A Decade Of MILES AWAY…
Retracing the memories with singer Nick Horsnell and guitarist Adam Crowe...
Ten years is a long time no matter how you look at it. What do you think has been the key to the band’s longevity?
Nick : I think at the end of the day, it’s the fact that we have never taken the band too seriously. It’s been a bunch of mates playing music together and enjoying each other’s company. We’ve been really lucky with everything we’ve been able to do over the years and the places we’ve visited through writing these songs together. There has been times where we all got a little stressed or pissed off at each other over certain things, but what we always come back to is that we have so much fun up on stage together or writing a new song, that we just go back to that and strip it all back. Everyone knew that playing in a hardcore band, or a punk band would ever be a career move, so enjoy the ride and see where it takes you. I think some bands break up or just get over it because they have these dreams or aspirations to be a full time band on the road or getting that fame or free shit along the way.
Nah, we just do what we want, when we want, and when it works for everyone. I think it’s a lot healthier and makes us appreciate what we get to do a little more when we don’t have to do “it” so often and because someone says we “should” or “have” to. There are plenty of bands that’ve been around forever, just doing their thing and I guess in some ways we take that blueprint and make it work for us. I’m stoked I can say that we have been active for that long and would hate to just drop out for the sake of it. But if and when the core members ever lose that passion of doing the band then we will pack it in all together.
Crowey : It’s definitely been one hell of a journey. We all have pretty full on lives outside the band, and one thing that is very important to us is making sure that our other commitments aren’t sacrificed because of the band. We have never looked at MA as a way to make a living and unlike many other bands, we have all held down jobs or studies throughout the existence of MA. Going on tour was always treated as a holiday, rather than a chore or a form of work. I believe it is this attitude that has kept us together, and still keeps us wanting to get on the road and play our hearts out.
If you had to pick a turning point in the band’s success over the past 10 years what do you think it would be?
Nick : I honestly don’t think there was one turning point that would do justice to how the band evolved. To me it’s a bit of a mix of ingredients, with a healthy side of luck all at the same time. First of all I think the scene that we had in Perth in the early 00’s definitely helped us and a lot of other WA bands get noticed. It was a great time to be around, everyone knew everyone and we all hung out and basically did everything together on weekends, not just at shows. Not many bands were making the trip out west at that point, so after getting sick of flying interstate to see tours, or waiting a few months to see a hardcore band hit our shores, we just started forming bands ourselves. Looking back now, every band was completely different and actually really good at whatever niche of punk/hardcore/metal they were into.
So I definitely would say as cliché and cheesy as it sounds, growing in that friendly and supportive environment helped us start off in the right way. The next point would be the East Coasters who helped us and took chances on our demo’s and music over there without knowing or seeing us. Willy, without a doubt we probably wouldn’t have been a band even five years without your help and for you spending your money, taking a risk with us. Dan Futile really helped out us WA bands by putting us on his comps. Even Luke from Parkway distroing our demo over in Byron. The amount of guys and girls I could name that just helped spread our word is endless. I think the DIY network was just really healthy at that time.
The next and final turning point I will touch on, is touring with Champion on their first Australian tour, as Chris Wrenn from Bridge 9 was along for the ride. Apart from becoming good friends with those guys, I guess that being able to work with Chris and B9 later on, really helped us push the band overseas and opened up many opportunities for us to travel and see the world.
Crowey : I’d say it was combination of the 2004 tour with Champion along with the early signing to Bridge Nine records back in 2005. This definitely put us on the international map, and enabled us to start touring outside of Australia.
Miles Away has always consisted of Cam, Crowey and Nick. Do you think the band would continue if one of you were to leave?
Crowey : Never. There is no way I could ever keep going without Cam or Nick, and I’m pretty sure that the others would feel the same way. Even if we could somehow keep the “MA sound” minus one of us (which I don’t think is possible), it would never feel the same. The three of us are the heart, mind and soul of MA and it would be a shame to try and continue once that chain is broken.
Nick : Since the beginning the three of us have always been there and though it would be nice to say four or even five, I think that’s not a bad ratio after a decade. If one of the three now were to decide to leave or was just over it, then I think we would lay MA to rest.
For a start it wouldn’t feel right and secondly it probably wouldn’t work with a fill-in for any of us. Crowey is the riff master and basically organises everything logistically and financially. Dr. Cam is Dr. Cam and if he wasn’t on the stage jumping around or hanging outside the show being a weirdo, then people wouldn’t know what to think. Maybe it would work with someone else singing, but I don’t know. If one thing is certain when you’re going to see MA then it’s that you will see us three, maybe a different drummer or bassist than the last time, but we’ll be there.
There are a couple of exceptions to this rule though.
On our very first East Coast tour Crowey actually didn’t play the first couple of shows with us because he had broken his wrist skateboarding. At that point we couldn’t pass up all the hard work people had done for us, so we got our good friend Scott Pears of From The Ruins/Jaws to play the first couple of gigs on guitar for us. That was 2004, the only other time we’ve played without one of us is the US tour we did with Bane/Defeater/Dead End Path late 2011. Again that was a tour too good to pass up, but unfortunately I had to leave the tour half way through because I had to come back to Australia and sort out some visa problems for my partner. It was a decision we discussed extensively before committing to do the tour and instead of take that opportunity away from the others I suggested Cam to sing the remainder of the tour and someone fill in on guitar. That ended up being Jake from Defeater helping us out. While I feel bad that some people might have been confused as to why Miles Away is completely different that what they expected, at least the band could continue on and have fun in the States.
At the end of the day I don’t think that many Americans would care who was singing, or in some cases know who this band opening for Bane are anyway. I guess I would be a little bummed if I really liked a band and I could notice one of the main members was not there, but yeah.
Was there ever a point where you thought the band was done and dusted?
Nick : I guess after that whole situation, there was a bit of a question mark as to whether I could continue to put the effort and time into the band and making it fit for everyone else. Again it’s something us three discussed between ourselves a lot, working up different scenarios and just feeling each other out to see if we still had the passion and drive to keep it going. There was definite talk of us finishing Miles Away for good, whether it be last shows at Hardcore 2012 in Sydney or whether it be the Decade tour coming up. I guess that’s why some people are a bit confused after hearing whispers of us breaking up.
Individually we probably said to some people that it’s done and that word spread on and so on. The future was pretty much up in the air until we all met up and played together at Hardcore and Melbourne just before.
Before that the last time we had seen each other in March in Japan for FC Five’s last shows. At that point I think we all thought we were finishing the band in 2012. But I think those shows and the emotions that came from them (not us playing but watching our friends go through that process and how amazing/sad it was) changed something in all of us and started us thinking. When we all saw each other again in July and played some of the best shows we had done in a long while, I think the balance completely changed but none of us wanted to be the first one to say it.
Hardcore 2012 really felt like Hardcore 2004 for us again and sparked something new. Plus the fact that we were completely happy with the lineup, the personalities and how we were actually playing our songs. I remember Crowey left pretty much after the Sunday show and nothing had been said regarding what was next. I spoke to Cam a day after and said something like “hey man, that weekend was amazing, just hanging with old mates and playing some great shows…maybe we shouldn’t pack it in and play every now and again.” I think Cam replied with something like “Yeah Me & Crowey thought the same thing and were thinking about how to put it to you.” Then we all just said what we wanna do so everyone’s on the same page, so we’ll see how long we keep feeling this way.
Apart from that long-winded story, I guess there have been other times. Just when members leave or whatever, or the time on one of our first tours Unzy and Cam had a full on fight at Goo in Melbourne at a show we were meant to play, but couldn’t because I was ridiculously sick. Wish I saw that!
Crowey : The thought has definitely been thrown around a couple of times. Surprisingly, when I told the guys that I would be moving overseas, breaking up didn’t even come into the conversation. Ten years is a long time, and lives do change. We communicate and understand each other really well and it is due to this that we haven’t yet thrown in the towel.
Who is living where in the world at this moment in time and how does that work for songwriting and rehearsing?
Nick : Crowey is still living in Berlin, I think all up he’s been over there around two years now. Cam & I are living in Perth still. I lived in Paris for a short time around the time Endless Roads came out and then my partner Laura moved here and we started the visa process. Hard to say where we will end up.
Cam is constantly interstate for work trips but he lives very close to me when he’s in Perth. We haven’t wrote any songs together in the one place since the writing process for Endless Roads. I think the whole time Crowey has been hoarding riffs in his Kruezenberg apartment and he told us he recorded a song for us to hear when he gets back, so we’ll see what happens from there. Rehearsing is pretty much we don’t rehearse together. I never liked it anyway! I think Crowey gets back a couple days before tour and we’ll all have a jam together and go through what songs we wanna do. The last few years has been hard to juggle depending on who is actually playing for us.
For example, in Japan earlier this year Cam & Crowey arrived two days before and rented a jam space so we could play with our fill-ins Nate (Drums) & Hiro (Bass). Basically we gave them a list of songs and they learnt them from the CD before we got there. Then I arrived in Japan the day before the show and joined the jam and it sounded better than ever before. During that jam, Kim from FC Five also had a bash on the drums so he could get ready to fill in for us for Hardcore 2012. We don’t like doing things simply. Nate from Cruel Hand is playing drums for us again on this run and besides he has toured with us a lot, then Rowan from NZ is playing bass again for us. So again we’ll all get together a couple days before and hope that everything sounds sweet.
Crowey : Technically there are only three official members in Miles Away. Cam and Nick are still living in Perth and I have been living in Berlin since 2010. We took a relatively large break from songwriting after the release of Endless Roads. This wasn’t really a conscious decision, it just kind of happened. We had some really cool tours on the release hitting Europe, the USA, Japan, South East Asia and a handful of Australian tours, and it wasn’t until the middle of 2012 that we started talking about writing again. Since I’ve been doing most of the songwriting, the distance hasn’t really been an issue as I’ve been writing and recording demos of the new material with the help of a drummer from Berlin. I’ll actually be showing the new tunes to Cam and Nick on this tour, so FINGERS CROSSED!
Any plans for a new release at all?
Nick : As I mentioned, Crowey apparently has a song, so hopefully something is in the pipeline sooner or later. But at the same time we’re really not that worried because we have a lot of material to draw on now. One thing I know is that we won’t release something just for the sake of it. If we have some good songs then we’ll look to do something. For this tour we have the Make It Count re-release on vinyl and because it’s 10 years we’ll try and play a wide variety of songs. I’ve always thought about recording an EP of our favourite covers, since we’ve always played too many, but we never get round to it and at the end of the day you’d be best off buying the originals ha-ha.
Crowey : I won’t say too much, but there is definitely something in the works.
Last time you guys toured, Crowey’s younger brother was on bass. This isn’t the first younger generation of Crowes to be on the road with Miles Away is it?
Crowey : You’re right. My little bro Colin (Moey) has been occasionally ‘road doggin’ it with us since 2006. He’s a rad helper and a mad stage diver, so we are always happy to drag him across continents with us. And to keep the Crowe tradition going, all four brothers will actually be on this tour. Jared and Colin both play in ‘The Others’ and 18 year old Dylan Crowe will be slinging tees and loading in on a daily basis.
Nick : The Crowe connection has run healthily through MA since day one. What a family! Adam is the eldest of four, and on this tour we are actually bringing the final piece of the puzzle along for the ride. That is Dylan Crowe, the youngest brother of the clan who just finished high school. He will be slinging merch and just hanging out so make him feel as welcome as the other three. Colin (aka Moey) the second bro has been out with Miles Away pretty much since the start road doggin and helping out, he’s pretty much our 6th member. I won’t go into detail here, but there are so many good Moey stories over the years that are downright amazing. Then there’s Jared the 3rd brother you mentioned, who has been filling in with us over the last couple of years on bass. He played a South East Asia tour with us that was hilarious, because he’s so young and handsome everyone thought he was Justin Bieber, really. I really enjoy playing with Jared in the band, and the way he holds himself on stage at such a young age. Earlier in the year during a set here in Perth all the brothers got up and did a Cro Mags cover (Adam Guitar, Colin Vox, Jared Drums and Dylan Bass) and it ripped.
Can you list everyone who has played drums and bass in Miles Away over the past years?
Crowey : Well not all of these guys were members, but we’ve been using good friends to fill in over the years depending on which region in the world we were playing. There’s nothing better than being able to call up an old friend from half way across the world, and invite them to come hang out on stage with you for a few weeks.
Nick : Ok this could get long…
Drums –
Unzy. OG MA drummer and played for the band for well over half of it’s life. Everyone knows Unzy and knows that he has been in and out of the band more than a couple of times. Recorded the Demo, Make It Count, 4 Way Split, Rewind Repeat… & Endless Roads.
Stooks. Our second drummer and world-renowned tattoo artist now, playing for Shackles out of Byron Bay. Recorded Consequences & Brainwashed 7” and played on our first tour of Japan and USA.
Callum Preston. Everyone’s favourite Melbournian nice guy and graphic design genius. After Her Nightmare had broken up and we had parted ways with Unzy, Callum began playing with us. Drummed on a few OZ tours and also the Euro Tour with Blkout. Made a very nice zine for us and we always ask to see if he’s available to play for us when he’s not in Seattle looking for DeLorean’s!
Rowan Crowe. Everyone’s favourite Aucklandian nice guy and cliff jumping legend. Played drums for Miles Away on our US tour with Bane/Defeater/Dead End Path. This guy can do anything and we’ll use him for whatever instrument we can. He’s also in a big NZ movie coming out with the actor from “Boy” called Ice Creams and Bombs or something like that, check it out ha-ha.
Nate Manning. The Legend of Maine who shreds on guitar and is a “fast cunt” on the drums (said one punter in Canberra after the Outbreak show). Played drums for us on the Japan Weekend for FC Five’s last shows. Played very well because he has probably seen Miles Away more times than anyone else in world. Is going to double gig on the upcoming tour so show the boy some love.
Kimura “San”. Otherwise seen drumming for FC Five and loving father of two. Played the Break Even last shows and Hardcore 2012 with us and was an absolute blast. One of our favourite people in the world and one of the best drummer’s we’ve had. Likes wearing crocs, smoking ciggies and leaving his passport in other states!
Bass-
Dion Waterman. Was pretty much the godfather of the Perth scene at the time, playing in Boredumb and also organizing most shows. Played on the 2 Song Demo but left to start a new life in Melbourne before we actually played a show. Check out his bar in Melbourne “99 Problems”.
Hoppo. Well if you know Miles Away you probably know Hoppo, and if you discovered the band later on no doubt you’ve heard of Hoppo. I wish that Hoppo was still playing for us because not only was he a great friend of mine but also a great presence on stage. Played on every release up to Rewind Repeat… and helped manage and organise what we did as a band. Unfortunately Steve got caught up with the wrong people and is currently serving time. Took over Common Bond Records for a while and people got pissed off when he was a bit late on the Extortion pre-order ha-ha. Was great to have around on tour because people didn’t fuck with Hoppo. Don’t believe everything you read on Wikipedia. Stay positive brother.
Hot Ash. We kind of borrowed Ash from Break Even and he ended up sticking around for a fair while. Injected some much needed youth into the band and formed a lethal combo with Crowey for looks. Originally a country kid, Ash has played in Break Even, Jaws, Decay and is currently still active in Blkout & Helta Skelta I think. Toured all around the world with us, but I’m unsure if Ash ever recorded for MA. Great guy and some funny stories from the road.
Herve Jacquemin. Aka RV the French, filled in for us in Europe, USA and also Australia. Loves chocolate, skateboarding & bike riding. Especially loves Nutella and still to this day thinks that one of us hid or ate his 1kg jar of Nutella on an Aust run. Was sooooo pissed off for days, ha-ha. Aside from playing for us, RV has also roadied on numerous occasions and is always down to lend a hand. Very handy to have a Euro onboard when travelling the EU!
Colton Jolliffe. We used to live together at 76 Bondi St and were looking for someone to play bass permanently after Ash bailed. I thought Colton would be a good fit, but for some reason it didn’t work out and we decided not to have a permanent member. This was around the time we went to NY to record Endless Roads. Came on the Aust tour with Break Even & Hopeless, but the tour was filled with problems and things just weren’t good, no fault of Colton. One of the notorious Gero Crew and currently guitar for the band White Oak & Stuyvesant that are definitely worth checking out!
Rowan Crowe. I told you this New Zealander was multi functional. Before filling in on drums Rowan helped us out on Bass. We always had a great friendship with Ro before even thinking about asking him to play. Played with his old band The Chase in NZ our first time and stayed at his parents amazing house. Just an all-round good dude. Filled in on our Aust tour with Defeater and later the US tour with Bane etc. Rowan is playing bass on the upcoming Decade tour also, it’s always a good time when he’s around, because all he wants to do is eat maccas, jump in water and surf. And at the end of the day that is kinda perfect.
Jared Crowe. As mentioned earlier, the 3rd Crowe brother and another musical prodigy. Played in the band Bridge The Gap, who as 14 year olds made a real impact in the Perth Scene in the late 00’s and now plays Bass in The Others with Colin. When writing for Endless Roads, Jared really helped Adam out with Drum and Bass parts at home. Jared came to South East Asia with us and it was like having a little brother along for the ride. Also played Break Even last shows and Hardcore with us. Like all Croweys, he is super polite. Make sure to pick up The Others new jams.
That’s it for now, phew....
You guys will have a 10” pressing of your debut EP “Make It Count” on this tour. Having played songs like “Worlds Apart” and “Turn Your Back” for ten years or so now, do you get sick of hearing them?
Nick : That’s funny you say that, because I was at a party the other day just drinking and hanging out, nek minut, someone puts on Worlds Apart through the stereo. And then everyone starts having a laugh. I don’t like it when people do that, or someone puts it on through the work stereo. It’s not that I’m embarrassed of the songs, but I just don’t like having the attention on me and I also don’t like hearing my own voice.
Anyway, yeah I don’t really hear those songs too much so it’s ok. Those songs are definitely fun to play and helped us get to where we are today. I’m happy that we got to finally put them out on vinyl and have it as a little thing to celebrate. I especially like playing anything from Make It Count when there is an older crowd around that maybe don’t go to shows as much anymore, because maybe it will be a good memory for them or maybe they just didn’t bother to hear any of our newer songs after a certain point ha-ha. Not to say the younger fans of MA don’t know those songs, but you know what I mean I think.
Crowey : I think it’s quite natural to get a bit sick of all the old songs, but when I think about my favourite bands, I would be quite disappointed if they didn’t play their old songs when watching them live. It is usually a bands first batch of songs that gets people into a band, and for MA, we were received very well from our ‘Make it Count’ EP. I think it wouldn’t be fair to our fans if we decided not to play any of these old tracks, and now that we have re-released ‘Make it Count’, I think it’ll be quite fun playing a lot of the old songs.Having toured half the world, got a favourite place to visit and/or play?
Crowey : Favourite places for me outside of Australia would include: Budapest, Tokyo, Porto, Jakarta, and of course Berlin where I now reside.
Nick : I could be here forever again Willy. Let me say that sometimes the places you least expect to be good for the band turn out to be the best. Who would of thought one of our best shows would be in Oklahoma City, or that anyone from there would even know who Miles Away was?
Our first overseas jaunt to Japan is one that will especially stick out in the mind because it was a first for everyone and we had no idea what to expect with none of us ever having visited before. Just playing these amazing small smokey venues all over the country, not being able to talk to anyone properly and just taking in the views of Japan and its amazingly friendly people.
Of course the USA is always fun because we get to see awesome bands. I would say as the band has gone on, one of the main perks of touring has been eating. Eating around the world man, it’s something to look forward to.
Going to Europe was something I personally wanted to do heaps, because I grew up there and also because I love Goodlife Records and Crucial Response, all of those things. Just the amount of ground you can cover in a few weeks and in a couple of hours you are somewhere different with a different language and rich history/culture. Plus Europeans know how to take care of bands, hospitality and rider wise!
My all time favourite place we got to go because of MA was Hawaii and we didn’t even play a show ha-ha. On that Endless Summer tour we booked huge round the world tickets and they said we could go anywhere on the way back, so why not! Hanging out on the North Shore living out my teenage magazine/video dreams, couldn’t ask for anything more.
Then playing South East Asia, what a trip that is. Like Japan extremely accommodating people and so into music, they don’t take anything for granted. For some of the places and sad things we’ve seen on the streets over there, it makes you appreciate how good we have it here. If your band is thinking about touring SEA, be prepared to get 1,000,000 photos with the local kids, it’s that good.
But coming back to home I will also name two places that I really love going to. Firstly Byron Bay, I think that area or Australia is amazing and it just seems so chill. Then I can’t finish without mentioning Bunbury and The Prince of Wales hotel. Without a doubt, one of the best places to play for us and a great bunch of people down there in country South West Australia.
Where was the most surprising crowd response the band received? The one place that astonished you that people were fans of your music?
Crowey : We received quite a wild response the first time we played Oklahoma City back in 2008 on our tour with Outbreak and Cruel Hand. People were singing along to every word, and it was really quite unexpected to have such a dedicated fan base in a city that to even a bunch of Perthies, seems quite far off the beaten track.
Nick : Maybe I answered that before ha-ha. Oklahoma City was pretty strange. Tijuana, Mexico isn’t somewhere I thought we’d be asked to go and play a show. That was fucking awesome. Budapest, Hungary. Vigo, Spain. Long Island, NY. At the end of the day it’s crazy that anyone out of Australia knows who we are or cares for that matter. It’s so cool to go somewhere no matter how big or small the show is and have people screaming the words back at you or just wanting to meet us and talk about stuff.
What about a place you swore never to return too?
Crowey : There honestly haven’t been too many places like this. We take each place on with no expectations and treat it purely as a new experience, whether the place be really awesome, boring or strange as hell. So even what many would consider bad, we’ve always made the most of where we are in the world. But to keep you happy and answer the question accordingly, I will say that playing Kent, England was far from the friendliest town we’ve played.
Nick : Ahhh ha-ha. Maybe Brighton in the UK? In general the UK is not great for Miles Away, but Brighton was an all time low. Three payers and 2 of them sitting on a couch in front of us arguing about something or other that you could hear over our music. Definitely one we won’t forget! Some shows in UK have been awesome like Leeds & Manchester in particular, but the majority not so good. Somewhere in Florida, some pretty heavy shit with a crew went down with Outbreak at the time, didn’t like that too much, but whatever.
Favourite Miles Away song and release?
Crowey : My favourite release is the Endless Roads full length which came out in 2010. I love the songs, the sound of the record and the entire recording experience in NYC was something that I hold pretty close to me. My favourite song is a toss up between Ghostwriter or Anywhere. These songs seemed to write themselves, and they are extremely fun to play live.
Nick : Hmmm. Release wise I’d probably say the Brainwashed 7” (with brainwashed at the right drum speed ha-ha), or Endless Roads. Not just because Endless Roads is our latest album, but just the whole process we went through and the memories of being over in Queens recording is one I will never forget.
Also a pretty major turning point in my personal life, which is something I can look back on and say that’s when my life really changed for the better because of being in New York at the right time. Not sure if that makes sense but that’s my thoughts on the matter.
Song wise I have thought about that quite a bit lately. Though I think Consequences as a whole maybe wasn’t our best work, there are a couple of my favourite songs are on there.
Favourite cover you’ve done?
Nick : I think if I wrote down ever cover we’ve played in this band that my answer would be longer than who’s played for us. But yeah we’re pretty partial to a good cover! Why not, huh? Ha-ha. I just had a memory of us playing Inside Out at the Sando on those two nights on the Outbreak tour, which was pretty fun to play. I felt like we had finally started to break through in Sydney at that point and make more friends.
Saves The Day “Deciding” was a pretty different cover for us to play and I’m not sure what my vocals sounded like but that was pretty cool. One of the best covers we started doing was Street Youth “Just Say No” and when we played that at Byron Bay High School it was ridiculous. Even more because I didn’t even know the words properly. We’ve done a million intros which are always fun.
I’m gonna go with the Turning Point “Broken” cover we did for Consequences though, I think it sounds good and I love that band and Skip’s lyrics. Think we only played that live once or twice though?
Crowey : During 2006/07 we were playing Minor Threat’s “I don’t wanna hear it” straight into Bad Brains “Attitude”. Easily the most fun I’ve ever had playing someone else’s songs
Favourite band to tour with?
Crowey : Cruel Hand. Good dudes and great tunes.
Nick : Impossible to say. Like I said about bringing Cruel Hand out, we really have enjoyed travelling and hanging with those guys in whatever bands they have been in at the time over the years. At the end of the day touring with your mates from home is always special because we just have that ‘Perth’ thing and know each other really well.
Touring with Break Even was always a blast especially when Rowan (RIP) was still with us, I think it was the glory days of just partying and playing shows.
FC Five were a great bunch of guys to be around even though there was that language barrier sometimes, but it made it even more fun. I’m still pretty emotional about the time we spent with them earlier in the year and how much I respect them as people.
Favourite record label you’ve worked with?
Nick : I’m going to be biased and say Common Bond Records when you ran everything Willy. You were the one who gave us that opportunity to make this band what it is and we are eternally grateful. Graz for just everything over the years and being a good Newtown bloke. All the European guys who helped us release our music on vinyl. Going to the Revelation Records HQ, just because that was awesome ha-ha. Actually we haven’t really had any terrible experiences with labels, because we don’t expect that much being an every day hardcore band. While we have started to do some releasing ourselves, which was something we wanted to do personally, I always appreciate the fact that people have spent their time and money helping us out by releasing our music.
Crowey : In my opinion we’ve had a good run with all our labels. Common Bond probably took the biggest risk on us when they released our first EP ‘Make It Count’. So by taking a chance on us, I would definitely put that label at the top of the list. (Thanks Willy!)
Favourite achievement as a band you’ll be telling the kids about?
Crowey : Being able to play all the places we have and all the amazing people that we have met along the way. It’s an experience that not many people encounter and I am eternally grateful for it.
Nick : If and when I have kids I would love to tell them some of the places I got to see around the world and even take them there one day. Maybe YouTube or Spotify will still be a thing then and I will be able to show them what I did growing up. Or if Cassette Tapes are back in I can play them the Endless Roads tape Brainwreck Records released for us.
Then when I’ve had one too many wines, I’ll tell them the story from Sucks’N’Summer fest in Germany when we waited all day to see the Cro Mags for the first time and Unzy fell asleep in the basketball court behind the venue and we asked John Joseph to come wake him up, but Unzy was snoring too much and JJ couldn’t wake him so we just took photos of that instead.
Then I’d tell my kids about the time their Mum and I were drinking with Vogel and she asked him if he likes Italy and also if he liked Snapcase. He replied “Fuck No” to both and then Laura said I bet Madball wouldn’t disrespect Italy or Snapcase like that, and then he text messaged Hoya and he replied the exact same thing to both questions.
Finally I would tell them that their Dad and his mates rode Segways around the ancient streets of Faro, Portugal and it was awesome!
Any final words or thanks?
Crowey : It’s honestly been a blast playing in MA over the past 10 years. It has unintentionally changed my life for the better, and I would encourage anyone out there who is thinking about starting a band to do so. It is an eye opening experience, which can lead to many great opportunities. Don’t get too caught up worrying about the ‘Rat Race’, as long as you are dedicated, persistent and willing to put in the hard slog, life will turn out awesome.
Nick : I’ll keep it short and sweet because there is way to many people around Australia and the world to give props too. Don’t worry we remember all of you and what you’ve done to help us along the way. Willy, for being a legend since day one and picking us up at the airport on our first tour in a Kingswood with all of our gear (and 5 pairs of shoes for me for two weeks). Rest Assured / Common Bond for life. Keep Australia Beautiful!
