Interviews : “Heavy, melodic, proggy, hooks galore.” – a Q&A session with Sydney’s Avarin

Sydney’s Avarin really started on a high with their debut album Requiem (which received an impressive 9/10 on this very site), and we’re assuming they’re somehow going to get even better. Working slowly but surely on the follow-up, with some huge shows on their way, we asked vocalist Mike Zoias (previously of Transcending Mortality) a few questions.

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For those unfamiliar with Avarin, sum up your band in 5 words:

Heavy, melodic, proggy, hooks galore.

It has been almost a year since you released your debut full length “Requiem”. Has there been any progress on a follow up release?

Indeed there has. We actually started working on follow up material almost straight away – at first just anaemic scraps of ideas and riffs we demoed individually, but we’ve started putting some of the pieces together and the “skeletons” are starting to get some meat on their bones which they’re rather pleased about. All in all we probably have close to 2/3rd’s of an albums worth of new stuff, but there’s still a good deal of work left to do in terms of untangling the knots, gluing it all together and have it make sense. Vocals/lyrics I’ve been rather slack about since we’ve been so focused on the music up till now – we do have a rough guiding concept for the overall lyrical theme though, which will be fun to get stuck into once the music has more shape. Slow going at times, but it’s hard to get everyone together ten times a week as we’d like!

How is it sounding in comparison to that older material? Has there been any stylistic changes?

With our new material the goal has been to go beyond the restrictions of working within a confined genre or any previously known sub genre of said genre and craft out our own brand new niche within the metal sphere… though we really can’t call it metal because that in itself would be too restricting. We would rather refer to it as sound.

Just kidding! Our new stuff is definitely metal – quite a lot more complex and progressive than the stuff on our first album, yet mysteriously more accessible at the same time. It’s largely heavier and has a much greater sense of groove and rhythm, but is also a lot more dynamic in terms of melody and arrangement. Most importantly, to our ears the new material flows better and there are better “hooks” in the music… so I guess you could say the biggest difference overall is better songs!

Going into the next album, is there anything you’ll do differently than with the first? Did the band make any mistakes or bad decisions that you’ll be making sure aren’t repeated?

Tricky question… I wouldn’t say any big mistakes were made necessarily, and I think the end result of our debut reflects our headspace, and individual and collective abilities at the time pretty accurately. Having said that, I think the whole experience was part of a big learning curve for us – since it normally takes a band an album and a boat load of shows to really start to get into their groove. We’ll definitely be tightening things up during the pre production stage and probably (hopefully!) end up with a more polished end product.

Whats on the cards for the rest of the year? Any more gigs coming up?

We’ve got our first show in Adelaide coming up on the 21st of July @ the Squatters Arms hotel with Soulforge and 9 other awesome bands, then back in Sydney the following weekend for a show on the 27th with Inslain. We also have a massive show booked at the end of the year called ‘Steel Assassins 2012’ with Voyager, Megahera (Italy), Darker Half, Taberah, Soulforge and many more, be sure to check it out!

Who are your musical influences, and what inspired you to start playing music in the first place?

I’m actually training to be an opera singer – so for me my roots and influences are mostly operatic, but I’m also into bands like Psychotic Waltz, Monster Magnet, Janes Addiction and Guano Apes. Bruce Dickinson, Sandra Nasic and Perry Farrell are the singers who really made me want to be a frontman!

James comes from more of a punk background, but these days is inspired by musicians like John Arch and Fates Warning who he progressed to via Iron Maiden, and the odd punky band like Propagandhi as well as some more alternative stuff like A Perfect Circle, Alice in Chains etc.

Jonno’s the 70’s nutter of the band, and it’s largely stuff he grew up on that his parents introduced him to – Neil Young in particular. AC/DC were one band in particular that really sparked his interest in wanting to become a live performer early on. He can also be heard cranking bands like Pink Floyd.

Nat comes from largely a jazz and fusion background, but also grew up listening to bands like Mercyful Fate, Janes Addiction, Danzig, Guns n Roses and a massive heap of other things. He’s probably the most open minded one out of all of us, and listens to some rather weird stuff on occasion haha.

Steve’s also pretty eclectic, and is influenced by all kinds of metal bands and also a lot of classical music. Tool & Machine Head are two of the main bands that inspired him to start pounding skins (pun intended!).

Do you or any of the other band members have any other musical projects outside of Avarin?

Jonno and I are involved in a prog rock concept album/project being put together by a friend of ours. It’s still in the early stages, but could really turn out to be something special.

Nat currently plays in a Jazz band doing mainly standards, but also some arrangements of more popular songs.

Not sure if me studying opera counts, but hopefully I’ll be ready to make my debut in a year or two – then you can decide whether it was worth mentioning here haha.

For those of us in other states, how is Sydney’s metal scene going at the moment? Are there many decent venues still around?

There seems to be gradually fewer and fewer compared with a few years ago, but some venues are still flying the flag. The Valve Bar and Venue are doing a really good job, as are The Wall and a few other places. A good promoter can always seem to rustle up a well organized gig no matter the venue, and we’ve been extremely lucky in this respect!

What other Australian bands have you really been enjoying lately?

Been listening to bands like Soulforge, Unitopia, Hemina, Atome Squad, Voyager and Rituals of the Oak most recently, and probably a few more that’ve slipped my mind right now. There are some Aussie bands due to release new albums which I’m eagerly awaiting too!

How about internationally? What can you see being on your “albums of the year” list?

Well it’s obviously not out yet, but the new Psychotic Waltz album will surely be on there if its finished and released this year! Ian Anderson‘s sequel to “Thick as a Brick” really surprised and impressed me so thats currently leading the race, and very very much looking to the new Tool and Monster Magnet albums.

Last words?

Never give up on your dreams by selling out.

If you’re ok with selling out, then check out our Facebook page: facebook.com/Avarinband.

Cheers for the interview!

You can catch Avarin live at the following shows:

July 21 @ Squatters Arms Hotel, Adelaide
w/ Soulforge, Maniacal, Lacerated Soul,  Gorebottle, Convict Anatomy, Obsidian Aspect, Day of Wrath, Hidden Intent, Headbore and Catacosmica

July 27 @ The Square, Sydney
w/ Inslain, Metreya and Sabretung

Nov 2-3 @ Sandringham Hotel, Sydney
w/ Megahera (Italy), Voyager, Darker Half, Mystery, Taberah, Soulforge, Overdrive, Metal, Rampage, Dark Order, Silent Knight, The Loving Tongue, Thundasteel, Fenrir, Temtris and Metreya