Wear Me Out

This interview was done with Kieran via FB Messenger on 08/11

https://wearmeout.bandcamp.com/releases

Alright, so how did Wear Me Out come about and who else is in the band?

Well probably like most other bands from around here it started from the remnants of other projects.

Me, Alex & Max had been playing in a band called Distant Lights and Ryan had just left Vanity. We were all looking to start something fresh so we started jamming really

I saw WMO live for the time at The Boston a couple weeks back. How many shows have you played to date and what have you got coming up?

Only a handful, we've had a pretty busy year with everyone else going to Europe one after the other making it pretty hard to get things done haha. We just dropped our debut EP and we're aiming to write as much as we can and start getting back into playing shows and building some momentum again.

You just released the '2016 EP' how has the reaction been to that so far? Also how would you describe your sound to someone who is yet to hear you?

Yeah it's been great so far, had lots of good feedback. That's a hard one, a mix of modern melodic hardcore with a bit of a rock edge.

I hear an Isolation era Carpathian vibe on tracks like Raining Sideways and Room 404, while Somewhere, Something is very Title Fight-esque. What bands have you taken influences from personally?

Personally my biggest influences and inspirations for WMO are bands like Touche Amore, Carpathian, Eleventh He Reaches London, Enter Shikari and Behemoth. They don't all necessarily show through though.

Im still annoyed I didn't go to the Behemoth show the other month

Haha you blew it

I was just watching a Lil Yachty video and lost my train of thought hahaha

He causes brain rot haha

OK back to it. Where do you draw influences from when writing lyrics? Like Integration for example, is that about growing up in Perth?

Yeah growing up a bit in Victoria then moving to Perth, I always felt out of place here. Maybe its because I'm looking back at my time over east with rose tinted glasses. The song to me is just an intro to what I have to say through this band, about this city that we live.

I think especially in the hardcore scene here, you really have the people who are all about Planet Perth and love it here and then people like me who are not really all about it haha. To answer the first part of the question my biggest influence on my writing and the over all tone of my lyrics would be (again) Eleventh He Reaches London.

Yeah Perth seems to be divided in a sense by people who are either all about being from Perth and people who want to move to Melbourne haha

I'm sure they're sick of us haha

West Coast = Best Coast

I think it has a lot to do with the small scene, works for some not so much for others haha

East Coast = Blerst Coast

It gives the Perth scene something to identify with I guess. Can also have a very bro vibe at times though

Haha yeah I hate the bro vibe with a passion and Im sure I'll write a song in the future about it

Back to WMO, who did the artwork for the EP?

That was my handy work

Tell me how you got into "Alternative" music..

From my Dad really, he was always exposing me to music from a young age. I was not really interested in hardcore / metal until I heard Deadly Sinners by Three Inches of Blood for the first time and then I was hooked haha.

My first show would have been the Amity Affliction @ HQ way back in the day

I don't think Ive ever listened to Three Inches of Blood.. (Turns out they sound like Judas Priest)

So how did you discover Straight Edge and Veganism?

Um jeez I can't actually remember the first time I heard about Straight Edge, probably Have Heart though.

And Veganism I found through friends

Did you get to see Have Heart on either of the Aus tours?

No I wasn't allowed to go haha

Haha maaan the HQ show was legit ridiculous

Would you say Straight Edge & Veganism have had a positive impact on your life?

Yeah absolutely, I mean there are negatives but its mainly people and there attitude towards them.

Yeah people can fuck right off with their opinions

Yeah one day all the vegan comments will make me snap haha

Best vegan restaurant in Perth?

Lord of the Fries or Loving Hut

I dont think I've ever eaten at Loving Hut. Whats your go to at LOTF? I cant go passed the Parma burger and the Halal Snack Pack

That fucking snack pack mate

Man Loving Hut is so dope, best soft serve, pies and doughnuts

Is their anything else you'd like to cover? I'm blanking at the moment.. 

Fuck the bros

That's all

haha

Protester

Yo, how did Protester start and when was your first live show?

Protester started in my bedroom at my parents' house in early 2013. I wrote all the songs, recorded the demo with my friend Jeff, then moved up to DC and got a band together. We played our first show in August 2013. 

You recorded instruments yourself for all recordings, yes? Is that going to be the case for the LP?

Yeah I recorded all the instruments on the demo and both 7"s. The LP is going to be full band which I'm really excited about. It'll be nice to have everybody's unique individual flavor on the recording, ya know? 

I quite often see Protester referred to as "hate filled straight edge hardcore". How would you describe your sound to somebody who is yet to hear your band?

I would describe it as clumsily written Xclaim worship with some Clevo spice played by morons.

Who are the other members in Protester and what other bands do they play in?

We got Robin on the drums. He plays in a million bands, including but not limited to Pure Disgust, Hard Stripes, Red Death, Stand Off, Civic Duty, and a bunch more. Dan plays bass in Barge, Line Of Sight, and True Head in addition to Protester. Brendan plays guitar and he's in a million bands too. Pure Disgust, Kombat, Stuck Pigs... I'm sure I'm forgetting a bunch. Last but not least we got the loon balloon himself aka Ian on guitar. You can also catch him playing guitar and shaking his stuff in Give.

You're also in Red Death (as well as a bunch of other bands), how do you go playing 2 sets in one night? As I see both bands are going to Europe in May/June

That's going to be pretty rough, not going to lie to you haha. Playing two sets is generally pretty easy, but drumming for Red Death can be pretty exhausting sometimes and singing for Protester always knocks me the fuck out. We'll see how it goes!

DC is popping off at the moment, with so many great bands like Give, Pure Disgust, Stand Off & Zoom. Whats DC's secret?

I don't really think there is a secret other than us having way too much time on ours hands haha. People here are very dedicated to playing music and pushing themselves which I think plays a big part in a lot of those bands' success. 

On the most recent recording (paincave sessions) you covered NY Wolfpack, why did you choose to cover them?

I fuckin' love NY Wolfpack! Recording that cover was actually my little tribute to the late, great SOCIALCIDE from Virginia. They were a sick Straight Edge band that broke up in 2009 or something. On their 2nd 7" they covered "Suicide" and that's how I found out about NY Wolfpack. That LP is so fucking cool. The art is sick, the vocals are wild, and the riffs are top notch. I like it so much I own two copies! Haha.  

Who did the artwork for the No Identity 7"? Its very mad and very reminiscent of classic 80s Sean Taggart and even early Spolier.

Dylan Chadwick from NYC did the art! You might know him as the guy who does the Drug Dogs  zine. I really liked some stuff that he did for Give and Lockin' Out so I hit him up and asked him to draw something like the Cause For Alarm art with a twist. The first 7" had a pretty minimal feel aesthetically so I wanted the art for No Identity to contrast that. I'm really stoked on how it turned out. Thanks Dylan!

Are you playing Damaged City this year? Seems to consistently have one of the best line ups of all the US fests

Yeah we're playing. I'm psyched to mosh for Depths Of Reality.