Driven Fear are hard at work on finishing their debut album ‘Contender’, due out in Spring 2011. Due to the quality of their previous releases ‘Society’s Finest’ and split record ‘Pale Fate’, they have built a solid fan base around Australia and are set to launch up to the next step in the near future. Drummer Nic Lalot (also plays in Promises) filled us in on what it was like to play shows throughout South East Asia, the direction the new music is taking, and what some of his all time favourite bands are.
How is the debut album coming along?
The album is coming along well man. We have a few more things to track and then it’s done. We’ll then send it away for mixing/mastering and are aiming for a late 2011 release. Artwork is looking awesome and most of all, it’s sounding great.
Do you feel with the new music Driven Fear are close to their full potential?
I feel for once we are all completely happy with the sound we are carrying and it’s definitely the vibe we have been aiming for over the years. Previous writing involved a lot of trial and error tactics, this time round we have tried to forget about everything and everyone around us, rather than imagining too hard on the end product and working towards that, we just started at the start and let it come together track by track. So yeah, to answer your question, I think we have reached our desired potential. This record will be 100% Driven Fear, giving you everything we’ve been feeling over the past year of writing. As far as ‘full potential’ goes, I dunno man, who knows what the next release will be like. It’s hard to say we’ve reached our full potential, when we feel like this is only the start.
Will the new stuff sound a lot more like ‘March 29th’ and ‘Doubt’ or more towards your tongue n cheek style such as ‘Laugh At The Monkeys’?
The new record is very versatile, which actually, is one of the only things we told ourselves that we wanted this record to be. We didn’t want to release something that sounded that same through-out the whole record. There is something for everyone on it. It’s still fast, heavy punk rock but with our twist. Still with our same lyrical vibe, focusing on the ‘real’. It is definitely a step up from the Ep. We’ve all grown since that release and so has our writing.
Who are some of your favourite current local Brisbane and Gold Coast bands?
Against, Time Has Come, Marathon, Closure, Pride Of Place, Promises, Thick Skin, Provoke, Abraxis, Strength Through Purity, Ghost Town, Army Of Champions, Headaches and Done For are all great Brisbane and Gold Coast punk/hardcore/metal bands. Check em out kids!
What about the bands that you grew up going see?
Older Australian bands like Toe To Toe, Against, Amity, Miles Away, Stolen Youth, Mourning Tide, Stronghold, Just Say Go!, God So Loved The World and Shot Point Blank (to name a few) are definitely bands we grew up seeing that have influenced us heavily. On an international scale, between the 5 of us we’ve been lucky enough to catch some of our favourites- Good Riddance, Strung Out, Suicidal Tendencies, NOFX, Bad Religion, Verse, Comeback Kid, Have Heart, Most Precious Blood, Strike Anywhere, Rise Against, Madball, Terror… etc etc…
Touring South East Asia must have been something you never even thought about happening? How did that opportunity pop up?
It definitely was something that had never crossed our minds, not in 2008 anyway. We were just a bunch of shit head local dudes from Beenleigh playing music, and yeah, out of nowhere were given the offer to head over by a record label in Kuala Lumpur called ‘Ceasefire Records’. At the time we were tied up with a local record label, and Karen from CF had emailed and asked about sending some bands over. So yeah, the offer was there and we took it. Jumped on a plane and played 9 shows across 5 countries. We met a lot of great people and experienced a side of music that we definitely hadn’t been exposed to in Australia. That first tour was when we met the dudes in Mouthful Of Air.
During that tour is that when the idea for the Driven Fear/Mouthful Of Air split release came about?
Yeah it was was man. The idea was thrown around as a joke at first, but then by the end of the tour, saying good bye to the dudes, we said that we’d one day split… and yeah, 2 years later in the 2010, we dropped the DF/MFOA split record and toured Sabah, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore again with em. Now they keep coming over and sleeping on my couch, I can’t get rid of em!
Where in Australia do you guys play the most memorable shows?
We love Adelaide and Melbourne. Those places are full of good people and good times.
What is the one thing that you want to accomplish with Driven Fear? If you haven’t already that is…
We have always said that recording at The Blasting Room in Colorado would be a serious reality check, considering we grew up listening to releases that came straight from that studio. So either that, or playing Vans Warped. Until then, we’ll just keep writing punk rock.
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