Australian Hardcore and Metal outfit Hellions have just released their debut record Die Young, and unleashed the latest video for their new song “The Penultimate Year”. We caught up with the group to talk through this, Miley Cyrus and much more…
You’ve just released “Die Young”. how long has the album been completed before its release and when did you start working on it?
We did! We started writing the record back in January, finally hit the studio to record it in March and had it all wrapped up and ready to go in early May. It definitely felt like a lot longer than 4 months between completing and releasing the album, I think that’s because we were all so excited!
Can you talk about the team you worked with on the release?
Myself, Matt and Dre headed over to Karma Sound Studio’s in Thailand to record ‘Die Young’ and we were lucky enough to have our long time friend and producer Shane ‘Buddha’ Edwards come over to work on the record with us. It was the best experience of our lives! We had the assistance of 3 in-house engineers at the studio which made everyone’s time there a lot easier and really gave us a chance to focus on the songs.
Shane was vital to the way the record turned out, his input and over all assistance with the song writing was absolutely incredible.
How does it feel to finally get it out?
It feels amazing! As I said before, it felt like we were waiting forever for it to be released and we worked really hard on this record, so to see it out there is really rewarding for us. The build up to the release was really interesting and everyone’s reaction to the initial singles really varied so we were really keen to get the whole record out so people could hear it the way they it is meant to be heard.
What do you hope people take away from it?
We just want people to really enjoy the record. Lyrically most of the songs are a little personal, very visceral and honest but the themes of the songs in general are all relatable to most peoples life experiences so hopefully people can take away from that. We are all about that big community vibe I guess; like a big family. So when someone listens to the record, we hope that they would come away from it feeling like they are a part of what we feel like we are a part of. Something more than just music. Everyone’s got a little Hellion in them somewhere.
How smooth has the transition been between the end of The Bride and Hellions starting up?
At first it was a little confusing, we weren’t really sure if it was going to work and how people would react to the new band. We weren’t too sure how we wanted to portray ourselves and what sort of music we wanted to play but we decided we should just be true to ourselves and play the music we wanted to play and once all of our ideas and the songs started coming together it was really rewarding. It has been some of the most exciting times of our lives!
So I wouldn’t say it was smooth but it seems to be working out just fine!
How have the fans reacted?
We have honestly been blown away by the response. The initial response to our first single ‘Infamita’ was very interesting, some people loved it and some hated it but it definitely got people interested in the band. Every single we have released since has been different in it’s own way which is very reflective of the record as a whole. It is very eclectic but somewhat cohesive when listening to it start to finish. I guess that’s what we wanted people to figure out before the record was out and eventually everyone started catching on and the positive feedback has very much outweighed the negative since the record was released!
The support we have been getting is unbelievable and we are so humbled by it.
With that in mind, how much did you try to make “Die Young” and Hellions itself a different entity to what The Bride was?
Initially, we wanted people to know who we were and where we came from. There were fans of The Bride who wanted to hear new music so for those people mainly, we wanted them to know it’s still very much us but a newer and (in our opinion) better version.
In saying that, Hellions is very much it’s own entity. It’s a new band with new music and a whole new vibe to it. We want people to know Hellions for Hellions, not the band that used to be The Bride. It was never intended that this band should be compared to the old one and I think people are starting to realise that we aren’t the same band now that the record is out, which is cool!
You’re touring with Dream on Dreamer in November. How road-tested is the new album?
We are! So far we have done one full national tour and a few select dates around the country but that was before ‘Die Young’ was released so no one has really had a chance to experience the record in a live format now that all of the songs are all out there. The songs are very much written to be played live, that’s where we pride ourselves. Our live show is what really helps get our message across! When we were playing these songs before anyone had heard them, they were still going down very well and the responses we were getting were crazy. We are so excited to be playing them now that people have heard them!
Aside from the new album, do you throw any surprises into your set? What can we expect?
I think there will be a few surprises in there for people that haven’t seen us before and even some for the people that have. We are a very passionate bunch of dudes and are very passionate about our music. We try to do things that are a little different to what most other bands are doing, I don’t want to give to much away but lets just say it’s like a big party and the more people we can get involved, the better!
What else do you have planned for the near future?
A lot of touring! We want to get to as many places as we can around the world to play our songs. Hopefully we get a chance to record and release a few more tracks while doing that too!
Your thoughts on Miley Cyrus?
Is that the dude that got weird with a foam finger on MTV?
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Die Young is available now. Keep yourself posted on their tour dates over on their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/hellionsaus/i
