Banks Arcade Return With A Brand New EP ‘A Muse’

‘We had some of the biggest shows that we’ve ever had in New Zealand, especially New Zealand was crazy. We came over and did a support run with Highly Suspect, playing arenas over here and Highly Suspect sell an ungodly amount of tickets. I think that they did ten thousand tickets in Auckland across three shows, and then they did five thousand in Wellington, four thousand in Christchurch. They were big, big shows and it had an impact.’

Melbourne based New Zealand genre bending metal band Banks Arcade have just completed their Death 2 A Muse tour which was the meaty filler in between two EP’s the band drop in 2024, the already released Death 2 and soon to be birthed A Muse. Frontman Josh O’Donnell reflects on the highlights of the bands recent tour.

‘We sold out our Christchurch shows and sold more than we ever have in our hometowns and stuff. So I think that was probably the big high. Then obviously playing Max Watts in Melbourne was pretty awesome. Probably the best show of tour, which was the same as last tour was in Sydney. For whatever reason, they just go psycho for us. So that was probably the highlight, but the whole thing was amazing.’

A Muse is an EP of light and dark, the swagger, rhythms, the groove in the songs belie the lyrical content that can be personal and with a touch of heartache. Self Help an example of self reflection immersed in a gripping musical dopamine hit of abstract art.

‘So the idea behind that, it came from the fact that one time I was having a trip of some kind in my younger years and I thought this was a good idea. I had two phones – somehow I think I had my mate’s phone – and I called my own phone, put both phones up to my ear and I was talking in one ear and hearing it out the other. It kind of freaked me out at the time, but I remember I was writing one day and I just thought, oh man, even when you’re doing this, it can be so hard and you’re like, man, am I doing the right thing? Should I just stop this? You think it all the time, especially when things are getting really hard and financially and just all the sunk time and it’s like, man, I’d love to have a chat with myself in twenty years and see what happened, see what the outcome was. That’s kind of what ‘Self Help’ is.

It was like imagining having a phone call with yourself in the future and just asking those questions. I think it kind of finds resolve in the fact that we are never going to get those answers and we just have to keep doing whatever makes us happy and whatever we want. Yeah, obviously it’s kind of a bit of a sad song, but there’s also a bit of resolve there as well.’

Lost Causes is a break up track while No Future tackles how the world portrayed itself during that weird time a few years back.

‘It was written at that time where everyone was freaking out and I thought that everyone was going mad, that this whole thing was just ridiculous, the way that everyone was behaving online. I think all of these events that happened, how much people drink the Kool-Aid of anything online, on any side. I don’t get on there and take sides. I’m like, there’s people that are going extreme about all these conspiracy theories and all this crazy stuff, and then there’s these other people that are like, if you don’t wear a mask, you’re a racist or some insane thing and everyone’s having this extreme conversation. At that point it felt like everyone was just going crazy.’

‘There was something about it that I liked when I found out, man, there’s a pandemic and there’s people in China just dying and turning into zombies. I was like, whoa, let’s go. There’s something about that chaos that obviously it’s bad and there’s bad things that happen, but once everyone starts going crazy, it’s bad. But then there’s also that side of it that I’m kind of like, oh, what’s going to happen here? And so I think ‘No Future’ is, it’s just a song really about the fact that that shit doesn’t scare me. Not just Covid, but anything, any type of, I’m there for it. I’m going to be in the middle of a war zone and probably feeling more comfortable than I do at a desk job.’

Two EP’s within six months, a tour title that combined both names, Death 2 A Muse, shows the band creativity and work ethic remains undiminished. This is confirmed but Josh’s current workings.

‘I’ve currently committed to do a hundred days of writing. Write every day for a hundred days. I’ve got all my little studio set up in New Zealand and I’m just like, I’m in the middle of nowhere, just head down trying to create something that I think will really be special. So for this year, we are definitely not going to just be touring all year, but there will be a few more things that we’ve yet to announce for sure. And then I think that 2025 is going to be absolutely gigantic.’

Interview By Iain McCallum

Banks Arcade release A Muse on Friday 28 June, pre-save HERE…