As Flaming Wrekage’s brutal fourth album tickles your earholes, you know this is something special. …
Oz metalcore just keeps getting better. And it’s because of bands like A World in Colour.
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We last spoke to the Canberrans last November, after the release of their single Descent. And now they’ve returned with another heavy-hitter, Break Me.
We got Connor, Cameron and Steven from the band to run us through how it came together and more.
Hysteria: What’s the band been up to since we last caught up?
Connor: We’ve got our new bassist, Steven, on board. That’s been a revelation for us; his dad is a champion too. He’s our band dad; he chips in everywhere, he gets behind the merch desk and everything.
Cameron: He’s like having a personal bodyguard. I keep getting really cocky around people because I know I’ll get away with it (band laughs).
Connor: So Cam’s been beaten up a lot!
Cameron: I’ve been bashed like three or four times. This might be my last interview.
Connor: We’ve had a few gigs and played with some pretty cool bands like PSTCRDS, Bury Me and Patient Sixty-Seven. We’ve got a few more coming through, which has been nice. Canberra’s been dead for the last few years because of COVID. It’s nice that it’s picking back up.
Run us through what inspired the new single, Break Me.
Connor: It was written quite a while ago. It was definitely more of an exploration of more melodic stuff. We were trying to draw out that emotion that connects with a lot of people. It’s this idea of loss, self-doubt and that self-loathing we all feel from time to time. It runs away with you. We wanted to explore it and connect with people on that level.
We were trying to draw out that emotion that connects with a lot of people. It’s this idea of loss, self-doubt and that self-loathing we all feel from time to time.
[ Connor, A World In Colour ]
The music video matches the energy really well. Tell us about it.
Connor: It mainly was Ryan and I talking to the boys from Crow River Visuals. We came to them with a concept and an idea of how we wanted things to look. We went with them on our last music video, which was a little more generic, so we wanted to break the mould on this one a bit and go with something nice and clean.
We wanted to bring that emotional element out into the video too. They had some great ideas and really helped us bring the vision to life. We were brainstorming in the filming location too, and all of it just turned out really well. The model we worked with was amazing. She connected to the video, understood what we were trying to achieve, and brought it out.
Who’d you work with to put the track together?
Cameron: Guy Lillyeman at Amberly Studios in Canberra. We did our first song with him too. He’s chill and a great guy to be around. He has a giant German shepherd that hangs around too. We’re all for that. For me, it’s the protection thing again (band laughs).
He’s so quick and good at what he does. He doesn’t come from a metalcore or hardcore background, he’s folkier, but we like having his outsider opinion. He’s got a great ear. And he did such a good job on our first track. So really, he was our only choice.
Connor: It’s nice we could do it locally too. For mixing and mastering, we went with Lance Prenc. He’s a bit of a staple in Oz metal now. He’s worked with everyone, like Alpha Wolf and Polaris. He’s quietly made such a huge name in the background of Australian metal.
He just takes things to a whole new level. We have a rough idea of what we’ll get in the studio, and then he just comes in and puts his spin on things, blowing our minds.
Cameron: There are barely any revisions when we get our stuff back from him. He’s got such a good ear.
Connor: And he puts up with our shit!
Y’all should pull a Knocked Loose and get the German shepherd barking on your next track!
Cameron: I keep telling the guys we should get a magpie as a frontman, and he can swoop the audience and squawk throughout the songs. That’d be hectic. Come spring, it’ll work out great. We might not see him after then, though (laughs).
So aside from switching out your frontman for a magpie, what’s next for the band?
Connor: We’ve got more in the works. It’s getting there! We hope this song resonates with people, and we’re keen to see how it goes. Outside of that, we want to play more shows.
Cameron: I don’t think it’s too much of a spoiler to say there’ll be more music.
Steven: Hopefully, we’ll build towards an EP, can’t give away too much (band laughs).
