Warbrain Interview

This interview is with Lloyd from Melbourne's Warbrain, they have a new 7'' dropping really soon on Trial and Error records keep an eye on http://trialanderror.limitedpressing.com/ for that as well as leaving to tour with East Coast with AYS from Germany and The Hollow from Newcastle. Tour dates are here
Thu April 28 - Melbourne @ NEXT 18+ w/ COLOSSUS
Friday April 29th - Melbourne AA Wyndham Youth Centre Hoppers Crossing w/ CARPATHIAN
Sun May 01 - Canberra @ Morgans AA
Wed May 04 - Gold Coast @ Shed 5 AA w/ GHOST TOWN
Thu May 05 - Brisbane @ X+Y Destroy All Lines Club 18+
Fri May 06 - Sydney - @ The Sando 18+ w/ RELENTLESS
Sat May 07 - Newcastle - @ The Loft AA w/ TAKEN BY FORCE


Again if you like what you read you can pick up a copy of not just issue one but all three issues of It's Still Ok Not To Drink for only $11ppd at www.waitingonrevolutiondistro.bigcartel.com
Enjoy.

Hey, First off could you introduce yourself and what you do in the band?

Sure, my names Lloyd and I sing. 

Where does the name come from?

 The name was hard for us, as it is for any band. The actual name is actually the name of an old Alkaline Trio song, and everyone in the band loves those guys, but it had an extra meaning to us in so much as there is a feeling of confusion in many of us from our generation. Confusion and also doubt about the things we were all told growing up and took for granted, as well as day by day, and to quote the great mobb deep "there's a war goin on outside," as there is in our heads.  

How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard you before?

I guess fast and heavy with bouncey parts would be a simple way to describe our sound. 

How did the band form?

The band started with Josh and I writing a bunch of riffs, trying to do something a bit different to what we had been doing, and perhaps closer to what we grew up on. Kain our bass player is one of our good friends, so he was always going to be a part of it, and I guess Tim and I have wanted to do something together for a long time so it all just fell into place from there.    

I’ve read that you’re a straight edge band, any truth to this? Or just a band full of straight edge dudes?

A bit of both actually. Everyone in the band is Straight Edge and as a band we definitely promote a Straight Edge lifestyle, but I don't feel the need to use those two words in the lyrics I sing per sé. I have to be careful of what I say here but I feel that Straight Edge has been played out by so many bands and not promoted enough as a legitimate option for kids coming up in the scene. So I guess we definitely do not want to be known for that, because I for one know we wouldn't be having this conversation right now if It wasn't for Straight Edge. To say that it changed my life is an understatement. 

You feature members of some pretty well known bands, is this a hindrance or a help for you? And how is the difference for you personally?

Well it hasn't been a hindrance so far and I can't really imagine it would be. I mean there's always going to be some haters, but they just hate because they can, right? That being said, we are definitely not trying to ride off the backs of any other bands we might be associated with. We always wanted to do this as something separate. For me personally, it's great to be in a band where everyone is in the same headspace and has the same idea of what direction we want the band to go in. 

You recently played with Ruiner, how’d that come about? Last time they toured you played in your old band Break out, what’s up with them? Can we expect you to have a new band the next time Ruiner come?

Haha, you've got some knowledge man! I'm not sure if you were at that show or not, but it was kind of a last minute thing. The guys in hopeless had like half an hour till they played so they asked us to get up and play a few songs. It was fun! Yeah Breakout, damn... I dunno dude. I guess the same thing happened which has happened to a lot of bands from Geelong way, dudes fell off and got real jobs or whatever... Our singer Woka and I still hang out a bit but I'm not sure what the other guys are up too these days. Hopefully I won't have to have a new band next time!!! 

What was it like playing your first show at a ‘punk’ nightclub?

Oh yeah I've heard a bunch of people were talking shit about that actually. It wasn't too bad really, it was pretty much a hardcore show, the rest of the line up were hardcore bands anyway. I would have maybe preferred to kick it off somewhere else, but we got offered that show last minute and the date ended up being earlier than our planned "first show".  

What’s future plans for the band next?

Well we're writing some new material at the moment, but I think the major goal we have is to get interstate. We have a lot of friends in bands on the east coast as well as Adelaide so we're itching to do some shows outside Melbourne.

What legacy would you hope to leave as a band and as a person?

As a band, I mean we're still only in the early stages, but I would say that we would want to be known for being unbiased when it comes to the shows we're offered and we will try to stay relevant to the next generation of hardcore and fans of hardcore. As a person I definitely would want to be known as a genuine dude and I'll do my best to uphold that. 

Any shout outs you want to send out or bands we should know about?

I want to give a shout out to our homies The Hollow from Newcastle, Phantoms and Legions from Sydney and Inside from Japan. Also if dudes are into fashion please check out my label Strangers at

wearestrangers.wordpress.com