Filled with hate, made of terror; Death In Bloom are a quintet risen from the ashes of Melbourne’s metal core heavyweights past with their debut album ‘A Means To Disappear’ which was released independently on Friday 14th October via MGM. We spoke to guitarist Arron Parker Richards about the new album and all about Death In Bloom.
Steve: I guess first and foremost you guys have got your new album dropping this Friday am I correct?
Arron: Yeah, Friday I think. It came around really quick.
Steve: From what I read it was quite a rollercoaster to get you guys to this point. Would that be a fair assumption?
Arron: It was a cruisy rollercoaster, it was still a couple of hurdles, but I mean I think we’re still pretty stoked to say that it was kind of stress free trip up to this point, which has been amazing. So yeah we’re just happy to finally have it down and be getting it out.
Steve: Sure, sure and I believe Callan Orr (Dream on Dreamer) gave you guys a hand with this one?
Arron: Yeah that’s it.
Steve: How did that come about?
Arron: Yeah it was great. So actually he lived with Russ (Holland) our other guitarist for a couple of years. It was a while a go so they already had a friendship which made going into it pretty chilled, pretty easy for us. He is a nice guy so it was easy to find a comfortable place for all of us which was good.
Steve: Sure, so did he bring his own sort of flavour to the table? Or was he seeing what you guys wanted to do with it or what was the story there?
Arron: We, I would say we had the songs pretty much done but he’s really good with the style of recording that we wanted so he knew a fair few little tricks and little polishes that he definitely added to the songs. We were fairly open to it, like I said Russ has known him for a while. They’ve been doing some demoing and stuff previously, we know that he kind of had some good experience with that kind of stuff and yeah, we were pretty open with anything that he came up with. And it worked out pretty well, anything that he kind of put on the table we pretty much loved which made the process that much easier for us.
Steve: Yeah I guess ultimately if you guys can be comfortable to go into a room and do what you do with someone that you already know that makes it that bit easier.
Arron: Yeah 100 percent there was no process of having to get to know Callan where he was just trying to figure out our songs. He had already heard a bunch of our songs, a bunch of our demos so he kind of already knew what he had to do recording wise and we knew what we were getting with Callan, it worked out perfectly.
Steve: Awesome! I see that you guys have come from other bands, can you give us an idea of whom you’ve previously played with?
Arron: Yes so it’s kind of like a bit of a mixed bag. Russ who plays the other guitar he played in Confession for about 4 years and he played in a band called Lovers Grave but that was a while ago for about a couple of years. Our singer Logan (Fewster) played for a band called the Broderick that was a good 5 plus years ago with that and then so myself and our drummer Jai (Morrow) we played in a band called Our Solace which was a hard core band, that was for about 5 years or something. So our bass player played bass for a band called Jack the Stripper.
Steve: So I see that you guys are dropping a new film clip called The Fever
Arron: Yeah that’s it.
Steve: Excellent from what I’ve read it is a fairly DIY sort of project shot out in the country side by a family friend. How was that experience?
Arron: Yeah it was amazing! We’re pretty lucky our drummer Jai is also a really talented filmographer and photographer as well so we didn’t have to look too far for someone to film. So Jai filmed basically the majority of it but also we helped so there was no third party people, it was just the five of us filming. We set up everything, we also found the location which [was at] Russ’ uncle, the whole bottom floor of his house was just a jam room. He plays with family and stuff and he gave us permission to just strip the whole place there and then yeah, it was just super rewarding. I mean it’s always great having other people there but it was nice to just have the five of us there, we knew exactly what we wanted. We kind of didn’t have to go through other people, we just knew what we wanted and we were able to do it and it worked out perfectly.
Steve: Would you say that the DIY ethos extends sort of far beyond this video clip as a whole? Do you guys like to – for lack of a better word – get sort of hands on and do as much as you can yourselves?
Arron: Yeah I think so, like when it comes to all the song writing and stuff demoing and all that we did all that ourselves as well before actually going in with Callan. I’ve got kind of like a little studio set up at home so did all the demoing and stuff there and actually the other film clip we did previously to this one we pretty much did it all ourselves. We did have some help with that but yeah the DIY aspect is definitely a massive part for us, we like to be hands on but obviously we’re open to third party help and that kind of thing. It feels very rewarding to do things ourselves I think.
Steve: Sure, because you’re ultimately seeing it from the drawing board right up to the end product.
Arron: Yeah exactly, definitely we pretty much organised everything, even the art work and stuff. It’s been very rewarding for the first release, we’re definitely open to stuff in the future. I think coming out strong and doing it on our own back was a big thing for us.
Steve: Awesome, so I see you’ve been getting a lot of press in terms of with radio play as well as obviously written media. How would you describe your sound to say a first time listener?
Arron: Oh god it’s one of the hardest questions to ask. I just think it’s kind of got a melodic side mixed with a fairly dark edge which I think it kind of helps to appeal to a broader spectrum of people. You might get people who really like that dark, heavier side so they’ll kind of connect with the song but then you might get people that like the melodic big epic side so we’ve mixed the two of them and I think that helps with some people who might like one or the other or both, if that even makes sense [laughs].
Steve: Correct me if I’m wrong but I haven’t been to Melbourne so the metal-core scene as a whole is making a bit of a resurgence, do you think that that’s a fair analysis? Do you think heavy music as a whole is making a resurgence?
Arron: Yeah I think I’ve been through the whole spectrum of styles in the heavy music scene, I’ve kind of seen certain subgenres kind of pick up and drop off. I definitely say that the metal core, you know that kind of djent kind of scene I feel like it’s glowing which is cool. We’ve played an all-ages show about a week ago and there’s just so many kids there and many new kids that you might not have ever seen at a show. You’ve got stuff like Parkway Drive and stuff been played on the radio like that which is helping the smaller bands because it’s putting that kind of music out to the people that might not have heard it before. It’s a slow growth but it’s definitely happening.
Steve: From the ones I’ve interviewed I get the same sort of response.
Arron: Yeah and you’ve got bands like Ocean Grove that are killing it at the moment, they’re still relatable in a way I guess. Does that make sense? They’re younger dudes as well which helps the scene so much more being able to relate to the bands that you’re watching.
Steve: Yeah and I guess that they reach every level and I guess that that’s what every band can aspire to.
Arron: Yeah of course absolutely.
Steve: So who are the guys that got you into playing guitar? Was there anyone that stood out with you growing up or whilst coming through the ranks?
Arron: Yeah I kind of grew up listening to a lot of different stuff, a lot of your Blink 182 and stuff like that but the person that got me into playing the guitar was John Mayer. I had one of his CD’s when I was younger. I would say that was probably one of the first kind of mainstream musicians that I was into and I just yeah fell in love with the guitar. That’s initially where I got into the guitar then I got into stuff like Blink 182 and bands like The Used and it kind of progressed from there. Not a metal or a punk origin, something very different which I think it’s aided me across the way and especially with the other dudes. We’ve all got a very broad spectrum like when it comes to music it definitely helps.
Steve: Sure, I guess my next question is two sided: do you have hints, tips or tricks that you use for any aspiring guitarists out there or is it just a matter of plugging away at your craft?
Arron: I think it’s a tried and true thing but practice definitely makes perfect and I’m so far away from where I want to be as a guitar player but just sitting down and playing other people’s songs like playing songs that you like and music from bands that you really like is the perfect way because you want to be able to play that song and then you’re playing it over and over again. It might not feel like you’re getting better but you definitely are and that’s what I do. I just pick a song that I really like, something I might not be able to play at first and I just slog away at it and before you know it you can do it. That way you can take another step up and try something else that seems a little bit harder. Just listening to music you like and play music that you like, just practice just keep playing.
Steve: Do you guys have any plans to tour with this album or are you just at the moment going to keep it local in terms of your movements?
Arron: I think we want to, honestly there is nothing in the works right now but it’s definitely something we want to do. We don’t want to just put it out and do nothing with it but we want to make sure that it’s the right thing for us you know whether it’s the band or time even a lot of the other dudes in the band have pretty hectic work schedules. We just want to make sure it’s done in the right way. It’ll definitely happen sooner rather than later.
Steve: Awesome and finally do you have a message for any of your fans out there that you would like to get out there?
Arron: I just like think we’re not like these crazy amazing people or anything, we’re just a couple of dudes writing music. We love getting messages from people. We love chatting, we’re just a bunch of dudes writing. That’s a tricky one.
Steve: That’s ok thanks for much for you time this afternoon. Good luck for everything and hope to see you in Perth sometime.
Arron: Thanks for having me, cheers.
