No Apologies
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Interview With No Apologies By Chris 10/8/07
No Apologies is a fantastic hardcore band from Sydney
A friend of mine introduced me into there music and I loved it
They are band worth checking out,Go purchase Survival it’s so worth a listen
1. How did you get into music?
That’s a good question, i am not to sure, because neither of my parents were huge music fans, and there wasn’t even a stereo in my house until I was well into my teens. I guess its just something that grew with me
2. What do you think of the hardcore scene in Australia?
Right now its great, in the last year or so bands have really stepped it up and we really are no at an international level, we have some of the best hardcore bands anywhere in the world right here, we have lots of venues willing to let you put on hardcore shows, we have the people willing to do the hard work in booking tours/shows and we have lots of kids willing to support the bands and shows.
3. Who were your influences?
If we are talking musically I don’t really draw influence directly from any one band/person in particular, but I am inspired by a lot of different artists and also by my friends bands when I see them working hard and achieving their goals.
Some bands/ artists that have inspired me are Toe To Toe, Mindsnare, Madball, Cro-Mags, Bad Brains, Minor Threat, The Smiths, Morrissey, etc, etc.
4. Are you happy so far with the responses from the album?
Yes, definitely, it has had some great reviews and I personally have received alot of great compliments, which is great, but in all honesty the only response that we were concerned with when writing/recording the album was our own. There is no point worrying about whether or not people are going to like what you do, you just have to first like it yourself.
5. How did the band form?
After a band I was in before broke up I had some songs written, so I put lyrics to them and got some friends together and we recorded the 7” before even playing a show. At first we weren’t even going to play shows, but its just snowballed from there I guess.
6. How did you get signed to Resist Records?
I am good friends with Graham and see him pretty much everyday, he always said that if we ever wanted he would put out anything that No Apologies did because he liked what we had done up to that point.
So when it came time for us to do an album it just made sense for him to do it.
7. What has been the highlight so far?
Playing HC07 this year was AMAZING, and one of the best experiences of my life, there was like 1600 people there and it was just a great day.
8. Do you the Internet has helped bands get noticed by labels and industry people?
Yes of course, you would be stupid to think anything else, nowadays with myspace its made things a lot easier for bands to get support but in some cases I think its made it a little to easy.
9. What is on your stereo at the moment?
Well, last night I went and saw The Cure, so up until last night I have been listening to a lot of them, and yesterday a friend of mine from America sent me a huge box full of records and shirts, so right now I’m listening to Bitter End “Climate Of Fear”, but the new Rise And Fall 7” “Clawing” has barely left my turntable, its great!
10. What are some of your favorite musical artists/bands?
Ok here goes, these are all probably for different reasons which I wont go into but here’s a list, Morrissey, The Smiths, The Cure, Joy Division, Madball, Agnostic Front, Cro-Mags, Bad Brains, Minor Threat, Judge, Warzone, Terror, Internal Affairs, No Turning Back, Blacklisted, Snake Eyes, Rise And Fall, The Dear & Departed, Toe To Toe, Mindsnare, Miles Away, 50 Lions, Parkway Drive and there is a ton more, but that’s enough name dropping for now.
11. Are you guys surprised how popular and loyal the hardcore scene in Australia has become?
That’s a hard one to answer, because without sounding like a dick 90% of these “loyal” and “down for life” hardcore kids will be gone in a couple of years, off to their next trend, its just the truth. I have seen so many people come and go over the years that I have lost count, and it always seems to be the loudest ones that fall the hardest. In saying that though there are a lot of people that are supporting local Australian hardcore bands and shows/tours and that’s awesome.
12. Who have you enjoyed working with outside the band music wise?
To tell you the truth this band, and another hardcore band that i am writing a 7” for right now are pretty much my only musical outputs.
If you asked our guitarist Pete, or drummer Andres they would be able to give you a huge list of people because they are trained musicians that play music for a living.
One person that I really did enjoy working with on our album though was Travis DeVries who played didgeridoo on Succumb, it was cool to see an idea we had actually work out great, and knowing that we were doing something original in a scene that can sometimes be a little repetitious, was a great feeling.
13. What is next for the band?
We are playing 2 shows on the Sike Your Mind Tour, one in Melbourne and one in Sydney, then we have a few of our own shows around Sydney in September and then in October we are touring nationally as a part of the Horizons Australian Tour, which is Parkway Drive’s new album tour. So you know that’s going to be huge, I can’t wait for it.
14. What do you think of the Sydney scene in regards to the type of music you guys play?
Its great, but it could be better, there is only a handful of guys my age and older that still come out to shows, it seems as though a lot of the “older” guys decided that they outgrew hardcore, so they went onto do terrible rock or punk bands and play shows to 20 people, but good luck to them I guess. The all ages scene here has grown massively here over the last few years which is great , like anywhere though we need more bands!
15. Has the scene been good to your band?
Yeah definitely, especially here in Sydney, kids support us and come out to our shows, check us out, buy our merch, etc. Cant complain man.
