Kill Your Scene

Sydney Rock band Amalgam are back after a two year break, and are heading straight into the studio to record their debut EP “Better Days”. Ready for their next adventure, the band were more than willing to give me an update on where Amalgam’s headed, what fans should expect from their first recording, and their upcoming gig to raise money for the Australian Red Cross.

Q: Tell us a little bit about Amalgam? How did the band meet and form?

Adam: Tim and I met in 2001 and discovered we had the same music tastes; we were in and out of bands around Campbelltown when we started PMD with our then bass player – also named Tim – in 2006. He then introduced us to Justin in 2007 and we started writing songs together, changed our name to Amalgam in 2008 and started gigging. Had a bit of a bass-less faze before Nathan came along but once we found this guy it just felt right.
Tim: We came up with two songs that first day with the other Tim that seemed pretty promising at the time but looking back now they are pretty funny. We searched for a singer for a year and Justin walked in being all cool, and not long after that we were four very nervous dudes up on a stage. It all came together fairly quick.
Justin: (laughs) There were a few cool songs to begin with but nothing I’d sing today. After I joined in we played a few small gigs, then had to search for a bassist after our original bass player went MIA. Eventually we found Nathan and became a family.

Q: You’re in the midst of recording your debut EP “Better Days”. What can fans expect from your first recording venture?

Adam: Umm loud guitars, banging drums, punchy bass and searing vocals.
Nathan: Music that people can dance to, well hopefully! And World domination! Victory is mine!
Tim: Something that doesn’t sound like a home recording. Hoping to hear big drums and huge bass with very little guitar if I’m lucky haha. I’m hoping anyone that hears a song off “Better Days” will relate to a sound or a lyric, that’s the best we can hope for. Maybe because we have a CD now we might a get a fan or two (laughs).
Justin: a $10 CD that we enjoyed recording

Q: You’ve listed quite a range of music from Grunge to Hardcore Metal as influencing Amalgam’s direction. How would you guys describe Amalgam’s sound?

Justin: Sex Rock (laughs)
Nathan: Pop Rock, Punk Rock, Rock, Grunge, Metal
Tim: Elegant mess (laughs). I think Amalgam has a bit of everything in it. In this band everyone is into a variety of different music which shows in the songs.
Adam: raw alternative guitar driven Rock

Q: Justin, you’re setting up a pretty big charity gig on December 16th at Valve Bar & Venue called Rockin’ For Xmas. It looks like there’s a pretty big line up of bands. Could you tell us a bit more about the event?

Justin: Well man basically the event is a charity gig as you said, and it came about because we were discussing playing a few gigs after having a two year hiatus and I thought to myself, we should do a charity gig and raise some money to help those in need at Christmas time, so I asked a couple of friends bands: The Damned Humans, The Chase, and Stellar Addiction (who unfortunately can’t play anymore), to join in and have a fun day of music and beers for a good cause. Then a few more bands wanted to join in and what was originally going to be a small gig has turned into ten bands, all mixed genres, doing their thing for the Australian Red Cross.

Rockin’ For Xmas is set to rock the Valve Bar & Venue in Tempe on December 16th from midday onwards. Tickets on sale through Justin Nichol via the Rockin’ For Xmas Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/events/235403149919274/
Amalgam are in the midst of recording their debut EP “Better Days”, but while you’re waiting you can check them out on their Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/AmalgamBand

Sometimes it’s hard to get bands to really open up about their music. Luckily for me, EyemaZe were more than willing to talk about their upcoming debut album. Described by 2MCR Radio as “dirty, gutsy… a Carnival Carousel being powered by Hard Rock…with riffs and licks ranging from Mysterious and Sinister to Ballistic”, and with their album due for release this month, it looks like EyemaZe are set to draw some serious attention. I caught up with their bass player Marc, who filled me in on their LP, their intriguing blend of musical styles, and why they’re called EyemaZe.

Q: How did you come up with the name EyemaZe?

Coming up with the band name of Eyemaze was not a decision that came overnight. We considered many names before deciding on this one. We actually named ourselves Enigmatic for a period of 2 months before meeting our singer!! We knew the name Enigmatic was only temporary when we chose it. In our fourth month as Enigmatic, Eyemaze was born

After Alex Arias (the singer) joined the band it was time to re-think the topic of a band name, which meant many more brainstorming sessions. It was a few weeks before the name ‘Eyemaze’ popped up in the guitarist’s (Daniel Klerk) head. Ultimately it was a process of rolling all the proposed band names around in our heads that created the final name. Eyemaze is definitely a name which is indicative of our music and genre. As with most of the bands we grew up on, we make use of a lot of double-meaning words to create a sense of “multiple meanings” in our songs. The band name is intended to get the listener interested in the origin and makeup of the name. With iPads and iPhones being the flavour of the decade, it was a slight parody to spell our name differently, yet it rolled off the tongue so well. Our LED banner in caps looks awesome in the stage with us. We also spell it EyemaZe and the logo designs we’ve created really work well with this name.

Q: EyemaZe’s debut album is in the works (the self-titled album is due for release this month). Tell us about that?

It’s a mixture of Hard Rock, Rock Metal and Funk with a twist Latin Spanish rock. Songs such as “Hot Town” and “Misconstrued” represent solid but down tempo Hard Rock whilst the songs “Elefreak” and “Electrofreak” feature higher energy, Hard Rock/Metal, distortion tunes, in your face vocals and blast beats; music that has evolved from Latin Metal between 2000 and 2005. In the mix there are songs like “In Your Head” and “Ganga”, the band’s most requested and most regularly played songs. They incorporate a mixture of heaviness, Funk and explosion. Other songs like “Powdery Days”, “Driven To Break”, “Monster of Your Love” and “Anaconda” top off the line-up of Hard Rock this album has to offer. These songs have a mixture of the above. Plenty of heavy Rock distortion, plenty of double kicks, plenty of in your face vocals and funky polymetrics. The lyrics touch on the life experiences of each of the band members. “Powdery Days” was written when two of the band members were snowboarding together after some heavy snowfall. “Anaconda” touches on the more controversial topics and questions modern day religion and it’s place in history. The CD is our representation of Hard Rock that exists post Metal. The songs on the album are from two to five years old. The album is ten tracks plus two remixes (“Hot Town” and “Electrofreak”).

Q: Now you’re first LP’s out later this month, but EyemaZe have been around since 2010. What have EyemaZe been up to during that time?

EyemaZe is a hobby nearly turned dedication for four musos. Between our professional (study/fulltime jobs) careers and relationships, we try to dedicate two-three days a week to music. We’d love to be able to invest more time but we’ve had a great journey these past three years. We’ve been writing songs, (we are three-four songs off a new album). We’ve also worked with our friend Markazoids to get some remixes completed, two of which appear on our current album. We decided to do a Metal cover of “Breathe” by Prodigy. We’ve been doing plenty of live shows – two Halloween Gigs at the Valve Bar and Venue were the standouts, along with several shows across the rest of Sydney with some great bands. We have also participated in a few band comps and fundraiser events. We have done Emergenza and some Burgess Band comps (coming fourth in one of them) and we are looking at more gigs and comps. When we lost our custom studio space in March, we decided to work on completing our current album instead of rehearsing. We had it mastered at Sony in August 2012. We didn’t do a lot of shows during this time. Once we had this complete we decided to experiment with acoustic. Having performed one show we decided this might not be for us now but something to review when we have more time to invest to get the experience sounding right for our listeners.

Q: You recently bumped up from a three piece to a four piece band, adding some Funk/Reggae stylings to your repertoire. What influenced the change?

The singer joined the three piece in 2010. This reflects the start of EyemaZe and a four piece power force. It was not until this time that the funk element really took off. It was perhaps a timing thing. As a three piece, there was ambition to perform some form of Funk. We already had Heavy Rock and Metal sounds. The creation process in the early phases was more a reflection of our motivation and inexperience. Having a fourth ear to listen to the sounds really helped with the heavy and Funk fusion to form. The motivation became instant. However, we haven’t experimented enough with Reggae to make mention of a Reggae sound yet. Our drummer can do any type of beat, he is versatile. If we wanted to, we could experiment and come up with something that suits our style that would fall under a Reggae classification. We have always talked of this and we would like to make something happen. Our vision would be for something like 311’s earlier music but with a little less piccolo snare and a bit more distortion and a lower than standard tuning. Our drummer did use a piccolo snare for the first 1.5 years of our performances but we upgraded to a more Rock style snare. Some of the beats we do in between songs are Reggae-esque and also include Salsa styles.

Q: How would you best describe an Eyemaze live show for first time audience members?

We would describe ourselves as explosive, funky, Thrash Rock. Our performance is nothing short of loud and heavy. Our style is tight and intriguing. The beats and solos are quite unique. Our show is slightly obscene and grotesque, it’s over the top and in your face. It’s definitely a Hard Rock out there live show!
EyemaZe’s self-titled debut album is due out later this month. In the meantime, check out some of their music here: http://eyemazeband.wix.com/eyemaze.

Next week, The Annandale will celebrate their 12th birthday. The Annandale is known to many as an institution, a place where bands are made, and – as is the case with long time rockers Baby Animals – where well known bands come back to show respect. Recently I got to chat to Baby Animals lead singer Suze DeMarchi about the band’s upcoming gig at The Annandale, what it’s like to be an Australian icon, and the recording of their new album in August. Here’s what she had to say about it all:

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