Quick excerpt: After a lengthy hiatus I am getting back into the swing of things with this site. This is the first of many interviews to come! Keep an eye out for reviews as well. Excited to be back! For now enjoy my interview with new Sharptone signee alt rock/post hardcore outfit ‘alt.’ Big things to come from the band, keep your eyes peeled! – Tyler H
Tyler H: Hey guys! Thanks for taking the time to let me interview yall! My name is Tyler, I am with the music review website Soundfiction! I’ve been a fan since the record “Dysfunctional” and was super stoked to see you guys sign with Sharptone! Without further delay, I’ll jump right into the questions! How did the signing with Sharptone come about? You guys seem like a great fit to Sharptones stellar and diverse lineup.
Band: Thank you! We are so stoked to be with them! The signing to Sharptone was actually orchestrated by Graham of Resist Records here in Australia, he’s done a lot of work with them with bands like Polaris and Pridelands.
Tyler H: What made the band choose Sharptone over some of the other prominent labels?
Band: It was actually quite an easy decision in the end, Sharptone was definitely in our list of dream labels. We love what they do and have heard so many great things about how they operate. Once they came to the table and we chatted for a bit, it fell into place really easily, it felt so natural and they seemed to be really invested in what we are trying to do which was our number one priority.
Tyler H: Let’s talk about new music, you have a new record “Abeyance” coming out on 6/16/23! Your band is known to pull from a variety of influences and genres from metal, pop, electronic and rock.. What can you tell us about the new record and its influences?
Band: Yes! We all listen to vastly different styles of music, and we love to experiment with different sounds and merge everything we like about various genres into something totally unique. We also try to use a lot of light and dark textures in certain songs production wise. There’s things on this album that take influence from artists like Architects, BMTH and Northlane, all the way to Post Malone, Billie Eilish and Pvris.
Tyler H: What is different about “Abeyance” in comparison to your last record “Dysfunctional”? How have you guys refined your sound?
Band: I think the main point of difference is how confident this record feels. With Dysfunctional we were very much just writing whatever we wanted and finding our sound so to speak. Our goal with this album was to level that up. A lot of people may say the singles so far are a lot heavier, but the rest of the album isn’t really, so we still have that too, just ‘more’. The softer songs are softer, the heavier songs are heavier etc. But at the same time it all blends and works together, whereas Dysfunctional to me feels like a lot of bits and pieces sometimes. I think that is where we have refined things.
Tyler H: Are there any songs on the new record that show a new side to the band that longtime fans of the band haven’t heard yet?
Band: Yes! We have a song on there that we wrote as if it was going to be on a ‘teen slasher movie’ which doesn’t even have a chorus. There’s also another song that is purely for hyping up a crowd, it’s a fun bouncy 90’s rock party style song – it was kind of us challenging ourselves to write something that can have that effect on the audience but not from being typically heavy. Both are things we’ve never done before, so it was cool to express those sides of our creativity and have them make the album.
Tyler H: What are some of your favorite records from this year that you have been spinning lately? Personally I have loved the new records from Currents, Sleep Token, Fit For a King, Avoid and Acres to name a few.
Band: Yes the Sleep Token album is absolutely amazing, every bit of hype they are receiving is totally warranted in my opinion. We love bands that are unapologetically themselves and write whatever they want, in saying that, very excited to see what BMTH do after their last single. I’m also digging the new Gideon album personally.
Tyler H: Any big touring plans this year? US tour maybe?
Band: Oh, I cannot stress enough how badly we want to head overseas! It’s one of our main goals in this band. We have nothing set in stone but we’re certainly crossing our fingers that we can make something happen in the near future. We are about to head over to New Zealand with Thornhill, followed by a lap of Australia with Windwaker and Caskets shortly after that. There’s a few more things in the works for the rest of the year that haven’t been announced yet!
Tyler H: What are some of your guy’s go-to snacks/food while on tour?
Band: 5 Dogs!!! Brisbane people will know what we are talking about. Nothing more nothing less. Also maybe a good pub/venue meal here and there…
Tyler H: Anything else that you would like fans to know about the band?
Band: We are really appreciative for any glimpse of support we receive from anyone, so thank you and we really appreciate you! Aside from that, I guess some random ‘get to know us’ facts about our normal lives could be interesting? Dan (vocals) manages a paint store outside of the band and is a great businessman. Oscar (bass) is a full blown party and festival DJ. Goose (Guitar) is a graphic design god, he does almost all of our visual work himself. Simon (Guitar) has a really unhealthy guitar collecting obsession and never sleeps. James (Drums) is the youngest in the band by quite a bit, yet he’s probably the most musically talented and the best at his instrument.
Tyler H: Thanks again for taking time out of your busy schedules to answer a few of my questions! Super stoked for the new record and I hope to catch you guys at a show in the US sometime.
Music videos, merch, social media links for the band ‘alt’ can be found here
