AFFINITY MINUS PERFECTION // Kick Off Inaugural East Coast Tour

Grabbing our attention in 2018 with the release of their second EP Passion Through Unity, Rockhampton Metalcore group Affinity Minus Perfection are keeping us keen and kicking off 2019 with their first ever East Coast Tour down Australia.

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Only two months after guitarist Matt Huxley spoke about the possibility of an East Coast Tour in Hysteria’s last interview with AMP, these guys clearly got their motors running because the tour they promised starts this Friday!

The month long EP release tour begins Friday 8th February in their hometown Rockhampton, before heading down the coast, via Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne, before returning back north to close out the tour in Mackay.

It’s an ambitious tour for a band who is progressing from ‘local band’ to ‘national ranks’, even more so when you realise that the whole tour was put together by Affinity Minus Perfection vocalist Hayden Foley. That DIY mentality that we love so much continues to keep Affinity Minus Perfection a step ahead of the rest.

We caught up with Hayden (vocals) and Matt (guitar) to chat about the work that went into the tour, their (slight) nerves, but above all else, their excitement.

“We’re a bit stressed, all these things come to light as we go, like trying to find places to sleep [laughs], but we’re excited!” says vocalist and appointed tour manager Hayden Foley. “We’re excited to get out there and see what’s around, excited to meet and play for new people. We’ve played QLD a few times but never really ventured further south.”

A further south they will definitely venture, with 5 shows scheduled for south of the QLD border during the month long tour. Playing to such a wide range of new audiences can be daunting but if anything, Affinity Minus Perfection are using this opportunity to really establish themselves as a band and push themselves further in their goals.

“Anywhere south of Brisbane is going to be a totally new experience. It’ll be like we’re starting out again because we won’t be playing to a bunch of people that have heard of us.” continued Hayden. “And as a band we’ll see more than just the airports of some of these places” chimes in Matt with a chuckle. “We’re playing pretty decent venues too, like The Tote Hotel in Melbourne, so we’re keen to check those out for the first time.”

Anywhere south of Brisbane is going to be a totally new experience. It’ll be like we’re starting out again because we won’t be playing to a bunch of people that have heard of us.
[ Hayden Foley ]

It’s no small feet trying to put together a cross-continent tour, but it’s not like Affinity Minus Perfection to be deterred by a bit of hard work. With Hayden handling the nitty gritty of the touring business, there was a lot of time, energy and effort put into making their first East Coast tour a success.

“[We were] just trying to find venues that we wanted to aim for, instead of little pubs and stuff—we tried to aim big! We went through facebook and had a list of, what must have been like 100 bands that we could play with, so we just hit up bands to support, venues that are keen. Just hassled people really [laughs]. Because we’re a local band as well not a lot of people knew who we were, even other local bands, so that was a big thing for us to overcome.”

With the hassling paying off, the hardcore outfit isn’t shying away from the possibility of more self-planned tours in the future; indicating an interest in touring the rest of Australia in the near future.

“If we ever do [a tour] ourselves again we’ll definitely know the shortcuts, and hopefully know some more people next time. We’ve been looking into trying to expand further west as well and spread our wings a bit more. Even getting a support slot over there with someone would be an amazing opportunity.”

Back to the EP Release Tour, it’s evident that this tour means more than just playing to new fans and spreading their wings. While the boys want everyone to have a great time at the shows, for Affinity Minus Perfection this will be their chance to see if they have what it takes to truly pursue their passions of music and a life of touring.

“We want people to find a new band they like and have a good time, but I think it’ll be a good bonding experience for us as well.” admits Hayden. “They say touring is pretty hard, and I’m sure this is the point where bands either can keep pushing forward, or they decided to call it a day because they can’t handle that kind of lifestyle or that much travel. So I think it’ll be a really good indicator to find out if we can really push this – Affinity Minus Perfection – to where we want to go.”

Luckily, they’re not going into the touring lifestyle without some preparation for the long road trips ahead.

“Some advise was to come up with a stupid game to get to know each other. We’ve known each other for a long time but there’s always little bits & pieces you don’t know about people. It’ll be great to get to learn those parts and play games with outrageous questions, because when you’re starring at each other for 24hrs in a van, I’m sure you’ll find out some interesting shit.”

Taking some seriously courageous steps out of their comfort zone, Affinity Minus Perfection aren’t holding anything back from this upcoming EP Release Tour. And while this will be a huge step forward to the band as a whole, the boys from Rocky are still the same down-to-Earth guys that we know and love.

“Come along, have a listen, have a chat, have a beer. We love some banter and in the end, we’re there to have fun just as much as you are.”

So with the first show of the tour less than a week away, and Hayden’s simple message of having a great time in our ears, there’s only one thing left to do—buy your tickets and enjoy a kick ass night of heavy music!

Catch Affinity Minus Perfection at the following dates:

Tickets available here.