Windwaker To Debut New Tunes At Knotfest
Melbourne metalcore outfit Windwaker have dropped the new, four-song EP Enter The Wall, via Cooking Vinyl Australia & Fearless Records. The band will debut their latest tunes live at Knotfest Australia this week. The band has shared the video for The Wall. The Wall is a fusion of technical guitars with sporadic synths that makes this song so unsettling yet satisfying. The song is built around a southern hip-hop groove led with a mixture of gravely raps and manic screams, evolving around a backdrop of unrelenting metal passages. The track is as fun as it is fierce. Liam Guinane talks to Hi Fi Way about playing Knotfest this week.
New EP The Wall is out now, with two tracks already released, the new songs are ‘The Wall’, which is heavy, and Villain which is emotional. How does the band continue to push your own musical boundaries?
I think we challenge each other and expect the best out of each other too. We have such a wide variety of influences between the five of us with overlaps here and there so it feels quite natural that our music is reflected in that sort of way. But ultimately we’re all so passionate about creating the best music we can put our names to that we’re always looking to try and top the last release.
Is the direction of EP or singles the way forward or will we see a sophomore album eventually?We’ve been hard at work over the last fourteen to fifteen months writing and recording as much music as we humanly can and it’s resulted in A LOT of music so I would say expect to hear a lot more from us throughout the year in whatever way it does come out.
You rejoined the band after Will left and took on vocal duties, what challenges have you faced and does your vocal style drive the new direction?
There were a lot of challenges to start with. I mean it’s been a massive learning curve developing scream techniques from essentially scratch and I’m very proud of the progress I’ve made in such a short space of time. But also learning how to perform as vocalist for a heavy band was certainly new too. Definitely felt like a bit of an imposter at the beginning but also it’s gotten a lot easier with experience as well as being embraced by our fans, followers and people in the industry. Not only that but getting to be a part of the creation of the new music, I feel more connected to it and more myself and it definitely drives us into new territory sometimes.
Preparing for Knotfest next week, do you have a pre-gig ritual and does it change depending on how big the show is?
For me, my pre-gig ritual involves a couple cold drinks, a lot of vocal warm ups, creating a good vibe backstage within the band, stretches and then going to be alone just before we go on for a little bit of meditation and visualisation of the set to come.
At Knotfest, for newcomers, how would you describe a Windwaker show?
It’s gonna be high energy raps, big sings, big riffs and lots of kooky noises to boot. It’s 8 of our best tracks crammed into one neat little package of a set and we hope you have a great time
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Will we see all four new tracks played in the set list at Knotfest?
I can confirm that all four new tracks will be in our set at Knotfest alongside some fan favourites from Love Language.
What’s next moving forward? Australian tour? Overseas?
We’ve been itching to break out of the Australian touring circuit for a long time and I’m pleased to say we will be making our international tour debut this year. We’re all incredibly excited to share more about this in the near future.
Where does your own band, Reside, fit within all this?
Reside has been sitting on a mountain of music for quite some time now and collectively it’s been an adjustment but the boys have been working on a lot of great tracks so the releases will come when they come.
Interview By Iain McCallum
Catch Windwaker at Knotfest on the following dates, tickets from Destroy All Lines…
Windwaker Enter The Wall available now HERE…
