OUR LAST ENEMY // Back On Track

It’s one thing to have to cancel a show. Having to drop out of an entire tour is another thing altogether. For Our Last Enemy, it was an even bigger blow as they had just returned from an extended live hiatus and the band they were to be touring with was Avatar.

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“We were going to be the main support for Avatar, but then our guitarist had an unfortunate accident and broke his arm!” Oliver Fogwell chuckles grimly. “The bassist and I still went. We went there to support them, and the shows were packed and the band was great!”

It might not have been the return Our Last Enemy was hoping for, but since coming back with a Halloween 2022 show they’ve released a string of tracks and a brand new EP. As Within, So Without is the logical progression from their previous release, 2020’s As Above So Below.

“Since then there’s been a few things going on in the world! This year we put out a couple of singles and an EP – we dropped Slay For Me which was our first single in a while. That came out in April, we put another one out in June, Still Breathing, which has CJ McMahon on it, and then we did another one with the cool video, Hex Design, that dropped just before the EP came out.”

That most recent single is one Fogwell describes as “left-of-centre” for his band, opening as it does onto acoustic slide guitar.

“We call it the Goth Trucker Song,” he says. “But they’ve all gone down great. Sometimes when you add something a little different you’re not sure how it will go, but that’s the one that really takes off. The response has been great. Trying some new stuff, having a bit of a break and then coming back, knowing that everyone’s still going to be there. There’s been lots of hits on the streaming platforms and a lot of views on the videos.”

When Our Last Enemy first began in the mid-00s, downloading was just beginning to really take over from CDs and other forms of physical media available to bands. Just like everyone else, Our Last Enemy has had to adapt to streaming as the dominant form of music dissemination, but they still like to make CDs available for the diehards.

There was such a big gap between physical media and downloading, but that jump between downloading and streaming was quite quick.
[ Oliver Fogwell, Our Last Enemy ]

“It’s gone through such a rapid change,” the singer says. “There was such a big gap between physical media and downloading, but that jump between downloading and streaming was quite quick. It’s something we’ve had to adapt to – everyone’s had to. We still sell some physical media. We put physical copies out of the last two EPs. We still have some fans there that love that, we still get requests for that. We do a little CD run for the people who want that, but it’s all about the streaming numbers at the moment.”

As far as making anything back from it though, Our Last Enemy’s story is no different than it is for most. Playing live and selling merch offers far more financial reward for them now.

“At shows we walk away with three times the show fee [from merch] and it’s 100 times more than the pittance from streaming.”

Making money has never been a serious artist’s main concern, but a revenue stream is important in order to keep things going. What is it that drives musicians to keep getting out there when almost no money is coming back anymore?

“Even if you wanted to do it for the money these days,” Fogwell says, “…good luck! These conversations always come up between mates and other bands and you think, ‘Why bother anymore?’ But then you get in a room with the boys and you jam or you do a great show and you know that’s why you do it. It’s more about that experience of doing and making and performing and connecting with people. You’ve got to love that, because there aren’t really any other benefits you’re getting out of it – definitely not financially.”

Now the EP is out and everyone’s healthy again, Our Last Enemy is going to have a crack at getting back out on the road again in 2024. Early, Fogwell suggests, but probably not in February – unless they can get added to a tour that’s already on.

“We [did] one small show in Sydney recently which was really good, but we’re looking at getting back to all those places we had booked. We want to get interstate but also do some more shows around NSW – Newcastle, Wollongong. We’re hoping we can reschedule for early next year and see if there’s some bigger things we can get on.”