One of Australia’s most loved rock bands, Karnivool will be performing two shows in South Africa at Bassline in Johannesburg and Mercury Live in cape Town at the end on April thanks to Turning Tricks Entertainment. The band has won numerous awards including the ARIA Music Awards for Best Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Album in 2013 for their 3rd and latest studio album, Asymmetry. Kevin Rule of The Metalist za was lucky enough to catch up with them as they prepare to take SA by storm.
PURCHASE TICKET
First off, let me just say that it shall be an honour to welcome Karnivool to South Africa and we all hope that you have an amazing experience. There are many bands here that have been inspired by your music and I’d like to know how it feels (if indeed it can even be described) as you travel the world and visit new places and meet people whose lives have been changed by what you have created over the years?
When we meet people who are extremely passionate about the band it can be a little confronting sometimes but mostly it’s all love and respect. We’ve been around long enough to have had an influence on some artists or bands and to us that’s a great thing. We are kind of honored that people feel so strongly about the band.
I had a good chat with Kim from Dead Letter Circus the last time they were here and he assured me that you guys are very keen to play here, now that it’s finally happening what are you expecting from us?
What ever you’ve got 🙂 We’d love to see or be part of some African music while we visit. It’s hard to know what to expect from the fans as this is our first time playing in SA, although if you guys are acting like Karnivool fans around the world we’re all in for a good time!
As this will be your first time in South Africa, there may be a handful of people who don’t know Karnivool. How would you describe your music and performances to them?
I guess Karnivool sounds like an expressive progressive alt game of Jenga. We don’t hold anything back when we play. Shit can get weird.
I’ve read that you plan to have a sort of “greatest hits” setlist for the shows here…could there possibly be some surprises in there as well?
Yeah we’ll put a set together of a number of songs from all three records which will leave most fans uncomfortably swollen in the right way. We are working on new material at the moment. If it’s ready we’d be happy to play them
You recently made your entire discography available on vinyl. Your music certainly lends itself to this format, so, firstly, do you think the inherent atmosphere this medium creates lends itself to any band or artist wanting to release records on vinyl, and secondly, how important do you think the vinyl resurgence is in our digital day and age?
I guess the thing about vinyl is that vinyl sound. It’s a unique listening experience. I think any artist can release their work on vinyl. Why not?
I’m not a vinyl nut but i do enjoy the process of putting a record on. The physicality alone is quite different to the way most people listen to music. These days the digital consumer or listener kind of skim through music listening to bits and pieces. The great thing about vinyl is you commit to the listen.
You’ve toured all around the globe and have played with so many bands (either as a headliner or opening), are you finding that a more progressive style of song-writing is gaining more popularity and accepted by a wider audience?
I think progressive music can be played in so many different styles these days so yeah i think it is reaching a wider audience.
While the underlying tone of Karnivool has always been intact and identifiable, each of your albums have their own flavour and direction, what is the next step and are you planning a new album?
Yeah we are planning a new album. It’s hard to say exactly what we are going for on this next record as it isn’t finished and we are still experimenting. So for now it’s keep writing. I can tell you that the working title for the record is ‘Greater Omaha’.
And now for something completely different….Marvel vs DC…is it really a competition?
Yeah i dig on Marvel so they’re the clear winner though DC does have Batman….hmm.. tough one.
Lastly, let me say thank you very much for accepting Turning Tricks’ invitation to come to our humble land and I trust you will have an amazing time.
Total pleasure.
Thank you for giving us your time from both myself and The Metalist za
Interviewed by: Kevin Rule(more from Kevin)
Date: 11 April 2016
Follow KARNIVOOL on:
