Adam "Nolly" Getgood - Periphery (21/11/2013)
Touring in January/February for Soundwave Touring, The 59th Sound chats with Adam "Nolly" Getgood of Periphery on touring with locals Dead Letter Circus, Twelve Foot Ninja, and their 2014 tour mates Animals as Leaders, new material, and Periphery's words of wisdom.
Hey, Nolly. How are you?
Good. And you?
Good. You must be excited to be returning to Australia with Animals as Leaders early next year?
Yeah for sure. Funnily enough I'm returning to Australia in a few weeks time. I'm going to be spending Christmas and New Year in Melbourne so I'll be coming back even sooner than that.
Is that to spend it with friends and family?
Yeah. I've never experienced a hot Christmas before so I'm keen to see what that's like.
Back to the tour, have you toured with Animals as Leaders before?
Yeah we just finished up a run in the US called the Summer Slaughter tour. We were both co-direct support to The Dillinger Escape Plan. I've also been working with them helping produce their new record so as soon as our current tour finishes tomorrow I'm going to L.A to help them finish that up. They're really good friends of ours.
You guys played Soundwave this year. What was that like?
That was amazing. Mind boggling in fact. The awesomeness of being in Australia as the fans are always amazing, the weather is incredible, the food is incredible. It was just an all round incredible experience.
What was the best band that you managed to catch live at Soundwave? Did you see many bands?
I didn't see as many as I'd have liked to to be honest. One I was really hoping to see but didn't was Northlane. Unfortunately those guys clashed with us every day. One of the very impressive bands was Crossfaith from Japan. We actually did two sidewaves with them in Sydney and Melbourne. They're the type of band that you might not know them when they first come on but they're just so over the top with their stage antics and they sound great live and look the part. They're just a really impressive band to watch.
I went to that sideshow in Melbourne and Crossfaith, for a band that have never been to Australia, just stole the show. They did the same thing at Soundwave.
Yeah, absolutely. It's the type of music that just goes over so well live and they're so enthusiastic so it's just amazing.
You're currently touring with two Australian bands, Dead Letter Circus and Twelve Foot Ninja. What's that been like?
That's been awesome. Yeah, it's been really cool. Kinda funny that we ended up with two on the bill. Dead Letter have toured the US a few times already but Twelve Foot I'm fairly sure it's their first time so it's been kinda fun to introduce them to American culture for the first time. In the same way they've both been teaching us more about Australian culture. I'm getting along really well with the Dead Letter Circus guys. They're really great dudes. I'm looking forward to seeing them with Karnivool when I'm in town in January.
How did it come about to get the two Aussie bands on the bill?
Twelve Foot Ninja was one of the requests of the band from when we played with them in Melbourne. The whole band loves them so much. We wanted to expose them to the US audience. Dead Letter were put forward by our management. We have a lot of clean singing in what we do and we were definitely looking for a more melodic band to help us. We normally get teamed up with bands that are all screaming and are more metal but we thought it'd be nice to have a more straight up melodic rock band on the tour. We're big fans of their music as well so it's been a real pleasure to have them on the road with us.
How would you describe a Periphery show for those that haven't seen you live before?
That's a tough one. It's kind of a sonic assault. We cover a lot of ground with what we do from the more mellow stuff to really quite heavy stuff. This last tour I feel like we've really developed a live presence with a big light show and a bigger production because we're a headliner. We feel like we've got a kind of mysterious thing going on behind us with the strobe lights and such so you can't really see our faces too well. To sum up I guess it's loud and heavy and also clean and beautiful at the same time.
Do you have a favourite song to play live?
This tour we've brought back one song that we haven't played in a long time called Insomnia from our first album. It's a really technical song. Quite possibly the most technical song we've ever done so it's always a fun challenge to play live. We're also playing a song called Ji from the new album which is on an eight string guitar and I play along on a six string bass. Again, it's quite a challenging one. A lot of our songs in our set we've been playing for years now so it's always nice to play something new and give us a bit of a challenge live.
Is it true you guys are writing for a new EP and album?
Yeah I guess you've probably been given the first release of our EP. I dunno if that's all been announced officially yet. We have an EP that's written, recorded and actually turned in already. It's going to be coming out hopefully early next year. Even though EP is the description for it it's more of an experiment of sorts and I guess we'll reveal more about that in the future because nobody really knows what's coming which is very cool. We've been looking forward to unveiling something that we've been working on for a while because we've kind of been working on it in secrecy.
Yeah it's all been very hush hush.
Yeah, definitely. We have the Australian tour early next year and then we'll record the new album. We have a lot of ideas going but it's still early days. We haven't really started working on it but I'm confident that it shouldn't be too hard for us to do that. It's a process we're really looking forward to seen as it's been two years since the last album. We've toured a lot and experimented with new sounds. We're really looking forward to making this more of a team effort with everyone contributing their ideas.
What influenced the writing process for the EP?
OK so the experiment is that we all wrote a song independently. I mean we did collaborate a little bit but everybody has a song on the EP. What's kind of cool is there's the six main tracks and one intro track but what's cool is the six main tracks have a very different vibe because they were all written by a different member exploring their own sound. With this I feel you can really hear what each member brings to the table, especially when you go back and listen to all of the songs. There's a very strong kind of signature sound to each song. That's why I'm calling it an experiment really because it's not such a traditional band effort.
When you were growing up, what bands inspired you to want to be in a band yourself?
Early on, as much as I hate to admit it now, I used to listen to a lot of the nu-metal stuff. Things like Linkin Park. I mean this was when I was first picking up a guitar. That was my introduction to the heavy side of things with melody. As I progressed on the instrument I started listening to more and more technical stuff. I got into thrash metal, things like Megadeth and Metallica and from there I got into more extreme stuff like Sikth which was a big one for me. They're from England and broke up unfortunately in about 2008 I think but they were extremely forward thinking. I feel if they were around now they'd be a lot more relevant with what's around but they were just way ahead of the curve. Very technical yet melodic and really energetic. They were a huge influence for me. Then of course there's the classics like Dream Theater who we were very lucky to have gone on tour with this year and even Between The Buried and Me and a more modern band in Protest The Hero. Meshuggah's album Destroy Erase Improve was a massive influence on me. I'd like to think you can hear some of their more technical riffs in our music.
What would you say is the best and worst thing about being in Periphery?
Well the best thing I think is being able to see the world and play the music you like to the people who appreciate it. I think the worst side, which really isn't even that bad, is constantly being on the road. It's such a minor thing compared to all the positives.
Is there a band that you would love to tour with but haven't had the opportunity to do so as yet?
I would love to tour with Gojira (performing at Soundwave 2014) who are a French metal band. They're incredible to watch live. We played with them at Download Festival in the UK a couple of years ago and it was amazing to see the reaction from the crowd. We'd really love to tour with them given the chance.
Which country would you say has the craziest fans?
Australia is pretty up there and so is Canada and the UK in terms of fan response with the moshing and going off at a live show. It was pretty great playing in the Philippines and India which was a very different experience as far as fan involvement. There were some real die hard fans out there and it was great to go out and play to them in their home country.
Is there a country which you haven't toured in but would like to?
I'd like to see more of the far east for sure. I was born in Singapore and I think it'd be amazing to go and play there again. I dunno how much of a scene there is. Sorry, not play there again but visit there again. I haven't been back in a great number of years now. I feel we've played more of the major territories. Actually, it'd be cool to play Russia. I'd love to see Moscow.
We'll make this the last question. What words of wisdom would you give to those aspiring to play in a band?
I'd say now more than ever that there is no real way to fame. Anyone that's doing what we do now is just incredibly lucky in a way. If you're a good musician who plays good music and a nice guy that gets on with people then that's the best way to increase your chances of being successful.
Thanks very much for your time today and enjoy your time in Australia.
Thanks, I will.
Matt Barton
TICKETS ON SALE FRIDAY 22 NOVEMBER, 9AM (LOCAL TIME)
FRIDAY 31 JANUARY
BRISBANE, THE HI-FI – 18+
www.thehifi.com.au
SATURDAY 1 FEBRUARY
SYDNEY, THE METRO – Licensed All Ages
www.ticketek.com.au
SUNDAY 2 FEBRUARY
MELBOURNE, BILLBOARD – 18+
www.oztix.com.au | www.ticketek.com.au | www.moshtix.com.au
Hey, Nolly. How are you?
Good. And you?
Good. You must be excited to be returning to Australia with Animals as Leaders early next year?
Yeah for sure. Funnily enough I'm returning to Australia in a few weeks time. I'm going to be spending Christmas and New Year in Melbourne so I'll be coming back even sooner than that.
Is that to spend it with friends and family?
Yeah. I've never experienced a hot Christmas before so I'm keen to see what that's like.
Back to the tour, have you toured with Animals as Leaders before?
Yeah we just finished up a run in the US called the Summer Slaughter tour. We were both co-direct support to The Dillinger Escape Plan. I've also been working with them helping produce their new record so as soon as our current tour finishes tomorrow I'm going to L.A to help them finish that up. They're really good friends of ours.
You guys played Soundwave this year. What was that like?
That was amazing. Mind boggling in fact. The awesomeness of being in Australia as the fans are always amazing, the weather is incredible, the food is incredible. It was just an all round incredible experience.
What was the best band that you managed to catch live at Soundwave? Did you see many bands?
I didn't see as many as I'd have liked to to be honest. One I was really hoping to see but didn't was Northlane. Unfortunately those guys clashed with us every day. One of the very impressive bands was Crossfaith from Japan. We actually did two sidewaves with them in Sydney and Melbourne. They're the type of band that you might not know them when they first come on but they're just so over the top with their stage antics and they sound great live and look the part. They're just a really impressive band to watch.
I went to that sideshow in Melbourne and Crossfaith, for a band that have never been to Australia, just stole the show. They did the same thing at Soundwave.
Yeah, absolutely. It's the type of music that just goes over so well live and they're so enthusiastic so it's just amazing.
You're currently touring with two Australian bands, Dead Letter Circus and Twelve Foot Ninja. What's that been like?
That's been awesome. Yeah, it's been really cool. Kinda funny that we ended up with two on the bill. Dead Letter have toured the US a few times already but Twelve Foot I'm fairly sure it's their first time so it's been kinda fun to introduce them to American culture for the first time. In the same way they've both been teaching us more about Australian culture. I'm getting along really well with the Dead Letter Circus guys. They're really great dudes. I'm looking forward to seeing them with Karnivool when I'm in town in January.
How did it come about to get the two Aussie bands on the bill?
Twelve Foot Ninja was one of the requests of the band from when we played with them in Melbourne. The whole band loves them so much. We wanted to expose them to the US audience. Dead Letter were put forward by our management. We have a lot of clean singing in what we do and we were definitely looking for a more melodic band to help us. We normally get teamed up with bands that are all screaming and are more metal but we thought it'd be nice to have a more straight up melodic rock band on the tour. We're big fans of their music as well so it's been a real pleasure to have them on the road with us.
How would you describe a Periphery show for those that haven't seen you live before?
That's a tough one. It's kind of a sonic assault. We cover a lot of ground with what we do from the more mellow stuff to really quite heavy stuff. This last tour I feel like we've really developed a live presence with a big light show and a bigger production because we're a headliner. We feel like we've got a kind of mysterious thing going on behind us with the strobe lights and such so you can't really see our faces too well. To sum up I guess it's loud and heavy and also clean and beautiful at the same time.
Do you have a favourite song to play live?
This tour we've brought back one song that we haven't played in a long time called Insomnia from our first album. It's a really technical song. Quite possibly the most technical song we've ever done so it's always a fun challenge to play live. We're also playing a song called Ji from the new album which is on an eight string guitar and I play along on a six string bass. Again, it's quite a challenging one. A lot of our songs in our set we've been playing for years now so it's always nice to play something new and give us a bit of a challenge live.
Is it true you guys are writing for a new EP and album?
Yeah I guess you've probably been given the first release of our EP. I dunno if that's all been announced officially yet. We have an EP that's written, recorded and actually turned in already. It's going to be coming out hopefully early next year. Even though EP is the description for it it's more of an experiment of sorts and I guess we'll reveal more about that in the future because nobody really knows what's coming which is very cool. We've been looking forward to unveiling something that we've been working on for a while because we've kind of been working on it in secrecy.
Yeah it's all been very hush hush.
Yeah, definitely. We have the Australian tour early next year and then we'll record the new album. We have a lot of ideas going but it's still early days. We haven't really started working on it but I'm confident that it shouldn't be too hard for us to do that. It's a process we're really looking forward to seen as it's been two years since the last album. We've toured a lot and experimented with new sounds. We're really looking forward to making this more of a team effort with everyone contributing their ideas.
What influenced the writing process for the EP?
OK so the experiment is that we all wrote a song independently. I mean we did collaborate a little bit but everybody has a song on the EP. What's kind of cool is there's the six main tracks and one intro track but what's cool is the six main tracks have a very different vibe because they were all written by a different member exploring their own sound. With this I feel you can really hear what each member brings to the table, especially when you go back and listen to all of the songs. There's a very strong kind of signature sound to each song. That's why I'm calling it an experiment really because it's not such a traditional band effort.
When you were growing up, what bands inspired you to want to be in a band yourself?
Early on, as much as I hate to admit it now, I used to listen to a lot of the nu-metal stuff. Things like Linkin Park. I mean this was when I was first picking up a guitar. That was my introduction to the heavy side of things with melody. As I progressed on the instrument I started listening to more and more technical stuff. I got into thrash metal, things like Megadeth and Metallica and from there I got into more extreme stuff like Sikth which was a big one for me. They're from England and broke up unfortunately in about 2008 I think but they were extremely forward thinking. I feel if they were around now they'd be a lot more relevant with what's around but they were just way ahead of the curve. Very technical yet melodic and really energetic. They were a huge influence for me. Then of course there's the classics like Dream Theater who we were very lucky to have gone on tour with this year and even Between The Buried and Me and a more modern band in Protest The Hero. Meshuggah's album Destroy Erase Improve was a massive influence on me. I'd like to think you can hear some of their more technical riffs in our music.
What would you say is the best and worst thing about being in Periphery?
Well the best thing I think is being able to see the world and play the music you like to the people who appreciate it. I think the worst side, which really isn't even that bad, is constantly being on the road. It's such a minor thing compared to all the positives.
Is there a band that you would love to tour with but haven't had the opportunity to do so as yet?
I would love to tour with Gojira (performing at Soundwave 2014) who are a French metal band. They're incredible to watch live. We played with them at Download Festival in the UK a couple of years ago and it was amazing to see the reaction from the crowd. We'd really love to tour with them given the chance.
Which country would you say has the craziest fans?
Australia is pretty up there and so is Canada and the UK in terms of fan response with the moshing and going off at a live show. It was pretty great playing in the Philippines and India which was a very different experience as far as fan involvement. There were some real die hard fans out there and it was great to go out and play to them in their home country.
Is there a country which you haven't toured in but would like to?
I'd like to see more of the far east for sure. I was born in Singapore and I think it'd be amazing to go and play there again. I dunno how much of a scene there is. Sorry, not play there again but visit there again. I haven't been back in a great number of years now. I feel we've played more of the major territories. Actually, it'd be cool to play Russia. I'd love to see Moscow.
We'll make this the last question. What words of wisdom would you give to those aspiring to play in a band?
I'd say now more than ever that there is no real way to fame. Anyone that's doing what we do now is just incredibly lucky in a way. If you're a good musician who plays good music and a nice guy that gets on with people then that's the best way to increase your chances of being successful.
Thanks very much for your time today and enjoy your time in Australia.
Thanks, I will.
Matt Barton
TICKETS ON SALE FRIDAY 22 NOVEMBER, 9AM (LOCAL TIME)
FRIDAY 31 JANUARY
BRISBANE, THE HI-FI – 18+
www.thehifi.com.au
SATURDAY 1 FEBRUARY
SYDNEY, THE METRO – Licensed All Ages
www.ticketek.com.au
SUNDAY 2 FEBRUARY
MELBOURNE, BILLBOARD – 18+
www.oztix.com.au | www.ticketek.com.au | www.moshtix.com.au