TERRESTRIALS // Better Prog Rock Living Through Mathematics

Melbourne’s prog rock wunderkinds Terrestrials are creeping into the brains of the prog scene, and with good reason: their mix of ethereal vocals, hard-hitting riffs, and influences spanning Canadian punk rock to obscure Ukrainian jam bands stand them apart from the rest.

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They’re music nerds through and through, sharing their love for what they do on their socials. They aren’t afraid to gush about their predecessors in the scene like Karnivool or Dead Letter Circus; or bond with fans over a love of Canada’s Billy Talent.

Striking up a conversation with guitarist Adrian Duke and vocalist Scotty Alexander and it soon becomes obvious these guys decorate their time with nothing but the finest and trippiest riffs they can get their hands on. It’s part of the recipe that has seen Terrestrials open for bands with the proggy cachet of Osaka Punch, incrementally gaining that critical mass pushing them toward the forefront of Aussie prog rock stardom.

With their debut LP Iridescent set for release on the 8th of December, we get the lowdown on their progress from 2016’s Terrestrials EP and how lockdown helped them hone their craft. Also – is there an equation that could predict their future? We find out…

Hysteria: You guys just played a show with Osaka Punch on the weekend.* How did that go?

Scotty: We had an absolute blast. I think this is the third time we’ve played with him now, so I think we’ve starting to build a bit of a relationship with some of their fans and vice versa.

Adrian: It’s a bit of a budding friendship and response was really positive, good energy and fairly full room. I feel like we played pretty well, so all the boxes were ticked. Great show. It was the best we’ve played in a little while as well. We’re pretty primed for a big one.

Listening to your previous work and comparing to the two singles (Hollow Hands and Perennial Trials) it seems like your songwriting is a little less jam-oriented, more song focused.

Adrian: It’s a bit of both.

Scotty: I was about to say the same.

Adrian: We had a look at our songs and thought, where can we improve? Just being a bit more concise with where we want to go with the song and keeping it interesting. We’re prog fans and we like long songs. But we felt some stuff with our old songs were perhaps a little bit dragged out We became a bit more critical of our songwriting and kind of put a bigger lens on it. We thought to think about what’s really important and which parts aren’t as important.

Scotty: I guess we’re sort of hyper-focused on songcraft being a pretty high priority for this album. Not to say we weren’t on the EP, but we were just very particular in parts. Like, what’s serving the song best and is everyone playing their role sort of deal. I think that really shows with the newer stuff. It’s just more thoughtful. We weren’t as experienced back then. We are more experienced now between the four of us writing songs together. I guess we really just wanted to improve on that. We just really looked toward where could we get better. With the help of Luke [Cincotta] who produced our record, we are really critical of the songs and really precise and thoughtful and yeah, I think that’s reflective in the new material.

When it comes to putting your own stuff out there, one of your older videos was shot on a GoPro. In this day and age, is it a matter of giving it a go now? You don’t have to hope and pray for a label to prop you up?

Adrian: Yeah, we’ve been giving lots of things a go that we had no idea how to do before we tried. So yeah, it is like that. It’s also a necessity because we’ve spent so much on the album. The budget is a big factor and we were running a little dry by the end for Hollow Hands. We also self-produced that.

For Perennial Trials, we did get someone else in to make a video for us. It’s all those things. The fact that we can do it is awesome that we can give it a go, which I know 20 years ago or so that would’ve been pretty difficult with the technology available, but it’s also born out of necessity. We don’t have an endless budget.

Scotty: I would also think that Adrian’s ability to upskill and learn necessary things along the way has helped. It’s been pretty impressive. So with the filming and all that, Adrian really stepped up and drove that and I think he did a really great job for Hollow Hands, so we were lucky in that sense that he was able to develop those skills along the way.

Listening to Perennial Trials, I got A Perfect Circle, Anathema vibes from that. Is that emblematic of the album? Or does the album have all sorts of different elements to it?

Scotty: I guess it’s a bit of a mixed bag when it comes to genres and vibes. I mean the overarching lyrical content for the whole album is about self development and empowerment, but musically, we sort of jump around. Perennial Trials is one of the more proggier ones in the set of songs for the album and we wanted to showcase that. We felt that it was really strong. In terms of A Perfect Circle? Definitely not intentional, but absolutely an influence. We love A Perfect Circle and Tool and all those guys. Yeah, I guess it’s come out subconsciously in some way, shape or form.

I think that really shows with the newer stuff. It’s just more thoughtful. We weren’t as experienced back then. We are more experienced now between the four of us writing songs together. I guess we really just wanted to improve on that.
[Scotty Alexander, Vocals]

On your Instagram you guys have been sharing your influences. Metallica, Cog, Billy Talent. Not many bands wear their influences on their sleeves so openly. It’s kind of refreshing to have that out there and get people involved in a discussion.

Scotty: We were just trying to think of how to connect with people. The underlying thing was, well, obviously with music. If we talk to the music people about music, that was just a no-brainer. We embrace who we’re influenced by a hundred percent. Whether people discuss it or not, it’s absolutely there and it’s prevalent and we’re all influenced by someone, so why not discuss it? We enjoy that. We enjoy the discussion and the connection and yeah, it’s a fun little way to engage people from a distance. It’s also a good way for people to learn about us. There’s usually a little bit of a story behind why we love an album so much. It’s a bit more than “the songs sound good.” It might be from a special time in your life, a special connection. Like the Dead Letter Circus EP or Themata by Karnivool. They’re great albums but also have a special meaning in my life, at that time.

I saw someone on YouTube say that you guys are “1% off being 10% better. However, that 90% is still 50% better than 99% of all music.” I’m no maths wizard, but is that a compliment?

Adrian: [laughs] I’m a literacy guy so that’s a foreign language to me.

Scotty: Is that a backhanded compliment? [laughs] I have no idea. I mean, there’s always room for improvement, so I’m fine with that.

As for the broader scene in general, it seems like Aussie prog is having a moment. I mean, here’s a sentence I thought I’d never say out loud: Voyager representing Australia at Eurovision. I mean, that’s absolutely incredible.

Adrian: We love Voyager by the way. We’ve got some younger friends and they love Karnivool and other Aussie prog rock bands that’ve done well in the past like Cog. So I think people want it. For whatever reason, the younger bands just haven’t kind of broken through to a larger audience yet. I think there’s a hunger for it. Voyager were a great matchup for Eurovision. It was very silly but very “them.”

About 15 years ago at the Sonic Forge Festival in Melbourne, I had no idea who they were. Then [singer] Danny [Estrin] busts out a keytar and Simone [Dow] starts shredding up an 80s medley. They weren’t an overnight success, but they got there eventually. Is that inspiring to you?

Scotty: A hundred percent inspiring! I think what’s inspiring for me is that they seem like they’re just embracing themselves flaws and all, and silliness and cheesiness. They’re just happy to be whatever they want to be, and they don’t seem to give a fuck when anyone else thinks. I love that personally. They’re just them doing their thing and they’re sort of displaying their influences in a way by showcasing the keytar and all that stuff that’s deemed not cool. But, by not giving a shit, it is cool. So yeah, absolutely inspiring.

Adrian: We love those guys. They’re good fun. Hundred percent. What’s also inspiring to me is that they’ve broken through to mould not being 21 year olds in a band, which I think some gatekeepers seem to really want to cling to youth. I mean, I think it took us a while to find our talent. And so yeah, I don’t want age to be a factor in bands being able to be successful.

Iridescent is out now.

*as of time of writing.