Seraphs Coal
No stranger to controversy, Adelaide’s Seraphs Coal was accused of “voter fraud” when their single Hope Is Where the Heart Is debuted at #4 on Triple J’s Net 50, before proceeding to hold steady at #1. This was the start of a series of unfortunate events that Juice Magazine dubbed “Seraphsgate”, ultimately seeing the band blacklisted by Triple J. Years have passed and Seraphs Coal have decided its time to give back to the die hard fans that got left behind with the controversy with a tell-all documentary titled Through All These Years, release date to be announced! In the meantime, the year 2020 see’s the band coming back one last time for some special Resurrection shows and they’ve asked their old friends to come along for the ride. Dan Jones answers some questions about the tour for Hi Fi Way.
Awesome line up, how did this tour come about?
Unexpectedly! We resurrected the band for three back-to-back sold out shows in Adelaide a few weeks ago, which blew us away. Chopdog Entertainment reached out about taking it on the road, which morphed into this crazy nostalgia fest with Antiskeptic and For Amusement Only!
Do you find not touring as much, or not at all, that you actually do miss it?
I miss aspects of it. Catching up with friends and meeting fans is always a highlight. Personally, I’ve always been driven to write. Songwriting is the art making and touring is like exhibiting for me. That said, these shows are a different animal! So many memories and emotions, which has actually been surprisingly healing. Can’t wait to pour myself into these ones.
Has there been a lot of fan pressure to tour again?
It is something that has come up repeatedly over the last seventeen years. Even one band reforming is a lot of work. Multiple reunions in this stage of life is ridiculous, but it’s something our fans wanted, so we dug deep to make it happen one more time.
Has it been tough moving on past what was called “Seraphsgate”?
Haha! Honestly, the Net50 incident was probably one of the best things to ever happen to us. It massively increased our profile and we got offered a lot of festivals after that, including Triple J festivals like Livid. I think the “blacklist” was needed to save face after what was mostly a misunderstanding between us and the station.
Do you think this tour will lead to something more regular?
No. This is definitely a one-time thing to mark almost twenty five years since we formed.
Is new music on the cards?
Actually, yes! This is breaking news, but we recently went into the studio to record eleven of our earliest songs that were only demoed or previously unreleased. We tracked, mixed and mastered the whole thing at Ghost Note in four days. We’re stoked on how it came out and can’t wait to stream that for free to say thanks.
Will there be a bit of competitiveness between all the bands on the bill?
Maybe Antiskeptic haha. Look, there’s no competition. We were never the best band, we just had the best fans. Just being in the same room with these guys is going to be a trip. Add our friends and the next gen of pop punkers and we’re going to have a ball.
Is there an arm wrestle or rock paper scissors to work out who headlines each night?
I would put my money on Nick to win that fight, so no, haha.
Do you get to compare rider requests?
FAO have requested Wiggles costumes and Antiskeptic is bringing a hairdresser. I mean who has hair these days? Grow up guys, seriously.
Who do you think will be the biggest prankster on tour?
Ben from FAO. Pants down, no warning. I’ll be keeping an eye on him.
Interview By Rob Lyon
Catch Seraphs Coal on tour with Antiskeptic and For Amusement Only on the following dates, tickets from OzTix…
