history teacher got out a map of the Roman empire and one of the provinces was called Illyria’ I had a chat to my teacher and asked how you pronounced it and he was like yeah its Illyria! I told him what I was thinking of doing and he said that it was perfect because it had my name all over it! We did a google search and there was a band called Illyrian at the time, but Illyria wasn’t taken. Google searches for us are interesting because there is a Buffy the Vampire character named the same and historical roman stuff comes up! It’s very charming and it represents me very well. What started as a solo project has now turned into a band 7 years later. I’m very grateful for the journey and for being on this call right now.

That’s is actually a very cool story. What’s the story behind Frostbite?

Frostbite is actually the first song by Illyria that wasn’t written on guitar by me. We have a new line- up now and have two new guitarists. One of them is a good friend of mine and Matt’s that we used to play in bands with called Steph en. He’s a tremendous guitarist to work with, in fact I even consider him one of my massive influences. He’s not played in bands for the past 5 years and he has all these songs banked up. I really liked this demo when I heard it. It’s the first song that I have truly gotten to just focus on the vocals. I wanted to provide something a bit different for the listeners to hear the new line-up. And that we are going in a different direction but still holding on to some of the past. We are just building up our chemistry and the fluency within all of our sounds and styles in the new line-up. Bringing in two new quality guitarists that are far, far better than me technically I really wanted to showcase their ability. Instrumentally this song is quite different. It’s a bit more ambitious but I know thematically and lyrically I don’t think I’ve strayed to far from the path. It’s still about all the typical emotional struggles and battles. I really hope that people like the new package that we are providing. We are working very hard to get our next release out.

You guys have produced everything yourselves?

Yes our bass player produces everything, our new guitarist is a videographer, so he filmed the music videos. And we all have experience in engineering our audio. Everything is through experience and sheer will and desire to do it ourselves. There is actually a whole consortium of self DIY producers in Perth and we all just get together and help each other out. It’s like we are shifting back in to musical tribalism in a way, bartering our services. That works for our dynamic because we are a small community here in Perth.

We love that by self-producing we are not limited to deadlines. We normally take 3 years to release an album, its really nice to have that freedom to go with the flow, to fuel this passionate hobby with four other blokes that you really get along with.

Finally who are your influences?

It ebbs and flows doesn’t it? When I first started this band it was bands like Deafheaven and Lantlos were definitely at the forefront, but you can’t ride on that saddle for to long and you’ve got to find new moments to latch on to. Lately it’s been American Football, Fallujah, Between the Buried and Me and random prog bands from the 70’s. I’m just really stretching out and trying to find stuff that I can latch into to keep writing albums that don’t sound stale.

ILLYRIA ARE:
Ilija Stajic – Vocals/Guitar
Andre Avila – Guitar
Stephen Barrett – Guitar
Daniel Hacking – Bass
Matt Unkovich - Drums

Suze Blacketer 24/7/20 Suze Blacketer 24/7/20

INTERVIEW: KYLE FROM BABIRUSA TALKS ‘HUMANOID’, DREAM LINEUPS, AND ALL-AUSSIE FAVES

On the back of their first three releases, Brisbane Deathcore outfit Babirusa (or Pigdeer as they may now be known!!) are about to release their debut album Humanoid. A concept album that follows the journey of 343, vocalist Kyle Williams sat down with Suze to talk about the band and the album.

On the back of their first three releases Brisbane Deathcore outfit Babirusa (or Pigdeer as they may now be known!!) are about to release their debut album Humanoid. A concept album that follows the journey of 343, vocalist Kyle Williams sat down with me to talk about the band and the album.

Hey Kyle thanks for dropping by for a chat. Who are Babirusa?

So originally the band was started by Dean and Tate about 6 years ago. Roughly 2 years ago Dean moved in with Rangi and I’d always go round there and hang out. Dean had recently started up the band again after about a 4-year break so Rangi and I jumped on and started doing some stuff. Checking out what they had written previously. Reece came around and he and I started writing lyrics and trying to see what we could come up with. It was decided that Reece would join the band too. It all just fell into place. Basically we were all just hanging out and it happened!

Your album Humanoid is out on the 28th August.

Yes the album. Originally there was just an EP written about 6 years back, but we added on to it and just decided to go with the full album. The whole album concept is based around a character known as 343 as he’s being ripped between reality and a cybernetic world run by a sinister artificial intelligence.

“Upon re-entry 343 quickly finds that he should not have chosen to return to the Cybernetic world as he is captured and held against his will. Told by a disembodies voice that he is akin to this technological entity, a mirror of sorts, and that he should be willing to cast aside his body if only to elevate himself to a higher form and plane of existence. The voice eerily telling him that it is time to become a part of all things… Unable to understand exactly what was meant he begins to panic, wanting desperately to wake up and be rid of this nightmare. In a catatonic state, his mind races as he feels more fear than he ever imagined possible, questioning the very essence of his being and the reason for the existence of all humanity if he is to be turned into something unknown against his will”

You guys all collaborate on the writing process?

Dean and Tate usually write their thing and Rangi adds his drums. Reece and I then sit down and write the lyrics together. We’ll change the song up a bit if needed, sometimes we will add a bit to the instrumental side too. It’s a step process, it’s pretty cool though and it works well. A little conveyor belt to get the song ready.

Did you guys have any gigs lined up for the release?

No, we were hoping to tour off the album, but nothing is confirmed yet. With restrictions we aren’t sure what we are allowed to do gig wise or what’s even available. We will just keep pushing our presence online. Making a post and having people share it really gets the reach out further, especially at the moment.

What bands do you guys draw your inspiration from?

We’re all very different. Tate listens to a lot of Volumes, The World Alive, Issues etc. Dean and I are more into bands like Within Destruction and Vulvodynia. Reece is an old school boy, his would be As Blood Runs Black and that era of Deathcore and Rangi listens to bands like Meshuggah, and Animals as Leaders. He’s also in a punk band called Pandemic so he listens to that kind of indie rock stuff as well.

What would be your dream line up to tour with?

Signs of the Swarm, Slaughter to Prevail, Within Destruction and especially Vulvodynia.

What about an all Australian line up?

Inhibitor, The Gloom in the Corner (they’re the sort of band you can get up on Spotify, hit shuffle and the content is always good) and Thy Art is Murder.

If you’re a fan of Deathcore then you don’t want to sleep on these guys. What they have released so far has been damn good and I’m keen to listen to this album from start to finish.