Lurking in the shadows of Brisbane’s hardcore scene since 2012, The Struggle have been working on a sound that fuses the classic groove of 90’c NYHC with the lyrical delivery of some of hip hop’s finest. The culmination of the bands efforts can be heard on their upcoming EP titled “The Illusion of Freedom” due for release on November 3rd through What Remains Records. Below is a quick chat with vocalist, Alex Maurer.
At what point did the band form and how did it all come together?
We formed The Struggle pretty loosely at the beginning of 2012, I needed to do something after my old band got put on indefinite hiatus and Brody wanted to write something a little rougher than what he was doing. We'd been been mates for years so we came together and it just worked. After that we picked up Lachy and Luis, trekked it up to Lachys family farm in Bundy and got to writing.
Would readers recognise the members from any other bands?
For sure man, my old band was Up in Arms, we had a great time and played some sick shows between Bundy and Brisbane. Lachy and Brody were in The Lions War doing a metalcore thing and Luis has been in a million different bands but currently working with Rare Words.
How would you describe the bands sound to someone that has never heard your music?
At the heart of it we are a solid hardcore band influenced by old school hip hop, current good hardcore and worldwide political instability. Think along the lines of RATM meets Terror maybe?
Lyrically, there are a handful of references to hip hop classics on the band's demo. What would you cite as influences on the band both lyrically and musically?
I'm pretty heavily influenced by hip hop. I really dig the idea of lyrical structure almost as a percussive instrument as well as conveying the message of the song. As far as names go, I’d say Nas, Immortal Technique, KRS ONE and Australian stuff like Horrorshow and L Fresh the Lion. Musically we try and cover a lot of ground - anything between Nirvana and Madball!
The Struggle have released a demo and played shows in the Brisbane region, what is next for the band?
Our new Ep "The Illusion of Freedom" is just about to drop and honestly we could not be prouder of it. It's a culmination of a lot of hard work from all of us so we can't wait to get it out there. We all really believe in this release so we are going to take it as far as we can, so expect to see us all up and down the east coast of Australia early next year!
Lastly, where can people find more information on the band and what is coming up?
Hit us at www.whatremainsrecords.com
And on www.facebook.com/strugglehc
