DJI 20260627172911 0360 D

Rolling.

>> Hey guys, this is Reuben from Legends of

Metacore and Heart Sport. Here today

with the legend from I Kill the Prom

Queen, Michael Jonah.

>> Thanks for taking the time to be here.

>> What's up?

>> How you going?

>> All right, we just watched your show. It

was awesome. You guys have a ton of

energy

>> somehow.

>> Somehow in our old age,

>> this helps probably.

>> Yeah, a few monsters.

>> So, it's the last show of the tour,

right?

>> Yeah.

>> It's cool to be here like just being

able to do some festivals and stuff.

play some shows, see some people, just

get away from the Australian winter for

a stinking hot European summer.

>> And this is probably worse, right?

>> Well, no.

>> You know, I I live in Arizona, so

>> it's really bad over there. But

>> here's the thing. Um,

>> lost my train of thought.

Like Europe is just so known for its

summer festival season, you know, and I

feel like in the US they have a few now,

you know, but they're kind of like

spread out, but there's not like this

one clump of like 3 4 months where

there's always something happening. So

>> I know Europe summer festival season is

like always part of every man's tour

cycle,

>> if it's the on year or the off year. and

just the fact that we haven't been here

in so long. Obviously, like the first

thing we thought was let's go do

festivals. So, yeah, we only did a few

um and then some headline shows, but

it's just it's the best time of year to

be here, man.

>> Yeah.

>> Yeah. Awesome. Yeah, it's Europe is very

alive in the summer.

>> Um how does it compare to the last time

you guys were here? Oh, I I haven't I

haven't sung for this band since 2005

was the last time I came to Europe with

prom and we did music for the recently

deceased and all that in that same time.

And then they'd come a bunch of years

ago. But for me, I got to play Imperon

with Confession in 2012

with Parkway, Miss Mayi, the Ghost

Inside, and a whole bunch of other

bands. And it's just crazy like to be

able to come back after this time. I

turn 45 tomorrow. Like it's being this

age and being able to come play some

songs with my mates

>> to a bunch of crazy euros running around

in circles.

>> It's [ __ ] sick.

>> The crowds here are sick. I don't know

if you guys saw it today, but like

>> Yeah. Oh yeah. We were in front. Yes. It

was awesome. Yeah. You went in the

middle.

>> The storm.

>> I I Yeah, we nicknamed it the Jonado.

Like a tornado.

>> Yeah. That's even better.

>> I don't even know why we started doing

that. I think I just, you know, you see

an opportunity and the crowd is like

kind of into it, but they like just need

like a little helping hand sometimes and

>> that gets them more excited. I'm down

there. I'm playing. They're running

around. So, yeah, it's it's been really

fun.

>> That's awesome. Yeah. How How do they

compare to like the American crowd and

the Australian crowd? I mean, it just

depends where you are. Like at this

season of the band's career with it

being like, you know, a real a real

reunion of the original kind of lineup.

Um, for anyone that doesn't know,

>> this band right now is the original

lineup from the first two, three

releases. Um, with the exception of our

original bass player, Sha aka SK. Um, he

passed away a few years ago, so RP

Shawn. But um Jamie, who's playing bass

in his place, was the most recent singer

in I Kill the Prom Queen. So it was

>> such a natural um I guess reformation to

do it this way. Bringing Crafter back on

vocals, original vocalist, bringing JJ

back on drums. Obviously, he's well

known here for his other band De's Nuts.

>> Um and then shuffling things around a

little bit to keep Jamie in the lineup.

It's just like it's been awesome. And

you asked about the crowds like in

Australia doing that obviously that's

like the band's home territory you know

so

>> I think we have a a stronger following

there than anywhere else and so doing

that

>> reunion tour last year in the uh October

September October

>> it was just like a a breath of life into

the the band you know for this lineup.

So it made us really excited to figure

out how we can do more

>> with this version of the band.

>> That's awesome. So, it inspires you to

keep moving forward,

>> I think. So, yeah, man.

>> That's awesome. Yeah. I mean, you guys

started a band in 2000, right?

>> Around about late 2000. We don't have a

date on it cuz no one can really

remember, but

>> myself, Crafter, JJ, we all went to high

school together. So, we played in

different bands through high school. You

JJ was in a more of kind of like a new

metal band. Um, Crafter and I had a

different band before that that was kind

of like hardcore bordering on like

Screo, Poison the Well type stuff.

>> And then those things kind of ended and

JJ got an opportunity to start a band

with a bunch of guys we didn't even

know, but they needed a guitar player.

So, he brought me in cuz then we had the

the friendship and the high school

connection. And then one of the original

singers didn't want to be a part of it

anymore. He had some other stuff going

on. So we brought Crafter in and just

slowly we kind of like just made it our

our band.

>> We basically stole someone's band.

>> Kind of took it over, but that was

before it was even.

>> Yeah. It had a bunch of names before

that. And then we had the

>> the prom queen name from

>> there was this show called Twin Peaks.

>> Oh yeah.

>> Stolen off of that.

>> Yeah.

>> It was a When you when you write band

names out

>> and you're young, you don't really think

like this is going to last for a long

[ __ ] time. So we had 50 [ __ ]

names. There was 50 probably too many

words in each band name and somehow we

ended up with that and it's

>> it's really a thing of that era, right?

Early 2000 MySpace era, you know, the

long names.

>> 100%. It was everything kind of and like

everyone kind of had like long names and

the same logo. Like everyone had the

same spiky kind of logos or it was like

like there was there was this band that

we used to like back then called Red

Roses for a Blue Lady.

>> Oh, hell yeah. And they had like a real

spiky metal looking logo. You could

barely [ __ ] read it at the time, but

every band had a [ __ ] logo like that.

And it was always like squished into a

CD cover cuz the names were too [ __ ]

long.

>> Yeah.

>> Super long song titles that make no

sense.

>> Absolutely no sense at all. So just a

very hiddenistic, you know, idea behind,

you know, creating the names. Also of

the titles, I assume because, you know,

they're quite edgy. the anti for

example.

>> Everyone thought they were like like

lyrical geniuses and in a very emotional

kind of way as well. Like I think like

cuz of poison the wells and bands of

that kind of era, everyone that was kind

of coming out was very influenced by

that and and poison the well were

>> renowned at that time for having very

emo sounding right

>> sounding uh song titles.

>> Yeah. So you would say that like poison

poison the well and maybe converge were

the main inspirations we

>> Yeah man I mean we had a ton of like we

just played a show a few days ago with

hay breed in

we sonically our band sounds different

than them but they were a massive

influence on us especially the

breakdowns incorporating those. I mean,

it was so cool for us to stand side of

stage and watch that band play

>> because I felt like I was 17 again. And

we used to drive around this little town

that we grew up in, you know, listening

to the Hey Breed record,

>> doing stupid, you know, teenager [ __ ]

>> right?

>> Um, and it just was like such a full

circle moment. So like bands like that,

Hey Breed, Poison the Well,

>> when we started touring with them back

in the day, Evergreen Terrace, um

>> tons of old metal core bands like

Bleeding Through and MD and Dismbbody

>> on Earth, like it was like and then then

it was like

>> got so into like saw work and inflames

and so forth like once we started like

listening to the more Euro stuff, but I

think we kind of like all gravitated to

and at the gates like we all started

gravitate itating to stuff because we

were listening to like bands like Unear

and a lot of like Between the Buried and

Me and Prayer for Cleansing and all

these bands in that time and we were

like, well, they're getting influenced

by all this European stuff. So then

>> that kind of went to we enter the

source. We're like, let's listen at the

gates then.

>> Yeah. Yeah. And was it more later in the

in your career like like the third album

when you were like the Swedish sound is

is kind of interesting. and goodbye

means Forever were pretty like we wanted

to have that metal core breakd downy

fast kind of sound. We just didn't know

what we were doing then, which is like

kind of beautiful looking back on it.

Like we

>> we were

>> we were really trying to like

>> find our sound then

>> and like I listen to it with such

strange emotions. Like it's such a

mishmash of like different stuff is

>> smashed into songs.

>> And it's like that's crazy. Like why do

we do that? And I've talked to other

bands that have releases from that era

and they're like what the [ __ ] were we

doing? you know,

>> and then like slowly over time you like

refine your sound and find it. And

>> we we had always gravitated towards that

like Swedish melodic death metal sound.

And obviously that's a big reason we

went and recorded music for the recently

deceased over in Sweden with Frederick

Nordstrom.

>> We did go back for Beloved as well,

different lineup, but we we recorded

that record with him as well. So we just

wanted that sound but with our own kind

of like Aussie stamp on it, you know.

>> Yeah. Awesome. Awesome. So, so that is

really what you know the inspiration was

early in the career. What inspired you

to you know go back at it at this time.

I think me and like we'd caught up so

much over the years like even like I

went out to the states in like 2019 to

the Ghost Insides comeback show spent

some time Jonah came out just before CO

and probably brought CO with him to

Australia

but like we talked about it so much and

then obviously like once Sean passed

away and stuff it was kind of like this

real hard thing to like cuz we've

discussed it so much and then it kind of

like maybe maybe put the brakes on stuff

a lot because we're all dealing with

losing someone that was such a big part

of this band. And then um I think like I

went out um and I think it was just kind

of like us us talking from

I don't know like just about doing

Australia and if we could do one one

Australian tour and so forth. I think

once you start talking and and kind of

especially me me and Jonah talking about

it then start talking to JJ start

talking to Kev so on we just knew that

we wanted to do it with us you know like

JJ had to be there

>> like Kev had to be there you know and

then then it was like okay well we're

missing a big piece and

>> right

>> it's like Jamie makes the most [ __ ]

sense like been in the band he'd been in

the band longer than probably I had he'd

put in the [ __ ] hard work and so

forth and he's a [ __ ] great musician.

And I was like

>> when we were ying we're like well this

this makes the most [ __ ] sense

>> can

>> do backup vocals [ __ ] like and just

it just works like it literally worked

as this lineup and we made it happen

organically.

>> It literally the most organic [ __ ]

way and here we are.

>> Yeah. Yeah. That's awesome. There also

there was a festival a few years ago,

well six, six, seven years ago and they

made a proposal to have us do this kind

of like reunion show and this was when

we were still kind of active with the

beloved era lineup and

we we thought about it and then that

festival didn't end up happening for

various reasons but that idea just kind

of stuck with us then

>> it was like a all right we know we want

to do it and there was such a fan

reaction back then that really surprised

us. We were like, "Oh my god." Like

people still care

>> about the old stuff this

timing for it. And like you said, lots

of personal stuff going on. And we all

have kids. We have businesses and jobs

and

>> we're in our 40s now. So

>> a lot has changed.

>> We just reached the time where it made

sense for everybody and we're able to

kind of sync up and get it going.

>> In life, when you're at this point, it's

kind of like everything needs to be

right place, right time. because we're

like putting so much on hold with our

families and so on. We're all away from

our kids at the moment and so forth. And

it does like when we were younger and

doing this and being away, we didn't

have to worry about the real life [ __ ]

but it's like like stuff's going on back

at home like my kids footy team's

losing. She's angry because of that.

Like all these things happen and like

Jonah's got stuff going on with his

family, Jamie, um JJ, etc. And so it's

like there's a lot more your when every

time you leave now it's a lot harder.

>> But when you're in your 20s it's like

let's [ __ ] leave for tour. We've got

nothing else to sleeping on my mate's

couch isn't cool this week so I'm going

to be in another country doing it.

>> But now it's like it's a lot harder. But

you make

>> I think we've made like a lot of

sacrifices to be able to do it. also for

us

>> because like

>> and like we were saying about the mental

health side of things is like there's

just this piece of music that you just

need and every time we've kind of gone

away from it for a long time I think

we're all missing just that little piece

you know that's such a big part of our

lives.

>> Yeah, I can imagine. So So how do you

you know keep yourself grounded mentally

when you're on tour? Um,

well, my AFL football side, the Adelaide

Cros, just lost. So, I'm not very

grounded at the moment and they lost to

Port Adelaide, which is the town the

team across town in Adelaide. So, it's a

[ __ ] Yeah, it's a mental health

crisis at the moment. But I think like

we're we're all on the phones to our

kids all the time.

>> Um, trying to stay connected.

>> Yeah. Just as much as we can. And that's

kind of all you can do. Yeah. Cuz that

like for now my daughter's 14, so it's a

bit different from like me calling her

than Jonah calling his daughter. Like

she Jonah's daughter still thinks he's

cool, but my daughter doesn't think I'm

that cool anymore. She's 14, man. She

thinks her friends are cool. Give it a

couple years.

>> Yeah. I'm hoping she turns back around

and does think I'm cool.

>> Interesting age.

>> Yeah, it's crazy.

>> So, is it a little bit frustrating

sometimes where you relationship dad

with a daughter? It's always a little

bit frustrating. You're battling with

>> a stubborn version of yourself

sometimes.

>> You're like, "Oh, yep. You're similar to

me and you're very stubborn." It's

great.

>> With this tour, we were pretty

strategic. We kept it intentionally like

pretty short. We could have done so many

more dates, but

>> we kept it just at a good amount of time

where it's, you know, it feels difficult

being away from home and family, loved

ones, but it gives us like we're all old

friends. just gives us bonding time. I

>> mean, you're we're in our bus right now.

You can see it's very small, especially

for like 10, 11, 12 people sometimes

packed in here.

>> So, it's a lot of people in close

quarters. Um, when we get to the venue,

you know, we do our work, we set up, we

sound check, do all that stuff, but then

it's like, all right, where's the

coffee? Let's go rent scooters and we go

sightseeing. And it's like revisiting

that kind of youthful exploration that

we used to do on tour. Mhm.

>> And then sometimes it's like, "All

right, I'm going to go off and do my own

thing now cuz I need just quiet and

peace and

>> you need that a little bit more now

compared to, you know, when you guys

started out."

>> And I'm a I'm a martial arts guy, so

like that's an outlet for me that I I

utilize a lot at home. Um helps me like

stay focused and it helps me,

>> I guess, take on like life's challenges

and it teaches me to do that in a way

where like it's not going to over

overwhelm me. Um, and luckily I was able

to link up with some friends on this

tour who were able to help me like get

some training sessions. I'm actually

going to go and do it right after this

>> with a couple of buddies.

>> Um, so yeah,

>> to do any competitions?

>> Uh, I did one in March um of last year.

I think I did good. I won. I won gold.

Okay, that's awesome.

>> In my local area, like Phoenix, Arizona.

So,

>> yeah, I will compete again. I just got

my jiu-jitsu brown belt. So, I'm like

kind of right at the beginning of

>> that stage now. So, I'm like on the

lower end. I got to get a little bit

better now.

>> Okay. Okay. That's awesome.

>> But it helps, man. It help all that kind

of stuff. For other people, it's working

out of the gym or reading a book or

meditating or yoga. Like, we all kind of

have a thing that's like our thing that

just helps us kind of

>> outside of music,

>> like you said, stay grounded. And

>> if I'm not mistaken, Matt from Trivia is

also practicing BJJ, right?

>> Yeah. I actually commented on one of his

posts the other day cuz he said, "Here's

my dates. If anyone if you're in a band

or if you're just a fan and you want to

train, like hit me up." So,

unfortunately, we had no dates that

lined up with theirs, but

>> would be cool to see like a metal core

with, you know, PJ

number of musicians who are practicing

and and at high level, too. So,

>> yeah, that's awesome. Did you have to

find out the hard way to, you know,

channel that energy because

>> Yeah. I mean when I when we kind of

stopped doing music and we all picked up

different things like Crafter started a

business and um for me I needed

something to kind of fill the void that

music had for me and also I kind of had

done it for so long I like got a little

bit burnt out on it. So now I've had a

good break where I'm like feeling

refreshed coming back into I want to be

creative. I want to write new stuff. I

want to play these songs again. But

yeah, when when music stopped, I needed

something to like hyperfocus on.

Jiu-Jitsu became that thing for me. And

now I get to mesh both worlds.

>> It's weird because and like like you

said, when you

>> your whole identity in life is based

around something and then it's gone.

>> There's this thing in music after music

where you're kind of lost because you'd

be surprised like your friendship circle

>> probably comes 10% like 10% of what it

was.

lots of people are kind of gone because

you're not on tour anymore. You're not

going to all

the [ __ ] I'm going to do. I've got to

find some kind of outlet. He's gone to

that. Do that. And then for me, like I

go ride my Harley with my mates and go

out and be silly and do skids and be a

bogan as what is referred to in

Australia. But like catch up with my

mates and ride motorbikes is like what I

like to do. And then for me it's like

the other thing is is watching football.

And now that my daughter plays football,

I can go like drop her at a training and

and go to games and so on. It gives me

something where I can also like just

enjoy going to, you know, because like

when when for me I like went away from

music and was like all work, work work

and it was just like tattoo shops and

opening new businesses and so on and I

was like what the [ __ ] else am I doing?

>> Yeah.

>> And it's like okay finding stuff outside

of that. Uh, I think like things like

jiu-jitsu and sports and so on, it gives

you something at least away from music

if

>> you're kind of trying to reinvent

yourself in a way because that's

essentially what you're doing because

for us it's all we [ __ ] knew for so

long.

>> Yeah.

>> Yeah. It's interesting that you say that

because from the outside, you know,

people that you know have been listening

to your music and means a lot for for a

lot of people, they think that you guys

are living the dream, right? Is it I

mean, in a way you guys are, right,

guys? But

>> for sure. Is it? Um, it's interesting

that you say that you find you need to

find different ways regardless.

>> Yeah.

>> Um,

>> but when was a when was a time where you

guys realized, hey, this could actually

be a career going into music?

>> Yeah. So, first of all, it's it's

definitely not lost on me that we are

doing something that we're so lucky to

be doing, you know, um, and at this

level. And I I definitely have

incorporated a gratitude practice into

my life within the last 10 years or so.

And so with music as a career, it comes

with sacrifice. You know, I'm

sacrificing time away from my family.

You miss we miss so many birthdays,

weddings, deaths, even funerals. So

there's a there's a big sacrifice to

doing this. But then on the flip side,

we see the world. We meet all these

amazing people everywhere. you know,

there's so much love for us and what we

do and there's an appreciation and we

definitely are very aware of all that

and like super grateful and thankful

just to be able to see the world and

have had such a long career in this even

with the break and now coming back to

it.

Um, I think it's funny when we first

started as a band, we picked up steam

pretty quickly in Australia, like I want

to say within the first two years, we

were already getting interest from other

parts of Australia, other states. People

were taking notice. There was early

internet days, MySpace. So, like

>> people were able to access our music a

little easier than prior to that. Um,

and I remember like probably almost

distinctly like before real having the

realization that this is what I was

going to be doing. I would be thinking

about I'm like I don't I feel like I I

don't know what my calling is. Like am I

just going to be a loser for like

forever? Cuz I had had a couple of jobs

and I was like well this sucks. Like I

hate I hate this. Uh no shade on those

that have jobs that suck. Like [ __ ]

more power to you. But I just didn't

know what that thing was. And when we

were doing music, it just it made sense.

And it was like

no matter what happened in my life,

that's what I wanted to be doing. But I

didn't yet know that that was a career

option, you know, like playing in a

small hardcore metal core band.

>> Explain that to your grandparents.

>> Exactly. And honestly, like I would get

that kind of questioning from my

grandparents every time I saw them that

they would almost like snarkily be like,

"Oh, you still doing the whole band

thing?" You know, like, "Yeah, yeah,

still trying." You know, but then it was

so nice to be able to come back to

family reunions and be like, "Yeah,

actually we just played a festival to

20,000 people.

>> That's awesome. That's got to feel

good."

>> Yeah. Got my my album in the charts or

whatever the [ __ ] is. So, um, but there

was a period probably about 2 or 3 years

in where we were preparing to go to the

States for the first time. We had just

been doing a whole Australian tour just

to kind of like raise the funds because

we this band's paid for everything

ourselves since the beginning.

>> Um, very little help from labels and

management and stuff like that. Like we

we've had some help along the way, but

not like most bands do.

>> Mhm. And I think we just were selling a

lot of merch and we're like man like

>> we can like we can kind of split this up

and like pay each other today like this

could be a thing. So probably that like

two year two three year point in like

right before the debut album or right

around then

>> it was almost like unspoken. It just

>> it one day it was what we were doing. We

didn't like have a meeting or sit down

and be like so like are we going to give

this our all. It was just like we're off

to America.

>> We're going to be there for 4 months

>> and then someone's in interested in us

in Europe after that.

>> This is what we're doing. So

>> yeah,

>> it was kind of a a beautiful little like

unspoken transition to being in Korea.

>> And you guys kind of like approached

Parkway Drive for an EP. You already

career, right?

>> Yeah. You can talk about the Parkway

Connect.

>> Yeah. So basically they were abandoning

Byron and I got to go to the first show

and I was like well why don't we do a

split together and then it kind of just

to be honest like at the time there was

no bands

there was a lot of bands coming out but

there they came out and we were just

like [ __ ]

>> it was very impressive. It was pretty

and and like they had a guitarist that

absolutely shredded. And for us at the

time, like being in like hard the

hardcore scene or like with metal bands

and so on, there wasn't really that many

guitarists that properly shredded. And

Jeff was like like a bit of a level

above most people.

>> And we were kind of like, [ __ ] well,

this band could do well. And then all of

a sudden, it's kind of like they they

went into the studio and it kind of like

was like, we should do this. And then

all of a sudden it was happening

>> and then we did the split and so on. And

then for that first like probably year

around that we did like a lot together.

And then

it's crazy how the trajectory of certain

things goes because it seemed like we

were off doing one thing and they were

off doing another and like and then yeah

just it's crazy to see at the time

because like metal core wasn't big in

Europe at the time like hardcore wasn't

big. A lot of stuff had kind of died off

and like if you played to 100 people you

were [ __ ] killing it. Like if there

was 100 people, we're like, "Fuck, there

was 100 people coming." And then all of

a sudden it was like, "Oh, there's 500

people now and we're doing these bigger

venues and so on." And then all of a

sudden, like for bands to come overseas,

I I feel like there was just this metal

core [ __ ] rise through that time

where like Europe all of a sudden blew

up and you're like,

>> "Look at Bring Me and the Architects and

all these bands now." And it's like all

the bands were like very similar size

through that era. And then all of a

sudden there was just this explosion

where metal core nearly became

>> like mainstream

>> mainstream music which is [ __ ] nuts.

>> Yeah.

>> Yeah. And you guys were at the forefront

of like the entire genre, right? I mean

early 2000 was arguably the golden years

of metaphor.

>> Yeah. And I think it's it's crazy to

think that like that too because it's

like

>> it doesn't seem like that long ago. Like

to like it's it's such a like 25 years

of this band existing is a [ __ ] long

time

>> but it doesn't seem like that to us.

Like for me it's like

>> I feel like I'm still drinking [ __ ]

Dr. Pepper in his shed trying to play

Hate Breed covers,

>> right?

>> Like literally that's and we got to play

with Hate Breed the other night. It's

the first time prom's got to play with

them. And for us, it's like honestly

like one of the biggest influences

because when Satisfaction came out, when

Perseverance came out, we were like and

and there was this thing of like

Hatebrid were kind of the first band

that was Yeah. Like the next level.

>> Yeah. We were like, "Oh my god, this

band's [ __ ] huge. They're on the XX

soundtrack and all these [ __ ]

things." And we were like, they're the

biggest band in the [ __ ] To us, they

were the biggest band in the world,

right?

>> And now you look at where where bands

are at and you're like, [ __ ] Like metal

core is a household music genre now.

>> It definitely is. Yeah. Headlining

festivals, hell fest last week and all.

>> Nuts.

>> The amount of people that are went out

to watch Brit horizon or architects. It

was incredible.

>> Crazy. Crazy stuff.

>> Yeah. Was it hard for you guys to

explain it eventually to your uh your

family, to people around you that you

know this is probably going to be the

thing you're doing?

>> Yeah. Do you ever like I don't know if

anyone ever explains it. It just we just

kept [ __ ] doing it and like maybe

there was a little bit of disappointment

at first that we didn't become a plumber

or like a [ __ ] job that's going to

make a lot of money, but I think after a

while like we had we were like doing

cool [ __ ] our families were coming out

to see these big shows. Like [ __ ]

this band got me on national television

in Australia. Like that's how crazy

certain things were through a period of

time. So I think there was a point where

our parents are like, "Well, they're

just going to keep doing this. So we may

as well support them

>> because there's no other option."

>> Right. Right. There was definitely a lot

of support from our parents. They never

understood it.

>> I don't get it. I don't know what you're

singing about,

>> but everyone seems to love it. So, like,

we'll be there like front row. Yeah,

>> that's awesome.

>> Shout out to the parents for buying us

all our old.

>> Yeah. When we first went to America, my

mom had to lend us the money for the

flights.

>> Wow.

>> And it was like I remember I remember

going to her and going, "Hey, my mom

would just like

>> we'd have a band meeting, all right,

who's going to ask?"

>> Yeah. It was literally like that. And

that's what we're and and I knew so many

and I know so many bands over the years

have had to do the same to do [ __ ] to

do stuff because it's like when you like

when we first went to America we were 22

or 23 Kev was probably 17 or 18 and it's

like

>> it's a bit of a gamble to lend your kids

your kids some [ __ ] money to try.

Okay, I guess I'll let you go to America

and hope you don't paid off.

>> Yeah. Hope you don't die. Like

>> right here.

>> What an adventure.

>> Yeah, it's crazy.

>> Really? So, I mean, you guys were there

when during the time of MySpace and now,

you know, social media has changed a

lot. The the scene has changed a lot.

It's gotten way bigger. Social media is

a big thing now.

>> Is that something you guys focus on as a

band? Like trying to market yourself on

something like Tik Tok or or somewhere

else?

>> Not as much as we should. Yeah,

>> I think I think there's a a seems to be

a pretty prevalent sentiment from a lot

of musicians

>> that they are almost frustrated by how

we're forced to become content creators

when really we just want to play music,

>> but it's consumed in content form so

much these days, especially by the

younger generations. So yeah, I like I

don't mind being on Instagram every now

and then and making funny reels or

whatever.

>> I wish I had the drive and passion to

like sit behind a camera more and just

play through. I feel like people would

enjoy that.

>> Sure.

>> But it's just not really what I want to

do, you know? So it's a pushpull thing.

It's kind of tricky to try and find the

balance between how much we have to give

to social media to satisfy that desire

and uh you know what the fans want and

how much we just want to be the

musicians and get up on the stage. So

>> yeah,

>> fortunately we've had some help with

like some of our crew and other people

helping us um create the content on our

behalf.

>> Uh we were able to take an amazing guy

out on the Aussie tour who was awesome

and took photos and video every night.

>> Right. It was good to even just for us

to like kind of capture everything as a

time capsule and remember that reunion

tour being such a big deal. But

>> yeah, I don't know. It's a it's a tough

one.

>> And I think for like prom like they they

they did the band after I was in it and

like then

the time had obviously passed like they

didn't hadn't done anything for 12 years

or whatever. So the the the Instagram

and Facebook and so on had essentially

sat there like pretty dormant for a long

period of time. So if you're not

constantly posting, you're not in

algorithms. You're not and like even for

us like since we've been back on the

road, we noticed the Spotify numbers

starting to go back up and like stuff

like that because there is

>> the band's active and and people are

seeing stuff and the more followers and

so on. But like I've got more followers

than the band. Jonah's got more

followers than the band JJ does. But

that's just because like in our personal

lives, we've been very active on social

media with [ __ ] like jiu-jitsu, me with

like tattoo shops, my daughter, my life,

my yeah motorbikes and so on. JJ with

D's nuts and everything he does. So it's

like but now like we have having to use

Instagram again, Facebook and so on. We

definitely have noticed the traction

>> growing again and so forth because for

some of these people like people are

coming to the shows like

>> I have wanted to see you for 20 years

>> and they're like I've been listening to

you since I was 15 or 16 or bloody like

there's older people that are like 60

years old that are coming to shows that

like yeah I got this CD 20 years ago and

you're like [ __ ] like and that's what's

crazy is like you're like this was on

music for the recently to

a CD like it's like the last time this

[ __ ] band was releasing [ __ ] CDs was

still like I don't know if CDs surely

they can't be

>> gone full circle now they come yeah back

yeah but it's it's it's crazy like that

so it's like it's cool that we have been

able to post some stuff and [ __ ] and

kind of like connect with people on

social media because

>> yeah essentially the band hasn't really

had a social media presence for a long

time

>> also So there's there's bands like

Spiritbox who proved that you now can

>> start your career in in reverse. Like

>> they started their career as essentially

like an online content band. I mean to

my knowledge I could be getting some

stuff wrong but

>> my it's my understanding that they

during co they were just

>> writing music and posting and they're

all pretty savvy with video editing and

stuff and they got big from an online

following before they even started

playing shows,

>> right? Um, the band Our Last Night is a

little bit like that, too. They're all

>> very like businessminded and techsavvy

guys and they do all their covers and

they run a YouTube channel and they have

like freaking YouTube plugs and stuff

and and then they'll go out and tour

like once every now and then, but like

their main focus and income stream is

their their videos and covers and

content. It's crazy.

>> And you look at like President now,

they've come out of nowhere. song song

was up way before they played shows and

then they've gone and

>> and like yeah they've they've got the

the right management and the right

people behind them and so on.

>> True.

>> But everything looked very polished and

everything looked very perfect. the song

sound, like the look and everything and

people eat it up because people people

like you think about like we all doom

scroll

>> and every now and again we come across

some [ __ ] song that sticks in our

[ __ ] head

>> and I never even [ __ ] heard of the

bandard heard like and I knew they were

out with architects in Australia and I

heard the song and I was like

>> oh well that's stuck in my head now

because it's a [ __ ] catchy song right

>> so it's it's it's crazy how it works

because even as you get older But like

you're like this. If it doesn't [ __ ]

catch your eye or catch your ears within

like 10 seconds, you [ __ ] flick into

something.

>> Yeah. Yeah. That's true. That's true.

Yeah. And and I think you know the the

genre itself, it has changed a lot over

time. It went from like a little bit

rough around the edges

>> to very polished. Is that something?

What do What do you guys think of that?

>> I don't know, man. Like when it comes to

the music,

>> I I like good production. I've always

liked that.

>> I can appreciate some releases that

>> they're more about the songs and the

songwriting and their own unique sound

that doesn't have to be like super

produced and polished.

>> Um, and I also think you can do it to a

fault where you're starting to edit your

drums so perfectly that like you see the

band live and they can't play their own

songs, right?

>> So, that's unfortunate. But,

>> yeah, I mean, it's funny. It's kind of

the opposite with content, too. Like I

guess maybe this shows our age a little

bit, but like we're used to like seeing

that polished content, pro cam shot

stuff,

>> and no one wants that now. They want

like POV, like raw from from your

iPhone, like

>> it's like gorilla marketing kind of

stuff now, like real rough around the

edges. And you see some bands footage

and

>> so we're just trying to find that like

happy medium between.

>> Yeah. Well, it's cool to see. There's a

couple of bands. Uh I Promise the World,

for example, is a band from Texas, I

think. Yeah.

>> And uh they have this old old sound like

the middle

even the way they dress it's like very

old. But you know what like is cool is

like I I do like looking at the [ __ ]

just pretty rough filmed kind of content

where like and a band that does it and

there's chaos. They're [ __ ] shooting

flares off. They're playing in a car

park. Like it's it's the sketchiest

looking show ever.

>> But I like seeing stuff like that as

well. And then you

other other I'm sure there's a lot of

other bands that doing it, but then

there's like these big festivals and

then big things and and then there's

hardcore bands or metal bands and so on

doing pretty like

>> like it's like the alleyway shows back

in the day when when we were young like

people just play in the [ __ ] street

and call it an alleyway show and bands

are doing it now. So that kind of [ __ ]

>> So it's it's I like a bit of both, you

know? I like seeing some real polish

stuff. I like listening to real polish

stuff and then

>> there might be some like metal band that

has a pretty [ __ ] recording but still

[ __ ] a really good a lot of the old

stuff we listen to is pretty [ __ ]

recordings and like well I imagine if

that had a good good [ __ ] recording

like this band and no one [ __ ] know

but Day of Suffering

>> and they had like one of

>> the for the time it was a lot better

than a lot of albums that came out at

that time but if they had like a

production it was like a Swedish

production at the time it probably could

have been one of the biggest [ __ ]

really. Yeah, cuz there was so many good

metal metal core bands. Like there's a

band called Prep for Cleansing which

were like the between the buried and me

dudes

>> and it's just a lot of stuff before way

before it's time like [ __ ] very

before its time and just kind of didn't

sell enough to any to get on many

people's radar but kind of like within

the hardcore metal metal scenes and so

on. They're kind of like

>> underground

>> underground coal following bands which

is sick.

>> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's still awesome.

So yeah, the the sound has changed a lot

over time and the way you market it, but

do you still relate to the lyrics you

sing on stage? Because it's been like 20

years, 20 plus years.

>> I to be fair, when I wrote a lot of the

stuff early on, I didn't know what the

[ __ ] I was doing

>> and I just made [ __ ] up because I I was

pretty I was never really good at

English. I failed school and so on. And

then like Yeah, we we all failed school.

And then we went and like I did I did

another band after after prom and a few

other things I did called confession and

I really sat down and I thought about

everything like to the point where like

everything was about like kind of life

and there was an album called life and

death and so on and wrote songs about

going on tour and just kind of put a lot

more thought effort and just a lot more

emotion into everything. So, I felt like

>> I wish I could take a lot back, but at

the same time, it's a point of me and a

part of me that happened then. And

>> you kind of need to one at one point

have it's like

>> Jonah writing riffs. Like we wrote a

bunch of [ __ ] in a band called Another's

Life that was horrible. But you have to

start somewhere and you have to learn

from yourself to cuz if you can look at

what you wrote back then and go, "Okay,

well that wasn't that great and the

lyrics were [ __ ] and the riffs were

[ __ ]

>> right? You can only get better

>> because you know, well, all the [ __ ] was

when I was 16, 17.

>> Yeah.

>> And then now it's like, okay, well, we

do write some songs and so on. There's

probably be a lot more thought, probably

a lot of overthought into it to be

honest, but

>> like be a lot different than when we

were 20. That's for sure.

>> Yeah. But it's good to still, you know,

publish stuff, right? I think a lot of

um musicians will overthink and then

never publish stuff. That's that's

great.

>> I've done apes. I've done songs I never

released. just cops like

>> Do you ever think of releasing them?

>> No,

I got a I got a I had this this other

band with Dan who does the Amity

Affliction and we've worked on stuff for

forever and

>> there's songs sitting on laptops that

probably will never see the light

happens. It's

>> just part of the process.

>> Yeah. Some stuff you just don't some

stuff you like go like even with even

with prom like when we were younger

there were songs that never made albums

and stuff and like randomly they'll play

the riffs of songs and I'll be like what

was that?

>> Oh that didn't make the album or that

song got lost off of this EP and so on.

There were songs that just disappeared.

>> Yeah.

>> Which is crazy.

>> Interesting. That's awesome.

>> Hey, can I ask you guys a little bit

more about uh Sean's passing?

>> Yeah.

>> Okay. Yeah. Uh, is audio still still

good, by the way?

>> Uh, yeah. I don't know.

>> Okay. Yeah. I don't know how much uh

audio the mic see the thing.

>> Oh, it's still good. Okay.

>> I might have to wrap up soon.

>> Okay. Sorry. Yeah. Take a lot of time.

Um, is it still okay to go into this?

So, yeah, Sean's passing it meant a lot

for like it had quite an impact on the

metacore community uh and on you guys

>> definitely more. Um, did you guys deal

with his grief as a band or

>> individually? Eh,

>> yeah, I think we all kind of grieved

individually other than um this like

memorial funeral and then it it you know

it brought a few of us close together.

There had been a little bit of a

I don't know like a distance between us

for a little bit, especially some of us

specifically. Um, so that was a bit of a

factor in like bringing us back together

to then eventually go into this reunion

idea.

>> Um, and I lived in the US at the time

when I found out he passed, so I was all

alone on my own thing over there. Um,

yeah, I think we kind of grieved

individually. And then on the tour last

year, we definitely had

a bit more of an opportunity to kind of

like have a belated kind of grieving for

him as well or just maybe more of like a

a gratitude. Again, not to keep bringing

that word up, but

>> you know, just he was such a big part of

this legacy that we built and it felt

strange celebrating it without him. So

we just kind of were trying to do the

best we could to like honor his part of

what we built together.

>> Yeah. And I think for for a little bit

of closure I think when when a lot

happened happened through that co period

a lot of things

it was very hard to get to funeral like

get to a memorial and all this stuff

because our borders were like closing.

It was just such a chaotic time as well.

And for me, um, and

and another friend from another band,

uh, called Miles Away, he took his life

a few months before. So, me and Sean

were like in a lot of conversation

regarding friends struggling and so

forth. So, a lot happened in that that 6

months. So, so for me, I was struggling

with like not only

Ho passing away and then Sean passing

away, but then one of my artists