http://www.myspace.com/slowburnhc
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Slowburn/7317029466
First off i would like to thank Aaron and Slowburn for taking the time out to do this interview with Worldwidetakeoverzine
How did the band come to be named Slowburn
Pretty basic really, we started out the band and called it Top Gun and we all decided that we were sick of getting asked “Like the movie?!?!?!?!” and we were also taking a more serious approach to song writing so we thought of a few different ones and settled on Slowburn.
what are your views on fighting at shows
Obviously we don’t encourage fighting at shows, and hope that no one gets seriously hurt at shows, but its something that happens these days, with a whole lot of genres of music mixing together, it brings different people together and sometimes they don’t like one-another…as stupid as it is, it happens and all there is to do really is to try and break it up.
how can the readers from around the world contact you about ordering merchandise and music
The easiest way is through our Myspace…www.myspace.com/slowburnhc all our stuff gets sorted thru there.
who are some of the bands main musical influences
Um, these are always changing and I cant really speak for everyone else in the band as we all draw something individually from different styles of music. Converge, Modern Life is War, The Hope Conspiracy, Amanda Woodward, Eyehategod, Life Long Tragedy, Electric Wizard…are some, to name a few.
are any members in side projects other than Slowburn
Yeah, sam our guitar player also plays guitar in another Canberra band Hard Luck, Sean(guitar) and Pete(bass) play in Condorcet and I am trying to get 2 other bands off the ground at present playing guitar for a change in both.
how long has the band been together
Weve been together for about a year and a half now so not very long compared to others.
how many cds eps 7 inches split cds and demos has the band currently released
We currently have a demo released and are waiting for our upcoming EP titled, Sleepwalker to finish being mixed and Mastered so we can release that.
what do you base your lyrics on when writing new material
Well its all different, some about personal experiences, some about our views on certain aspects of life…I don’t write the lyrics so its not mine to say but I guess everyone will take something different from them when reading them.
is there a large and thriving scene in the Canberra area as well as throughout Australia
Throughout Australia definitely and the Canberra scene is building and building with new bands popping up all the time. More overseas bands need to come here and see whats on offer here haha.
how did the band come to be signed to One Blood Records and how have they been treating you so far.
Well, one blood is Alex the bass player from Hard Luck, and he's helped us a lot with shows and getting our name out there, Hes awesome haha.
is this the original lineup and if not what is the current lineup
pretty much the original lineup, sam joined the band a little after, me, dave, sean and a different bass player, named Morgan who is now in a band called Dead Kings started the band, but other than that everyones been here since day one.
if you could have anyone do guest vocals on your next recording who would it be and why
Fuck haha, I don’t know my views on that are probably very different to the rest of the band…Mike Williams from Eyehategod?? haha
does the band have any plans to tour the USA in either 2009 or 2010
We would love to get there someday but money is the key thing to getting there and with 3 band members at university right now, it wont be in the immediate future. But if the opportunity came up we would definitely take it.
in only one sentence describe your sound to someone who has never heard you before
Soft, Heavy, Emotional, Raw and Orgasmic to the ears
what is the best Australian Beer that you would recommend to the readers
Being that I don’t drink to much Australian beer im probably not the best person to be asking, but I like Coopers, Beez Neez, Boags Premium and Bohemian Pilsner
when the band is on tour in the van what is usually playing in the cd player
If by tour van then you mean our cars then, I don’t know, I suppose something that everyone can bear, ive been rockin Neurosis and Baroness a lot lately though haha
how were you first exposed to the scene and what made you say i want to be in an band
Well i've been in bands for years before I was introduced to the hardcore scene (metal and jazz bands). But when we started Slowburn (Top Gun at the time) I just started going to shows with the guys from the band and got into it like that. Plus a lot of the bands I like from the metal scene are fairly into hardcore so I was always aware of it.
What made me want to be in a band, was the fact that the music I liked I never got to play in school so I had to do somewhere else with friends who also wanted to do it. And hearing metallica and pantera and wanting to play their songs on guitar haha
when on tour and driving from city to city what is some of the weirdest shit you have seen happen or pass by
Haha dead animals?? I drove through Byron Bay (close to Brisbane in Queensland) once and saw a dude struggling to go up a hill on a unicycle….that was pretty weird.
where do you see the band in 3 years from now
Hopefully with at least 1 more release behind us and touring a lot.
who are some of the up and coming bands from the Canberra area as well as throughout Australia that we should be on the lookout for
Coldfront, Dead Kings, Condorcet from Canberra, Australia umm…Losing Streak, Homewrecker, Clagg, Worlds Apart, Fattura Della Morte(but their braking up haha…suss their songs though they are awesome)…I don’t know really, go from bands Myspaces to others, theirs heaps of good shit coming out right now.
the term hardcore has become so overused that any band putting a breakdown into a song is considered hardcore but explain to the readers what hardcore means to you
Well hardcore to me and Slowburn really doesn’t mean having breakdowns haha, but in general I guess to me it’s a scene that is really friendly, has a bunch of really good musicians and the music is tight yet raw at the same time…
What is your most memorable show and why
Probably either a show we played ages ago with Mindsnare from Melbourne or when we played with Terror…Mindsnare for how fun the show was and how awesome all the bands were and ridiculous back flips off speakers and Terror for how good the crowd reacts to that dude asking for more stage dives every 5 seconds haha
where else besides myspace can the readers go to to findout about upcoming shows and other band related information
I think we have a facebook account dedicated to us haha, um local papers/zines (if you live in Australia), Australian hardcore forums.
what is your favorite city and coutnry to play shows in and also your least favorite and why
favourite city, I don’t really know…playing your own town is awesome because more people always know you there haha, but interstate is good because you see reactions from people who you haven’t seen before and are getting into the music. We haven’t played internationally yet but my favorite country is Friesland in the Netherlands…place is so relaxed and laid back its awesome and the food is sick haha.
Least favorite…is anywhere where people are assholes or bands are so stuck up that when playing to 30 people they act like their playing Woodstock or something
Who are some of the bands that you enjoy touring with\
ugh haha…Hardluck I guess
What advice can you give to some of the newer bands starting out that maybe having a tough time and thinking about giving up
Shit can go from nothing to something huge overnight and it can also take forever…keep working at it and don’t give up, the worst thing a band can do for themselves is stop trying to get better so always try to be on you’re A-game.
where do you think you would be right now had you not been exposed to the hxc metal scene
Still playing in death metal bands and playing shows with jazz bands.
what is the most embarrassing thing that has happened to the band when playing a set
Haha I don’t know really, screwing up songs, people falling over, dudes heckling us (them getting heckled back is the best return though haha), singer having a broken leg looking like he was Robocop…although that was funny and a sort of gimmic for a while.
why do you think that people always associate violence with hardcore shows and it always gives hxc scenes and shows a bad reputation
Its heavy/loud/I guess angry music, people will always associate it with violence, plus tattoos seem to drive heaps of people away haha
Do you have any upcoming shows that you would like to tell the readers about
Yep, The Sando w/ BAD BLOOD, MARK MY WORDS, STEPPING STONE (18+) in Sydney, The Venue w/ FOUR YEAR STRONG (USA) + REX BANNER (ALL AGES) here in Canberra, ANU Bar w/ ROSETTA (USA), THE SURROGATE (QLD), 4DEAD (18+) again here in Canberra, and hopefully some big news soon too.
Is there anything else that you would like to add that i may have forgotten to ask that the readers should know about
Our EP will be out soon, when it is out try and get a copy off us at shows or over the myspace, were sorry its taken so long but it will be here very soon!
Thanks heaps for the interview Sean, get onto World Wide Takeover Zine…
Come to some shows, Eyehategod rule, Peace.
