Perth has been consistently producing quality hardcore bands for a number of years now. The latest in the long line is NO BRAINER who have just released their awesome debut 7 inch "Soul Step" through Best Wishes Records. We caught up with frontman Charile Williams for a chat.

At what point did NO BRAINER form and how did it all come together?

No Brainer came together around mid 2017 I believe. We were all in other bands at the time and all wanted to do something new!

Would readers recognise the members from any other bands?

Our drummer Glenn was the drummer for Cursed Earth, who readers would likely recognise. Other than that, probably not haha.

In your own words, how would you describe the sound of NO BRAINER and what bands are influencing this sound?

When we started we were definitely on the Mental tip, any Lockin’ Out sort of vibe has always excited us. I think the cool thing about the band is we have never stuck with a certain vibe, we’ve incorporated some more heavy influences as time has gone on, but then we’ve also done songs with singing. Nowadays we take influence from anything, from No Warning to Praise.

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

If every member of the band got a say, the lineup would definitely be a mess. I’m going to go out on a limb and predict the following. For myself I would love to play with someone ridiculous like The Smashing Pumpkins. Alistair’s would probably be Title Fight or Adorable. Ross would cry if we played with New Found Glory. Alec would most certainly want to play with one of those somewhat parody beatdown bands from the US that are huge right now. I’m going to assume Glenn would want to play with Code Orange or Wu Tang Clan.

You guys hail from Perth. How was the local music scene there pre lockdown? What sort of local bands do you play with and any you’d recommend people check out?

Perth has gotten a lot better! There has definitely been a lull until the last few years and it’s cool to see so many bands doing well. Bands to check would include Idle Eyes, Flowemouth, Engange, The Chain, Apollo Zen, Denial, Fadeaway, Stonehands. There’s probably a few more, apologies if I have forgotten!

You’ve just released your debut 7 inch “Soul Step” via Best Wishes Records. How did the recording and the addition to Best Wishes all come about?

Soul Step has actually been finished for quite some time, but like most record releases after mixing and mastering, artwork and pressing is done a decent amount of time has passed. We had a good time recording it, we tried out most ideas we wanted and we ended up just running with whatever felt good at the time, as opposed to overthinking how we thought it should be. 

We’ve been working with Best Wishes for quite some time now. I can’t remember how, but Dani and Cee Jay liked our demo and the relationship just grew from there! They helped us tour the first time, and they do so much behind the scenes work for us. We love them, and we definitely couldn’t have done as much without them.

Got a favourite song on the record or one you think is a good introduction for people who may not have heard the band?

It changes all the time depending on my mood. The two that stand out for me when we wrote them was Fractured and Vain. We’ve been playing Don’t Stop at shows for a while now and I think that’s a bit of a favourite among our peers! Preferably someone would check the whole record, but if not, maybe one of those three!

Must be a pretty weird time to release a record and not being able to play a launch show?

Yeah, it sucks man! We have a bunch of shows we were about to announce before the lockdown. Lots of pals bands were on board and it would have been good times. Ah well, hopefully shows are extra fun after everyone has been locked up.

What else is in store in the foreseeable future for NO BRAINER?

We’ve just started writing again. Ross, Alec, Alistair and I have always written well together, but it’s awesome to have Glenn in the band now. He’s come in with a lot of ideas, and it’s cool to have a new set of ears. Hopefully we can get some more music out this year!

How can people get in touch or keep up with what’s happening with NO BRAINER?

You can shoot us a message on all the usual socials. Whatever your poison may be! I’m pretty sure it’s nobrainerperth on everything.

Listen to Soul Step below and grab a copy over here.