As one of the country’s most iconic rock bands, The Butterfly Effect have seen and done it all in their time on the forefront of local heavy music. The Brisbane quartet’s latest single ‘So Tired’ and accompanying video is an exciting taste of their forthcoming album – the first in over a decade.
We caught up with guitarist Kurt Goedhart to discuss the single and video, what the band has been up to all this time, and how they have battled boredom throughout the pandemic.
“There’s definitely a certain amount of nerves involved,” Kurt admits when addressing the anticipated release. “Back when we were doing our thing and it was our sole occupation, you’re always writing, touring and doing shows or recording; you’re always somewhere in that system of events,” he explains. “You’re not looking back, you’re always looking forward. Now you’re coming from a very different place because there’s such a big gap.”
It’s understandable that a band like The Butterfly Effect would be accustomed to the emotions that come with the cycles of creating music; but nonetheless, such a distance between releases must leave fans with big expectations for a long-awaited comeback. The band returned in 2019 with standalone single ‘Unbroken’, 11 years after their third album Final Conversations of Kings, to positive reception and a string of celebrated live shows.
“It feels like it’s the first thing we’ve ever released in a lot of ways because of that break,” Kurt continues. “During that break from each other I was able to amass a whole bunch of music. Some of us haven’t even spoken to each other for almost six or seven years… we’ve got these fresh relationships to work with. It’s really exciting for us.”
‘So Tired’ is everything that the title encompasses. It’s fast, angry, tight and quite dynamic, switching between unusual time signatures for an unpredictable listen. At just over five minutes long, it discusses the exhaustion that comes with being in one of the biggest local bands at the time – write, record, rehearse, perform, repeat.
“It bounces between 3/4 and 5/4, it’s one of the reasons I really love it,” Kurt explains. “It’s smoothed over because of Clint’s vocal delivery. The only stipulation I brought to them this time was that it has to be rocking or I’m not interested in playing it,” he laughs. “We have the most fun on stage when we are playing our simplest, hardest rocking tunes, so that’s all I want to write. If we start wandering and doing this old school Butterfly Effect with spacious bits, I just go ‘Nup – to get through this middle bit, let’s write another riff’.”
Accompanying the single release is a gloomy video that reflects the theme and artwork of the song with stunning visuals. The character is struggling to stay awake while driving on an endless road before crashing through a wall into a 3D world of illusionary graphics. They ascend a tower and set up a sniper rifle to shoot walking bullet figures that are later revealed to be themselves. It’s actually like a short film in the way that the credits roll over a single shot of the character driving off in the distance.
“When we were talking to the guys, there were like, ‘You don’t need any other brief because the lyrics have such good imagery’,” Kurt says of the video. “If there’s one thing I can definitely say about that film clip, it’s that you never get a chance to move forward when you’re watching it. We’re stoked with how it turned out.”
COVID has obviously been the biggest spanner in the works for launching release campaigns and planning tours. However, The Butterfly Effect have been grateful for the time that the pandemic has allowed them for creating new music and reconnecting with what matters at home.
“It gave us lots of time to write. We didn’t have any distractions of having to do any shows or anything, so in a way it’s been fucking excellent,” Kurt confesses. “When you book a tour, usually between 6 and 8 weeks out we start putting a set together and rolling over old songs, so you’re in a completely different headspace.”
While there are no dates locked in, new music from the hard rockers is well and truly on the way.
“Early to mid-next year the album will be coming out. We currently have close to half of it done, the second half we’re hoping to get wrapped up over the Christmas and New Year’s break. I think we’re aiming for February for the next single. We’re looking forward to it.”
“So Tired” is available on all streaming services now
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