Adelaide melodic metalcore outfit alt. are quickly becoming one of the country’s most talked-about heavy acts – and for very good reason. With their debut album ABEYANCE to be released this Friday 16 June via Resist Records and SharpTone Records, the forward-thinking rockers let us in on their creative process and 2023 plans.
We had a chat with guitarist Simon Aistrope about the album, tours and more.
Huge congrats on your debut album! How does it feel to have new music ready to drop?
Thank you! We are all extremely excited but also nervous, it’s been a long time in the making. I think it will be a big relief once it’s out in the world.
The singles have been phenomenal and are promising big things. What has the reception been like?
I’m glad to hear! It’s been brilliant so far, we’re super humbled and grateful for all the support so far. The coolest part is seeing each show get bigger and better, and hearing new people singing along.
When did you begin writing for the record, and which song came first?
So, we actually started writing for this record a long time ago, just after our first EP Dysfunctional was released. It was initially meant to be a second EP, but we wrote three extra songs and here we are! The first song was “WRAITH” I think, followed closely by “BETTER OFF LEAVING”.
What was it like to work with some legends in our heavy scene on the album?
It was an incredible experience really, very inspiring to see how other people work and pick their brains. We are not shy when it comes to co-writes and things of that nature, it’s really cool to take your ideas to fresh ears to collaborate and expand your demos into a final piece. It brings a side out of the song/s that you wouldn’t be able to create otherwise.
You’ve recently toured with the mighty Don Broco and played Unify Off The Record alongside some great artists in your hometown. What is the best memory you made as a band at these shows?
The past year and a half has been one giant crazy memory for us really. The Unify show was so much fun, we haven’t really played a hometown show like that for a while; it’s usually just been support slots on tours, but it was fantastic, especially with such a vast lineup of Australian bands.
Don Broco is our vocalist’s (Dan) favourite band, so I think on behalf of him, for us to see him perform a guest vocal spot with them in Brisbane was a huge highlight and a core memory that will be with us for a while.
You’ll be hitting the road again in July with old friends Windwaker for their Love in the Dark tour. What can fans expect from the set?
This will be our first AUS tour post-album release, so expect a lot of new songs to be played. We’ll still keep a few oldies in there, but we are just so excited to perform the new material and we’ve been trying to up our stage show every tour, so we’ll see what happens there!
Who is a band you would love to share the stage with, and a local everyone should know?
I think we would all love to play with Linkin Park or BMTH, both of those bands are huge inspirations for us musically. My favourite local band right now is probably Signv/s from here in Adelaide, they always rip live and they never fail to hype up a crowd.
Where would you love to play in the year ahead?
We’d love to play Thebarton Theatre again, we played there with Karnivool last year and it’s just one of those dream venues we’ve all seen our favourite bands in, you’d never get sick of playing there. I think Riverstage (Bris) or Roundhouse (Syd) are certainly on the bucket list too.
You can get tickets to the Love in the Dark tour with Windwaker HERE. ABEYANCE is out 16 June – pre-order the album HERE. Follow alt. on Facebook and Instagram for more.
