Adrian Fitipaldes - Northlane (27/11/2012)
The 59th Sound recently spoke with Adrian of Northlane ahead of their appearances at Soundwave festival 2013.
Hey Adrian how are you?
Good mate, how about yourself?
Yeah I’m not bad, what have you guys been up to lately? Have you been writing or touring?
A bit of both. I’d have to say that we are always writing music. Were always trying to expand, to come up with new sounds. We recently toured Canada with some awesome bands and I believe we are going to Melbourne this weekend and New Zealand the week after and this December we have Parkway Drive to wrap up the year.
How was your Canadian tour with Stray From the Path and Obey The Brave?
That was probably the best tours and experiences of my entire life. Just because, being a band from Australia you don’t really know what to expect when you are headed off to North America. I always compare it from a kid going from primary school to high school. You are sort of playing with the big boys now. You don’t really know what to expect, you don’t know who is going to be nice to you and who isn’t going to be nice to you. But luckily enough all the bands on the tour made us feel really welcome no matter what type of music they played. It was really reassuring for us and affirming that we are doing the right thing. We felt accepted and it was really humbling.
Canada sprouted some really great hardcore bands like Alexisonfire and Silverstein, what’s the Canadian hardcore scene like from your time over there?
I’d say it’s a little bit stronger than Australia’s, I hate to admit it. But North America is where hardcore came from. Well it came from New York but New York is very close to Eastern Canada and there is a lot of passion and hardcore spirit still there. You just see it in the fans, they just absolutely kill each other of their bands. One of the bands that people in Canada specifically love is Counterpart. When I watched them they really struck a deep core within myself, the spirit of hardcore was there and it was like passion at its finest. I was blown away. It was just amazing to see that.
How did you guys find your break into the music scene?
It’s a funny story actually. We were playing at this children playground type café thing and it was a really small show to about 30 – 40 people. I actually watched a lot of bands when I was younger and there was a guy their called Chris from House Vs Hurricane. I met him when I was growing up, when I was about 14 or 15. Luckily he remembered us and he was like ‘oh you are playing in Northlane, I’ve heard a lot about you guys’ and he watched us play and really liked us. Later on he called his manager Luke from We Are Unified and he came to some of our shows in Sydney and in Melbourne. Then he told us he wanted to sign us up to We Are Unified. Their roster is really impressive with bands like Amity Affliction, Deez Nuts, The Getaway Plan, Dream on Dreamer, even the Aussie hip hop artist Illy. They are in my opinion probably the best label to be on for our type of music. They gave us a shot and I hope we are making them proud.
Do you have tips for any up-and-coming hardcore bands?
If you really want to do this, realise that you are going to have to sacrifice a lot of money and a lot of time. Yeah, a lot of time and effort. It’s not easy, it’s not all fun and games. There are a lot of times when you don’t have a lot of money. There are times on the road where you are wondering how you are going to afford to live the next day. When you get home you wonder if you are still going to have a job. Yeah, I have been fired from plenty of jobs, I’ve had times on the road when I’ve been next to nothing on money. It can get you down but you can’t let it. You have to remember that it’s all going to be ok and that you are working towards something. For us it was a really rough period where we didn’t know what we were going to do, who was going to sign us and we spent all this money on this album. But as I said, we were lucky enough to get involved with We Are Unified and we are very thankful for that. Hard work pays off, you just have to keep it up.
What are you guys looking forward to about Soundwave next year? Will it be your biggest festival so far?
Yeah totally man, I am just looking forward to just being a part of it. Of just being there and having that experience. I have been waiting for that day for a long time; Soundwave has been one of those personal goals that I think every Australian band has in the back of their mind – or the front of their mind. I’m just really looking forward to seeing some killer bands, playing to some massive crowds, playing on some massive stages. Just really rasing the bar for our band.
What bands are you particually looking forward to playing with, or even just meet?
Aw man, uh… Blink 182 for sure, they were one of the first punky, fast, intense bands that I got into growing up. Also Linkin Park I am really excited for, once again one of the first bands to start yelling and screaming. You know that rocked a lot of people’s worlds back in the day when they first heard the line ‘shut up when I’m talking to you’ and things like that. That hit me hard when I was a kid so I am really excited to see them. I’ve never seen them play before either. Memphis May Fire are really great. our good friends While She Sleeps from the U.K toured with us on the House vs Hurricane tour, sorry the Crooked Teeth tour. Honestly there are some really good bands on the tour and I’m excited to see the lots of them! (Laughs)
I heard you guys like to camp out in the Blue Mountains before you go on any tours, is this to prepare mentally or is it just for a quiet place to practice and relax?
It’s a bit of both man. Sometimes it’s hard to get some good work done when you are only practicing for 2-3 hours once a week. We tend to go up to the Blue Mountains for 2-3 days and get some serious work done. Unwind, get away from the city and go back to that simplistic lifestyle. You know, you and your boys, cooking your own food. It’s really nice not only to get in touch with yourself but also the nature, it’s really nice out there. There are plenty of trees, a lot of flat land. It’s really nice to be back in that environment rather than buildings and grey skies.
I am curious, do you guys have other jobs while you’re in the band now?
Right now I still have a job. Luckily I have a job that’s very, very understanding about my position in the band. There are a few musicians at work that play in bands as well. I work in charity. I work on behalf of charities like WSPA, World Socity for the Protection of Animals. I just started working for Green Peace the other day as well. We have some really big clients and I am really, really stoked. It’s really easy to grow resent for a job especially while you are touring all the time and you are having fun. I love having a job that’s raising money to do good things in the world.
Bit of a different question, but how big has your biggest wall of death been? Have there been any major injuries?
I’m pretty sure there is footage, if any fans are interested in that question in particular I recommend they look up our Parkway Drive Sick Summer Tour video diary (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMTh7nMNKb4). We included a wall of death in that and it was absolutely gnarly. You see some guy get literally smacked in the face and his nose gets broken. I don’t condone hitting people but in the wall of death things get nasty, you see it as clear as day in that video it’s absolutely massive.
What have you guys got lined up after Soundwave?
Good Question!
Any information on any new albums?
Right now I think that’s all a secret, I want to say more but post Soundwave I am pretty sure is all under wraps and I don’t want to get in trouble from mumma Josh the shot caller in our band.
Are you guys going to play any Sidewaves?
I’m hoping we will. I’d love to play some if we have the opportunity. Right now I haven’t heard any side wave announcements.
Well that’s all we have time for, thanks Adrian
Thanks man, bye.
Ryan Hyde
Hey Adrian how are you?
Good mate, how about yourself?
Yeah I’m not bad, what have you guys been up to lately? Have you been writing or touring?
A bit of both. I’d have to say that we are always writing music. Were always trying to expand, to come up with new sounds. We recently toured Canada with some awesome bands and I believe we are going to Melbourne this weekend and New Zealand the week after and this December we have Parkway Drive to wrap up the year.
How was your Canadian tour with Stray From the Path and Obey The Brave?
That was probably the best tours and experiences of my entire life. Just because, being a band from Australia you don’t really know what to expect when you are headed off to North America. I always compare it from a kid going from primary school to high school. You are sort of playing with the big boys now. You don’t really know what to expect, you don’t know who is going to be nice to you and who isn’t going to be nice to you. But luckily enough all the bands on the tour made us feel really welcome no matter what type of music they played. It was really reassuring for us and affirming that we are doing the right thing. We felt accepted and it was really humbling.
Canada sprouted some really great hardcore bands like Alexisonfire and Silverstein, what’s the Canadian hardcore scene like from your time over there?
I’d say it’s a little bit stronger than Australia’s, I hate to admit it. But North America is where hardcore came from. Well it came from New York but New York is very close to Eastern Canada and there is a lot of passion and hardcore spirit still there. You just see it in the fans, they just absolutely kill each other of their bands. One of the bands that people in Canada specifically love is Counterpart. When I watched them they really struck a deep core within myself, the spirit of hardcore was there and it was like passion at its finest. I was blown away. It was just amazing to see that.
How did you guys find your break into the music scene?
It’s a funny story actually. We were playing at this children playground type café thing and it was a really small show to about 30 – 40 people. I actually watched a lot of bands when I was younger and there was a guy their called Chris from House Vs Hurricane. I met him when I was growing up, when I was about 14 or 15. Luckily he remembered us and he was like ‘oh you are playing in Northlane, I’ve heard a lot about you guys’ and he watched us play and really liked us. Later on he called his manager Luke from We Are Unified and he came to some of our shows in Sydney and in Melbourne. Then he told us he wanted to sign us up to We Are Unified. Their roster is really impressive with bands like Amity Affliction, Deez Nuts, The Getaway Plan, Dream on Dreamer, even the Aussie hip hop artist Illy. They are in my opinion probably the best label to be on for our type of music. They gave us a shot and I hope we are making them proud.
Do you have tips for any up-and-coming hardcore bands?
If you really want to do this, realise that you are going to have to sacrifice a lot of money and a lot of time. Yeah, a lot of time and effort. It’s not easy, it’s not all fun and games. There are a lot of times when you don’t have a lot of money. There are times on the road where you are wondering how you are going to afford to live the next day. When you get home you wonder if you are still going to have a job. Yeah, I have been fired from plenty of jobs, I’ve had times on the road when I’ve been next to nothing on money. It can get you down but you can’t let it. You have to remember that it’s all going to be ok and that you are working towards something. For us it was a really rough period where we didn’t know what we were going to do, who was going to sign us and we spent all this money on this album. But as I said, we were lucky enough to get involved with We Are Unified and we are very thankful for that. Hard work pays off, you just have to keep it up.
What are you guys looking forward to about Soundwave next year? Will it be your biggest festival so far?
Yeah totally man, I am just looking forward to just being a part of it. Of just being there and having that experience. I have been waiting for that day for a long time; Soundwave has been one of those personal goals that I think every Australian band has in the back of their mind – or the front of their mind. I’m just really looking forward to seeing some killer bands, playing to some massive crowds, playing on some massive stages. Just really rasing the bar for our band.
What bands are you particually looking forward to playing with, or even just meet?
Aw man, uh… Blink 182 for sure, they were one of the first punky, fast, intense bands that I got into growing up. Also Linkin Park I am really excited for, once again one of the first bands to start yelling and screaming. You know that rocked a lot of people’s worlds back in the day when they first heard the line ‘shut up when I’m talking to you’ and things like that. That hit me hard when I was a kid so I am really excited to see them. I’ve never seen them play before either. Memphis May Fire are really great. our good friends While She Sleeps from the U.K toured with us on the House vs Hurricane tour, sorry the Crooked Teeth tour. Honestly there are some really good bands on the tour and I’m excited to see the lots of them! (Laughs)
I heard you guys like to camp out in the Blue Mountains before you go on any tours, is this to prepare mentally or is it just for a quiet place to practice and relax?
It’s a bit of both man. Sometimes it’s hard to get some good work done when you are only practicing for 2-3 hours once a week. We tend to go up to the Blue Mountains for 2-3 days and get some serious work done. Unwind, get away from the city and go back to that simplistic lifestyle. You know, you and your boys, cooking your own food. It’s really nice not only to get in touch with yourself but also the nature, it’s really nice out there. There are plenty of trees, a lot of flat land. It’s really nice to be back in that environment rather than buildings and grey skies.
I am curious, do you guys have other jobs while you’re in the band now?
Right now I still have a job. Luckily I have a job that’s very, very understanding about my position in the band. There are a few musicians at work that play in bands as well. I work in charity. I work on behalf of charities like WSPA, World Socity for the Protection of Animals. I just started working for Green Peace the other day as well. We have some really big clients and I am really, really stoked. It’s really easy to grow resent for a job especially while you are touring all the time and you are having fun. I love having a job that’s raising money to do good things in the world.
Bit of a different question, but how big has your biggest wall of death been? Have there been any major injuries?
I’m pretty sure there is footage, if any fans are interested in that question in particular I recommend they look up our Parkway Drive Sick Summer Tour video diary (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMTh7nMNKb4). We included a wall of death in that and it was absolutely gnarly. You see some guy get literally smacked in the face and his nose gets broken. I don’t condone hitting people but in the wall of death things get nasty, you see it as clear as day in that video it’s absolutely massive.
What have you guys got lined up after Soundwave?
Good Question!
Any information on any new albums?
Right now I think that’s all a secret, I want to say more but post Soundwave I am pretty sure is all under wraps and I don’t want to get in trouble from mumma Josh the shot caller in our band.
Are you guys going to play any Sidewaves?
I’m hoping we will. I’d love to play some if we have the opportunity. Right now I haven’t heard any side wave announcements.
Well that’s all we have time for, thanks Adrian
Thanks man, bye.
Ryan Hyde