Adelaide band TUNNEL VISION are set to release their debut EP "Shame Spiral" through Life Lair Regret Records, so we caught up with guitarist Aaron for a chat...
At what point did TUNNEL VISION form and how did it all come together?
In January 2019, I (Aaron Smith, Guitarist) hit up a bunch of local musicians seeing if anyone would be interested in starting a new hardcore band. One of those musicians was Stephanie Marlow who is the vocalist in a band called Falcifer. I had already known Steph for a very long time, so I hit her up to see if she knew anyone who may be keen and in fact it was her boyfriend Jake Gaston, Tunnel Vision’s vocalist who was keen on doing vocals. I already had another member in the band originally set to play drums, but Adelaide being somewhat small it’s hard to come by new people in the hardcore scene that aren’t already in 20 bands and that person being Andrew Lehne aka Andy our drummer. We’ve always had the issue of trying to find a bassist to finish off the line up of members, every time we had a show, we always had a few of our friends fill in on bass, but we got tired of not having a full-time member in the band. So, we asked our good friend and now full-time bassist Zac Hansen if he wanted to be a part of it, he was cool with it and the rest is history.
Would readers recognize the members from any other bands?
I would like to think so ha-ha. Aaron played in a band called Brainfreeze, Jake and Zac played in a band called Vile and Andy played in a band called Vicious Judgement and Jake also plays guitar in another local hardcore band called No Peace, which has members from Brainfreeze, All In and Vile.
In your own words how would you describe the sound of TUNNEL VISION?
If you like Primitive Blast with a touch of Turnstile, then listen to Tunnel Vision.
What bands are influencing the sound of TUNNEL VISION?
As mentioned, heavily by Primitive Blast and Turnstile, but in the early days, Back Track, Power Trip, Expire and Born Free.
What would be a dream line up of bands to play with?
Turnstile
Power Trip
Trapped Under Ice
Born Free
The Others
Speed and you guessed, it Primitive Blast
You’re set to release you debut EP “Shame Spiral” through Life Lair Regret, how did the partnership come about?
We had everything ready to go and we sent it to Michael and Robert and they just really liked what we had to offer, and they offered to put it out for us which were extremely grateful for.
Where was the EP recorded and how was the recording experience?
Aaron and Jake flew to Sydney for a week to record at the Chameleon Studio with Elliot Gallart and Chas Levi and the experience was better than we had hoped. Working with Elliot and Chas, not only are they super lovely people, but their input, and feedback was second to none. I can’t recommend those two guys enough to work with, if you’re looking for someone to record your next release with 100% just go with them, don’t even question it.
Lyrically what are some of the songs on “Shame Spiral” about?
Most of the lyrics tend to circle around how I view the world around me and how I deal with certain aspects of life. Some of my worries for the future, not just for myself but the general population, the way sometimes people can’t seem to hold themselves accountable for their actions, and how it bums me out.
What else is in store in the foreseeable future for TUNNEL VISION?
Dropping the EP, already working on new music as we speak, working with Michael and Robert and hopefully playing a lot of shows and when everything goes back to normal touring the US and Australia.
How can people get in touch or keep up with what’s happening with TUNNEL VISION?
They can find us on Instagram and Facebook
tuunelvision_hc IG
Tunnel Vision FB
Pick up a copy of 'Shame Spiral' at:
https://lifelairregretrecords.bigcartel.com/product/llr084-tunnel-vision-the-shame-spiral-cs