REFRAIN interview with guitarist Jim Harte.

At what point did REFRAIN form and how did it all come together?

Refrain began in early to mid 2010. I started the band with our original drummer Lonny. I have been trying to do a band for a few years now and I really wanted to do something very youth crew influenced so I talked to Lonny and he said if I found other members he would be down. I would always see our singer George at shows and I liked the energy he had and the way he moshed so I thought he would be a good front man. We had a friend James play bass with us for a while but he was just too flakey so much so we nicknamed him Kellogs but he ended up moving to Sweden anyway. A few weeks later James left and we decided to head into the studio to record our demo as I really wanted to have a demo out before our first show. As we didn’t have a bass player yet I played bass on our demo. I then asked my friend Falcon if he wanted to play bass and he was down so we started playing shows. Our first show was the Miles Away Endless Roads record release show and it was definately a good show to kickstart the band. A few months went by and Lonny started losing interest and he quit the band and Reyne stepped up. He didn’t even have a drum kit just said he knew the songs so we gave him a shot and the rest is history.

Would readers recognize the members from any other bands?

Well Lonny was in Battletruk and I spent a little time in Pointing Finger in Europe but apart from that not really no we are all really fresh.

And you’re currently on the search for a new bassplayer right?

Yeah Falcon doesn’t really have the time to commit to the band right now so we really need to find a bass player...preferebly somebody that is down for what were into.

In your own words how would you describe the sound of REFRAIN?

Ummm I guess you could say were pretty youth crew influenced but at the same time we definately have a bit of a lockin out feel with our mosh parts but generally speaking I’d say were pretty much a youth crew band.

What bands are influencing the sound of REFRAIN?

Well as you may know we have recorded quite a few covers....Straight Ahead, The Abused and Cro-Mags to name a few. I know that me personally I’m very influenced by the text book youth crew bands like Youth of Today and Insted but at the same time Reyne for example loves modern sounding hardcore like Verse so that definately plays a part in our sound too. Falcon is into alot of different stuff he just loves music and all he does is sit at home and write music of all different styles....George is into the same stuff as me pretty much....he loves 25 Ta Life ahahaha

To date you’ve released your first demo, a 7 inch on Suppression Records and then followed it up with a second demo. Many people might find it a bit odd to do a second demo, why did you do that?

Well Reyne was recording with his friend at SAE which is a Recording Engineering school for Sound Production as he was doing a 1 song 1 man band thing and we figured why not take advantage of it and demo some stuff. The Release is totally new but we recorded Hounds Of Hell previously when we recorded our 7” along with Motivate Me for a compilation coming out on Crucial Response but we’re unsure if that will ever see the light of day so we figured fuck it....why not just record it again? When in Rome right?

You guys recently hit up the East Coast for a string of shows. How was the experience for a first tour?

It was awesome! Alot of driving as we did it all in 3 days but the east coast has some amazing bands. Civil War, Ill Vision, Sick Society and Step Down just to name a few blew us all away....we are looking forward to getting back there soon.

How hard is it being an Australian hardcore band being based on the West Coast in terms of the distance barrier?

I think in some ways it works for us and other ways against us. I mean obviously there is the distance part which sucks but I think when bands from WA tour people are alot more curious to come check it out as they know we’ve travelled so far. I think also Perth has one of the best if not the best scene’s in Australia right now so alot of people factor that in too.

What would be a dream line up of bands to play with?

Ooooo I’m gonna have to try and mix in some influences from everybody here.

Youth of Today

Cro Mags

Verse

Breakdown

Gorilla Biscuits

Any other bands from Perth that people over East really need to know about?

The Others are awesome kind of sound like Stop and Think I guess. Agitated they are young and just into cool punk like Black Flag. Break! have the youth crew thing going on but there last shows are coming up soon. Miles Away obviously and Break Even. Blkout is always hard too!

What’s ins tore the foreseeable future of REFRAIN?

We are going to record a few songs for a split with The Others. We’re also going to be on a few compilations coming up. 1 Australian one Adam Coyle is putting out and an Insted tribute compilation which will be fun. We want to write for another 7” and a full length and just tour and have fun!

How can people get in touch or keep up with what’s happening in the band?

We have a facebook which I guess you can find by searching Refrain and you can email us on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..  We also have a big cartel with shirts and our 7” on it at http://refrainhc.bigcartel.com/

To download the first Refrain demo head here

To download the most recent Refrain demo head here.