Michigan’s Finest Of Virtue To Rock Froth & Fury

‘When we come play Froth and Fury, it’s songs like ‘Anxiety’, ‘Hypocrite’, we’re just coming out and we have thirty minutes, twenty five minutes, whatever it is and there’s some heavy hitters on there. We’re going to get up there, beat some ass and see what’s going to happen.’

Damon Tate, the affable guitarist in Michigan’s finest Of Virtue, lays down a marker of intent at next month’s Froth & Fury Festival in Adelaide. Off the back of fourth Album Omen, a collection of songs that quantum leaped the band forward, the confidence is not misplaced.

‘You play a festival, you want to play the fast, the heavy, the energetic, the singalongs. Balls to the wall, one hundred and ten percent energy and emotion. You’re going to get the best out of us. If you don’t know who we are by the end of the show, we’re going to force you to have an opinion on us. You’re either going to love it or you’re just going to be like, that band gave us everything.’

This is the bands first visit to Australia and images growing up of our Soundwave’s and Big Day Outs, combined with our wonderful natural wonders over in the States has the guitarist keen for their jaunt with Sienna Skies.

‘I’m a big scuba diver. I love swimming, I love being able to see ocean scenery when I have the chance to, and I know with the Great Barrier Reef, there’s some issues going on with that, literally looking bleached, which is crazy, we suck as human beings. Growing up too and seeing Soundwave and Big Day Out. I’m a huge Limp Bizkit fan dude. Growing up and seeing that stuff, damn, ‘they’re really doing it like that over there?’ Oh my gosh!’

When the band do get here, you’re going to see a battle-hardened road warrior outfit that by the end of 2024 would be nearing two hundred shows and a collection of songs sharpened to paper cut precision.

‘I think by the end the year, I think we’ll be at one hundred and eighty, somewhere around there. We just left the studio this last weekend. We just write ’em in spurts. So we will jam out a couple songs, get some demo ideas, and everything’s kind of based around what we’ve been doing with ’Omen’. So we can see live, what works for us, what connects with the audience, and let’s bottle that up. If I notice Tyler does something specific every show that might not be on the record, but you do that and people love that, let’s bring that back and bottle that up, put that into a newer song that then we can turn around. Even on ‘Omen’, there’s a song called ‘Cut Me Open’ and a song called ‘Sober’. Both of those two were actually the last two songs to go on the record, but we had already been playing the record for about a year and a half beforehand. So those were the manifestations of we are now turning, we know what we want and we can take it and put it into a thing and go boom, put it out into the world. We’re just going to play to the strengths now and it’s been great.’

The last word goes back to why we are all in this, for the music, the immersive experience, and what an Of Virtue show is all about.

‘If you don’t know who we are, you’re going to get one hundred and ten percent of raw honesty, emotional intensity and we’re going to leave you feeling something. What that is, that’s up to you. Might be a bloody nose, might be a smile, who knows?’

Interview By Iain McCallum

Catch Of Virtue at Froth & Fury Festival at Harts Mill, Port Adelaide on Saturday November 9. Tickets from MoshTix…