by Morgan Y. Evans
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Not so fun fact...metalcore and screamo are truly watered down like piss beer these days (though while we're talking about Australia I have to say for a lighter beer I love me some Foster's Oil Cans). The inevitable watering down happened in the wake of many bands trying to be the next clone of As I Lay Dying, Saosin, Demon Hunter or The Used but the same thing happened to Korn a decade and some change back. You'd like to think more kids would learn not to blindly copy their heroes every time a new band breaks out huge and instead would go back and say, "Hey, maybe I really should go check out that band Overcast or Sam Black Church that influenced the bands I like" or try my own thing or whatever. Still, there's hope. Just because a lot of copycat bands may dilute the impact of a style doesn't mean others who are clearly earnest (or the aforementioned artists who first broke a genre out big) can't keep plugging away or create something potent out of respect for what they love. Australia's hottest new export in the underground, Forgiven Rival may have the trappings of some bands you've already heard, but they do it with a lot more enthusiasm and devotion than many other acts. Singer Joel Thornton has real conviction in his vocals that carries every chorus (which are a lot more effective than the recent release Portraits by a vaguely similar band like the UK's Bury Tomorrow...though BT may have had a bad producer who didn't get enough urgency out of the clean vocals). In Forgiven Rival's case, Thornton and his bandmates play their hearts out on the energetic This Is A War release. While available elsewhere in the world for a while now, Indianola records has finally put This Is A War out in the U.S. so it's time to pay attention, latecomers. I talked to drummer Simeon Dux and Joel Thornton about This Is A War and also found out they are done writing the forthcoming follow up.
MORGAN Y. EVANS: How is it going today? What are you
guys up to? How is life? Tell me a story! Kill any gators?
SIMEON DUX (drums): Hey, what's up? Were watching the 2010 AFL season unfold on TV. Good game tonight, Hawks vs. the Bulldogs. Life is good. Today it rained... not on my parade, but literally, water fell from the sky! Apart from that, we're recording demos and getting ready to record our next album, which is really exciting!
MYE: I like the lyric in "We Are All Soldiers" from This Is A War that says, "Can you take me as I am?/I'll take what you've become 'cuz I have fought what you have won". Can you talk about the background of that song a little bit? It seems like accepting things as they are and moving forward even if you aren't always happy with the result.
JOEL THORNTON (vocals): The lyrics to most of the album This Is A War were co-written by our former guitarist Adrian, and these lyrics are meant to represent a conversation between a man and God. The man asking to be accepted as a sinner and God being happy to take him, but Adrian always wanted the lyrics to be interpreted by the individual and I am glad you could take that out of it.
MYE: Joel, I like your clean singing voice a lot. It sounds like a genuine person. I like the band Adelitas Way in the States or even Story of the Year, who you cite as an influence...bands like you guys who have some big hooks but the vocal is genuinely the person's singing voice rather than an affected pop tone. You guys have some catchy stuff that could be more commercial and you wear some influences on your sleeves, but it is more like you guys playing a style you like than a band copying or trying hard to be poppy. I think the key is having real emotion come through the singing instead of just compressed "emo" as a genre. The Offspring is another example of a band with a singer who is considered punk but has his own voice and didn't fit into how others sounded as much. Thoughts?
SD: We really don’t listen to The Offspring, but do agree that we are a band who plays what we enjoy playing and listening to rather than trying to fit into a trend or scene. We are really happy with the music we have created and if people enjoy listening to it then that is a massive plus.
JT: It’s the same with our new album that we have just finished writing. We didn’t really try and make it sound like anything or anyone else, we just wrote music as a group, and wrote what we wanted to write. We feel that our new album will be a very strong representation of what our band has been striving for.
MYE: Can you talk about the band name? I thought it was interesting right off the bat. Forgiveness is a seriously short quality these days in societies across the world and while there is much to be mad about, we have to coexist somehow.
SD: No, I cant. Seriously, we made a pact, the first one to answer that question gets killed, and that would be on your head! Do you want that responsibility?
MYE: How do you feel your band's music represents Australia, where you are from? These are obviously stories from your lives and music is a Universal thing. The styles you are playing exist elsewhere, but do you think there is anything particularly Australian about your sound other than you are from there?
JT: I don’t think there is anything massively
“Australian” about our music. We don’t sing about Vegemite
or Ayres rock or anything but maybe we should? We are all proud Australians
and will let everyone know that we are from Australia, so I guess it definitely
has had some affect on our music, but to the extent of creating an “Australian”
style, I don’t think we're too different to any of our American
counterparts.
That being said, our favorite thing to do on a summer’s day is have
an icy cold beer, and a bbq, while watching the footy with our mates.
MYE: What else do you guys have coming up on the horizon? I see you haven't been to the U.S. yet, but then a lot of U.S. bands are dying to tour the rest of the world!
JT: As I said at the start of the interview, we are going in to record some pre-pro demos on the weekend for our new album. We are super excited to listen back on what we have come up with, and then we are booked in to record the album in August/September at Complex Studios, who have recorded I Killed The Prom Queen, Deez Nuts and The Red Shore, so its bound to sound pretty beefy. We haven't been to the United States yet and it is a long time dream to go and tour there but we’ll see how we go.
MYE: How'd you guys get involved with Indianola Records and how has the relationship been so far? What was it about the label or past bands they've worked with that seemed like it would be a good fit?
SD: Indianola expressed some interest in us when they had heard the album and we were stoked to have them release it in America. It's good for us to be able to get the CD out to the fans over there so they can just get it from the nearest store instead of having to order it online. The fact that they have worked with some of the bands we are big fans of, like Evergreen Terrace and A Day To Remember, was a big plus and to see those bands still going strong makes us confident we are making a smart decision. They have been great so far and we are really looking forward to our future with them.
MYE: Right on. One thing about This Is A War is that the energy builds and builds but there are more dynamics than some other acts in your genre. You can listen to the songs in a row without it being too much of one thing. Was it hard picking the order of the cd or does that not matter so much now that everyone listens to one MP3 at a time on their iPods anyway?
SD: It was hard picking the order of the tracks on the album, but we were happy with the way it turned out. I guess there is never too much of a good thing! We all have iPods but we all still enjoy listening to a full album from start to finish. Maybe we're just old fashioned.
MYE: You've played with some huge bands like Underoath, Story Of The Year and Haste The Day since forming Forgiven Rival. Do you enjoy the challenge of bringin' it to the fans of a bigger band who may not have heard you before? I really like your band's high energy.
JT: Thanks! We love the challenge of playing to new listeners. Trying to impress them with a half an hour set can be hard sometimes but it's always fun to play on the bigger scale. Hopefully we can do much more of this in the future, not only in Aus, but all around the world.
MYE: What are some of the records that shaped you most growing up or musical or life experiences that changed you or opened your eyes to following a more creative path in life? For me, I was definitely blown away, like many people, when I got into Nirvana back in the day. I wonder if anything like that will ever happen as big in rock again.
SD: One of the albums that I hold close to my heart is Killswitch Engage’s Alive Or Just Breathing. It was one of the first heavy albums I really listened to but I loved that it has some really melodic parts and great choruses too. The mix of brutality, speed and hooks is something that I can really appreciate.
MYE: This probably shouldn't be the last question but can you talk about how you all met and what it has meant to come so far together as a band? "This Is Your Song" is a tune I think many fans could hold onto. Anything you want to say to older or potential new fans of Forgiven Rival at this time?
JT: A lot of us met in high school. Others met at shows but we all enjoy each other’s company and we work well together. It has been a very bumpy road with plenty of downs but quite a few ups as well and I don’t think we would have had it any other way. Through good times and bad, the music is something that has held us together and we all love nothing more than playing, so here is to all you guys and girls who can appreciate and enjoy what we can offer you. Thanks a bunch.
MYE: Thanks. Cheers.