BONELESS interview with bassplayer Matt Sourdin
Sydney has always been home to more traditional hardcore sounding bands than elsewhere in the country. The latest addition to that long list happens to be BONELESS. We caught up with bassplayer Matt Sourdin for a chat.
At what point did BONELESS form and how did it all come together?
Well Paul (vocals) and Adam (guitar) have worked together for some time, and Paul and I have been mates for about 15 years. Paul had introduced me to Adam, and in mid 2011 they asked me if I wanted to play bass in a band they were trying to get off the ground. It was really different to what we are doing with Boneless, more of a melodic, really riffy, punk sound. Nothing ever materialised and it faded out pretty quickly.
Adam and I stayed in contact after that and in February 2012 he sent me these songs he’d recorded on a garage band type program in his bedroom. They were raging, straight up HC tracks. They sounded fucking awesome so we decided we had to give it another crack. I called Paul and told him he had to sing in the band, not only because his voice is rad, but also because he was the only one I knew who owned bass gear, and to be a bass player I needed bass gear. I saw Dodson at Bad Religion at the Hi-Fi and asked him if he was keen to give it a crack (we’d spoken about doing something together for ages), and he immediately got on board. I think we teed up a practice a couple of weeks later et voila!
Would readers recognize the members from any other bands?
Paul and I were in Bad Blood and Strength Within, Dodson was in Perish the Thought and Dodson and I were both in Easy Company.
In your own words how would you describe the sound of BONELESS?
Short, fast, loud, traditional HC.
What bands are influencing the sound of BONELESS?
Adam pretty much writes all the tracks, and I know he loves bands like Carry On, Uniform Choice, Nothing Done, In My Eyes, Dead Stop etc. That classic straight up style is what we are all into, so it makes it quite easy to assemble the songs that Adam writes.
Being a little bit older and wiser, what sort of mistakes have you set out not to repeat this time around with a new band?
I guess just learning being patient with things. I’ve always been super impatient with band stuff, which in hindsight I can see has caused issues for previous band mates and the band itself. Everyone’s lives are different now – houses, kids, adult shit, so we can’t expect each other just to drop everything. I think your perspective changes the older you get, and I know that personally I have realised that playing in a band is probably the most fun you can have with your mates, and that is something you can’t take for granted.
What would be a dream line up of bands to play with?
If it was a 5 band bill kinda thing, I reckon my line up would look something like:
Iron Maiden (Powerslave set)
Bad Religion
Mindsnare
At The Gates
Boneless
You guys have a 4 song 7inch out as a first release that sounds amazing for something that was recorded in a jam room. How did the recording come together?
We are incredibly lucky and grateful to have the friends that we do! Carl (Lo!) had already done some recording for his band and was interested in doing more, and also Mick (Irrelevant, Homeward Bound) wanted to get into doing some recording of his own. The 3 of us got chatting one night about how Boneless wanted to record a demo on the cheap, and we came to the conclusion we should just hire out a rehearsal room for the weekend and do it ourselves. Between Carl and Mick, they had most of the gear, and they also brought along Adrian Griffin (Lo!) to help with drum tracks. We basically knocked the 4 tracks out in about 6 hours, mainly because Carl, Mick and Adrian are absolute ledgedogs when it comes to this stuff, and they pulled the sounds we wanted really quickly.
It was probably the easiest and most fun we’ve all had recording. The end result turned out way better that what we could have hoped for, and we’re so stoked that we actually got the opportunity to make it a release rather than a demo, especially because it was done by our friends. Dave (Vigilante) designed the covers for us, my old man printed them and then to top it off you offered to release it for us as RAR001 on 7”! It’s really incredible how much we’ve been supported so far in this band, we truly are thankful to everybody that has helped us out.
What other bands from Sydney or surrounds you’ve come across that people need to check out?
Vigilante, Lo!, Deadly Visions, Safe Hands, Street War – all good dudes making good music.
Ever thought about trying to do a split with Bodyjar? Could be a street vs vert kinda deal?
Only if it’s the next Rest Assured release. Could we pick teams? Cause I want Mike V, Chris Haslam and Lucas Puig.
What’s in store in the foreseeable future for BONELESS?
Shows, shows, shows! Our 7 inch has just been released so we’ll be pushing that around for the next few months and are hoping to get a bit of touring in for it too. We really just want to play, so with any luck you’ll see us in your town soon.
How can people get in touch or keep up with what’s happening in the band?
Check out:
http://www.facebook.com/bonelesshardcore
http://bonelesshardcore.bandcamp.com/
Order "Unstoppable" 7 inch here:
http://www.restassuredrecords.limitedrun.com/products/507287-boneless-unstoppable-7-inch