Articles
Summoning: An Interview with Riley Strong
"Every time I hear a story of how this band or the songs that we’ve written have in some way affected their lives, it is completely humbling that we've been put in that special place in someone's life..."
On Tours and Life with Shannon Marks
"Going to Australia, leaving that job and doing something I love doing, something you’re excited to wake up for, I realized that’s the kind of life I wanted. I wanted to be happy and touring makes me happy..."
Vestigial: An Interview with Sam Dillon
"It will never be ‘just a phase’ for me with the natural world. Everything to do with biology and the study of animals, I’m never bored, I am always seeking new information and it fills me with such soul-food, I’m never left wanting less of what I want to do and that passion I think is so pure, it keeps me alive..."
Blacken: An Interview with Pirate
“I guess, our lives are like stories you know? We tell stories. Milestones such as these last ten years, for me, put into perspective the finite time that we have as people on the planet; and so, I just hope that the story that I’m telling may inspire or resonate with people."
The Amenta - Revelator (Full Album Stream)
"It is a cliché to say that the newest album is the best of a band’s career, so let us just say that “Revelator” is the closest THE AMENTA has come to capturing the sound we hear in our heads. In the lowest hells of our blackened hearts, we are an extreme metal band, still enamoured of blast beats and tearing off faces but “Revelator” also gives us a chance to explore new ways to capture unease and tension..."
Revelator: An Interview with Cain Cressall
"One thing that I can't move away from is writing stuff that I’m tailoring it to be uncomfortable and unsettling. I’m in love with the concept of creating vocal melodies and patterns that create uncomfortable feelings. I've always found this thrilling excitement in making people feel uncomfortable. I love when I’m listening to something that just gives me chills and makes me feel unsafe. It’s weird but I do love it; for the same reason, I love a lot of film dark film and dark art because you find yourself in that situation where there's some kind of artistic expression that's been put together in a certain way to make you feel genuinely strange and unsettled. That is just magic to me...”
Holed Up In The Lair: An Interview with Matt Young
"That’s what we always want to have; that’s important for us which is why we love touring so much, getting around, playing shows - we play shows in places where some bands wouldn’t even think about playing. We like to make that effort even if we don’t make much money because we know that there’s going to be a few hundred at each show and they’re all going to have a great time. It’s an awesome experience. We’ll do that sort of shit because we love doing what we do. We just genuinely love it, we love creating content and love every aspect of this whole thing..."
In Conversation with Andrea Daniel
"I guess for as long as I can remember, I’ve always been creative in one way or another. It’s what drives me and makes me happy. As long as I’m creating something, be it music, visual arts, acting or something like that, it’s my passion. “I’ve never really liked the whole gender specification thing. I’m a drummer, I’m an artist. Sometimes I think people feel the need to say female drummer or female artist, female tattooer and I don’t really see how that matters. I don’t want to be judged on that, I want to be judged on my skills and abilities or how good I am at something. I guess I just try and focus on doing the best that I can on what I do..."
Staff Picks: Vol 4
Spring is here! And what better way to celebrate the end of the cold season than with a new edition of Staff Picks. Check out what our DIRECT MERCH staff have been listening to lately, we hope you find something sick!
Failure, Subside: An Interview with Sam Dishington
"One of the things that definitely informs the way that I write music is emotional and personal experience; just various things that you walk and go through. In recent years, I started drawing a bit more inspiration from the world around me. The music that I do is still very introspective but I’ve been finding myself inspired by places, specifically nature. I’ve been spending a lot more time up the mountain in Hobart, at the beach or visiting places like that because I’ve found that they wake something up in me. I’ve always been a very indoor kinda guy but now I really like visiting these places and taking them in and just experiencing the different smells, temperature, how the place sounds and what it makes me feel. That’s become a new thing for me in terms of what inspires my music...”
As The Kingdom Drowns: An Interview With Todd Stern
"Being able to travel around the world with these dudes and play shows is still very surreal to me. I love going to places that kind of blow your mind a bit while touring; the kind where you’ve never seen anything quite like it before. They wanted me to tour with the band because they like having me around and we all laugh at the same shit, we just enjoy each other’s company. I think that’s a way more important ingredient when you’re replacing a band member than just their ability to play the songs. They’re just as sick as anyone could ever be as far as what I’m after in a death metal performance. We’re a really simple band as far it comes to cutting out the bullshit. It's the greatest group of individuals I've been together with...”