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BRAVE WORLD They’ve been together for a little over 18 months, but already Canada’s Obey The Brave are signed to Epitaph, have a debut full-length under their belts and are smack bang in the middle of a world tour. Guitarist John Campbell talks about the wild ride with Tom Hersey.
“T
here’s no rest for the wicked man,” Obey The Brave’s John Campbell says with a laugh. And as though to prove his point, the guitarist calls while on tour through the USA. So far, 2013 has been a wild ride for the Montreal deathcore five-piece. Formed in early 2012 by buddies from Despised Icon and Blind Witness, this year has seen the band tear it up across North American and European stages, with their debut record Young Blood
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earning rave reviews. But according to Campbell, the band’s amazing business wasn’t something that they had planned. “When we started the band we weren’t quite sure what we were going to do,” Campbell explains. “The first talks we had when we got together happened when we’d all come out of bands that had toured fairly heavily, so we were thinking about starting something where we’d play some shows on weekends. As the songs came together we got more into it and decided that we wanted to do it full-time – give it 110 per cent.”
As the band was writing for their debut, everything just clicked. From the way Young Blood seemlessly marries a melodic metalcore sensibility with a brutal deathcore edge, to getting signed to punk institution Epitaph Records, it became apparent that, despite the band’s initial plans to keep things small, the opportunity to do something much bigger was beckoning. “The music is the primary reason that we all enjoy being in the band but, even if you’re 100 per cent behind your band, you might not get the opportunity to be able to travel and put a record out. So getting signed up with Epitaph just made us more driven to do this as a full-time thing, and take this band as far as we can. Just do as much as we possibly can, because it’s not an opportunity everyone gets. “And it’s one thing to write a song, but it’s a whole other thing to actually play that song live,” says Campbell. “I think there’s a whole different dynamic. Sometimes one of the least favourite songs on the record becomes one of [the best] to play live. And that all becomes good food for thought when thinking about writing a second record.” According to Campbell, that second LP is very much on the way. “Ideally it would be out early to mid next year. We’ve been writing for a while now. It is more difficult being on the road to get stuff done, but [we’re getting it] done, we’re fitting it in.” WHAT: Young Blood (Epitaph/Warner) WHEN & WHERE: Saturday 24 August, Thriller; Sunday 25, Tall Poppies Studios (all-ages)
FUCK THIS The Stiffys’ Jason Leigh tells Samson McDougall that their erection rock is no gimmick and that really they’re all heart.
C
ock rockers The Stiffys have their angle sewn up. Their mission statement: “The Stiffys are a two-piece rock’n’roll band that dress up like sailors and sing about erections. There is no deeper meaning to our songs and if the topic isn’t stiffies then we will not sing about it.” Their ambition: “To be Melbourne’s number one erection-based rock band...” The sailor suits are about getting noticed, standing out from the humdrum. “The thing about the music business is that it’s an image-based business, you’ve gotta look snappy at all times,” says Stiffys bass-playing mouthpiece Jason Leigh, who, incidentally, does not have a stiffy during the interview. “You’ve gotta look your best. We like to dress up a little bit, we like to look sharp. We’re very popular with the ladies and we just wanna do whatever it takes to impress the ladies.” Their shtick has already granted them major support slots, national tours and spots on festival stages and they’ll now tour their latest single, Champagne. “It’s about something that’s really important to us,” says Leigh of the song. “We didn’t want to be one of those bands that just sings about anything, we really just wanted to open our hearts and sing about our favourite thing, which is champagne.” Themed rock a new concept. The Beards are kicking international goals right now with nothing more than songs about facial hair; The Zimmers took the pensioner market by storm with their reinvention of punk tunes; there’s a band of spontaneous performing cyclists, The Cycologists, in Melbourne; there’s The Burqa Band, an 34 • THE MUSIC • 21ST AUGUST 2013
all-female, indie-rock band from Kabul, Afghanistan; there’s even Mini KISS, a KISS tribute band made up entirely of midgets. “The thing about The Stiffys is that we’re not just some novelty band, we’re pouring our hearts out and just trying to express ourselves with our unique brand of rock’n’roll. I’d definitely be open [to a tour] if Mini KISS could commit to giving 110%.” Leigh and his buddy Adam Stagg have copped mixed receptions on tour. “Due to the nature of our unique brand of rock’n’roll, I think that some rooms can pose different challenges,” Leigh laughs. “Some of the more rural locations have taken a bit longer to become part of The Stiffys.” And they’re not exactly popular in your everyday establishments. “Due to the changing nature
of society... We find that sometimes it’s hard for The Stiffys ‘cause we get turned away from a lot of restaurants and stores due to the nature of our unique brand of rock’n’roll and our drinking habits. We find that hanging out in Red Rooster stores is the best way to relax, have a nice time, have a couple of drinks in the bathrooms, eat rooster rolls, eat big macs, do kickflips, meet girls – things of that nature.” Leigh is not averse to the concept of adding, ahem, members to the band, it’s just a matter of logistics. “We’ve got about four girls that play horns with us and one that plays percussion with us whenever we can. The thing is with The Stiffys, because we’re so focused at all times on having such a nice time, it can be hard to lock down a rehearsal time with all of us. “There’s 24 hours in the day... Sometimes I just need time for me; sometimes Adam and I just need to focus on our music – it can’t just be about ladies 24 hours a day. It’s like, ‘C’mon, guys, let’s think about it for one second. We’ve gotta play rock’n’roll, we can’t just kiss girls all day. It’s not just some kind of kissing booth, we’re not Ian Thorpe.” WHEN & WHERE: 22 Aug, Surfers Paradise Beer Garden; 23 Aug, The Spotted Cow; 24 Aug, Ric’s