THE BEAUTIFUL MONUMENT // Holding It Down For The Scene

Finding the balance between deeply melodic and uncompromisingly heavy soundscapes is something sought after in the world of all things ‘core’.

The Beautiful Monument have emerged as scene leaders and torchbearers, setting themselves apart from their contemporaries with a cinematic sound rooted in intriguing concepts. We caught up with frontwoman Lizi ahead of their support run with Tonight Alive.

Tonight Alive are such an iconic band in the Australian scene—The Beautiful Monument are from Melbourne, who are some of the local bands that initially got you into the scene?

I’m originally from Brisbane and moved to Melbourne about six years ago, so even then the scenes in those two cities are so different. Growing up, I was very inspired by a lot of American heavy bands but I think my favourite ‘local’ act was Behind Crimson Eyes! I saw them at like a PCYC of some sort an absolutely fell in love with them. We played with them at Bang [nightclub] which was incredible.

Speaking of the local scene, what that experience like growing up as a fan and a muso? Was it accessible? What were local shows and venues like?

I loved it, with the Brisbane music scene, it wasn’t a huge thing – it was a lot smaller compared to Melbourne. I’ve seen recently how much it’s changed which is amazing. I played in another band in Brisbane when I was about 18 but I just found we played the same venues all the time, just because there were only a few heavy venues. I noticed I had a lot of more opportunities when I came to Melbourne.

The Australian heavy scene is thriving right now—you guys are really setting yourselves apart from the pack though. How do you go about ensuring you remain as unique as you are?

I think it does depend on who we work with. At the same time it took us a while to sort of become the band we really wanted to be and find the sound we were wanting to achieve, I guess we wouldn’t have been able to do that if we didn’t’ go to where we did to record our album, where we’ll be heading up to again soon.

What’s your take on the current state of Australia’s heavy scene?

I think things like UNIFY are fantastic, I think I cried when I found out we were playing (laughs) and I think shows and festivals like that are super important. It’s so rad people from all around the world are coming which is pretty gnarly.

Something I totally adore about this scene is that is a big family. When we were playing Bigsound, we had everyone from Belle Haven, Deadlights, and Polaris just there supporting us and it was amazing. We were all just there as a little group there, supporting each other.

Personally, I get more hyped on stage and then the emotion comes more in studio time. A lot of that does come from the initial ‘butthurtness’ of everything.
[LIZI]

Who are some of your favourite Australian heavy bands right now?

At the moment, Polaris and Belle Haven. I’m literally counting down till the Polaris album, they absolutely kill it live, they’re just such a tight band.

You’ll be playing some super iconic venues around the country on this tour. You guys have a such a deep cinematic sound—emotionally what sort of toll does that take?

Personally, I get more hyped on stage and then the emotion comes more in studio time. A lot of that does come from the initial ‘butthurtness’ of everything.

I’m The Sin is a really highly conceptual album, talk me through the inspiration and what sort of experiences shaped that. 

I’m just like a pissed off Taylor Swift [laughs], but instead of writing pop songs about it, I’m writing pure pissed off songs about it [laughs]. It’s like a diary for me I guess, A relationship I was in that did fall apart – I was convinced I would spend my life with and one day I came home and everything of his was gone. I definitely grown up since then though, it was a lot of heartbreak – I felt emotionally manipulated and abused from the whole situation so it was just getting all that down on paper.

The live experience is so important in heavy music, purely based on performance style who do you look to for inspiration?

I love A Day To Remember. I think their last album was terrible but I still love them [laughs]. They just put on a killer show every time! They could be singing a hardcore version of twinkle twinkle little star and I’d be amazed and stand there and melt. They’re a huge inspiration for me personally, they’re the only band who everyone in the band is inspired by. But also just bands who I see locally and acts I’m always around I get inspired by.

WATCH > Sins

Catch The Beautiful Monument supporting Tonight Alive on the Back To Beginnings Tour this November:

Tuesday, 31st October: The Basement, Canberra
Wednesday, 1st November: Uni Bar, Wollongong
Thursday, 2nd November: Oxford Art Factory, Sydney
Friday, 3rd November: Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle
Saturday, 4th November: The Zoo, Brisbane
Thursday, 9th November (All Ages): Fowlers Live, Adelaide
Friday, 10th November: Corner Hotel, Melbourne

Tickets available via Live Nation