Brittle Bones

13 July 2015 | 2:35 pm | Staff Writer
Originally Appeared In

Melbourne's Brittle Bones are taking their love for southern styled punk rock and delivering it directly to local ears. Having received some notable support slots and released music in 2015, the band is preparing to play this August's Night of the Living Shred.

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Melbourne's Brittle Bones are taking their love for southern styled punk rock and delivering it directly to local ears. Having received some notable support slots and released music in 2015, the band is preparing to play this August's Night of the Living Shred. Killyourstereo.com sat down with the group recently to discuss the year so far and what's planned next.

2015 has been an impressive year for Brittle Bones. You supported Every Time I die in Melbourne and have a new single out. What have been the highlights of the first half of the year?

Releasing our latest single and working with Tom Larkin has been amazing. [We] had a lot of fun meeting some of the people we look up to. Just meeting new bands and making friends has been sick.

Essentially, while you’re trying to cultivate the music and grow the fan base, you, arguably, have to work twice as hard to ensure the promotional and management items are equally sorted. How has this side of things been so far?

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It's not really two jobs anymore, to be in a band these days, especially in Melbourne where all our peers are just smashing it too; it's really just part of the whole package. It's been pretty good for us, Chris does an excellent job spearheading most of the promotional stuff, which is great.

What’s the balance like managing band commitments with outside time constraints like work and study?

I think it's fine, we all love doing what we do, and gigs become your social life, if you're playing, your mates come along and if you're not, you go hang with the new bands you’ve become mates with.

How important is social media to a band these days? I see you had a recent status update inviting fans to comment which bands they’d like you to play with in their city. 

It has become pretty crucial and when it's done right you can expand reach and sell your stuff to a worldwide audience, which is so important when it comes to recording and touring. But, one should not be led to believe that it can be solely relied upon. Also, what is amazing is the connectivity between fans and artists now. When I was growing up you could only ever dream of contacting your musical heroes and now they are replying to comments and messages. That is massive to a fan.

You guys have Night of the Living Shred scheduled for August. It’s a good local line-up. What can we expect from BrittleBones on the live front?

Loud, raucous and surly behaviour. Hopefully we'll have a new song or two. Try not to bleed on anyone.

What would you like to see improved in the local scene to help up and coming bands?

I think the hardest part for most up and coming bands is touring; you want to get your music out there but the costs around touring are insane. Most bands when they start out will tour a bit and cop the losses for a long time but it puts so much pressure on the band and its members. I think more touring grants and stuff like the APRA & Virgin Musician baggage allowances makes an incredible difference.

What’s planned for the rest of 2015?

Write, write, write, and record.

Favourite album of 2015 so far?

Stick To Your Guns - Disobedient or Beartooth - Disgusting.

Album(s) you’re looking forward to in the second half of 2015?

Brand New’s next release for sure. Deftones, Norma Jean, Northlane.

Catch Brittle Bones performing at Night of the Living Shred this August:

ShredShow