UNITYTX On Tour With Void Of Vision…

‘When Unity plays, it’s just a party. We just play a bunch of music, jump around and encourage everyone else to have the most fun and be themselves as much as they can. It’s worked for us up until now. So, I hope that Australia is ready to party the fuck with us!’

It’s safe to say that Shaolin G, or Jay Webster to go by his given name, of Texan genre bending metallers Unity is excited to finally bring his crew to Australia. While he won’t do any Aussie traditions like ‘Shoey’s’, do expect him to enjoy skateboarding, the sunshine and, well he’s a man who likes natural resources, if you can read between the lines. Throw in the bands mix of music to party too, and it promises to be a hell of ride.

‘We’re just a band that wants to make sure that we connect to the crowd and make sure that they truly feel like they enjoy the show experience. Most bands will get on stage and just do their thing and that’s good enough, but me, I’m a very highly personable person, so I’m like, what is going to make you lose your mind the moment you hear something?’

Shaolin G earlier this month reached out to their Australian brethren to ask for suggestions for the set list and it brought up a few deep cuts.

‘Some people are asking for old stuff before we put out ‘Mad Boy’. You’re asking for stuff that I wrote when I was in my early twenties! It’s cool that people are listening to stuff like that, but I’m like, hell no! I’m not bringing out the pre 2019 music. I can’t do it. There are only two songs that I would take from that, and they were just the singles that I dropped a couple years before we even put out Mad Boy.’

‘I know that everyone found us five years ago when we had first dropped ‘Mad Boy, and I know that people really want to hear those songs, so I’ve been talking to the band, I’m like, hey guys, I think that we should not try to play so many new songs, but instead play some of the songs that everyone has already known because they never really got to experience that. I don’t want to show up and then play everything from ‘Ferality.’

The bands debut tour in Australia is part of Void Of Vision’s final chapter as an entity – for now hopefully – and brings with them fellow Americans Gideon and from Japan, Knosis.

‘It’s exciting because I’ve been a fan of Gideon since they came out with ‘Costs’ back in 2011, so I’ve always wanted to play shows with them. It’s cool that we get to do it in the foreign land. And Knosis. Holy shit. They’re sick. Ryo and I have been homies for a minute and it’s been cool watching him throughout the years and fully developing to what he wanted this project to be and now being able to tour. It’s going to be sick, seeing them for the first time live. What I’m most excited about is seeing everyone from this country experience what we all bring to the table.’

‘Obviously, Void Of Vision. Loved and beloved by the land. I’m excited to tour with them and Jack. It’s going to be a super awesome tour. I’m honored that they even wanted us to be a part of it because I’ve known Void Of Vision for a long time and we just have never been able to cross paths like that. Unfortunately, it has to be amongst their last tour, but hopefully they’ll be back in the future, or we’ll be back in the future and we can hang out with them again.’

Unity themselves are fairly difficult to pigeonhole into a genre, after all there music a concoction of spirits that would make a sailor green.

‘It’s all about the environment, the vibe and stuff. Some songs are real heavy, then other songs are more like club bangers where you can kind of dance and loosen up. Other song we have are hip hop club songs, then we have Goth industrial club songs. I know we’re in a metal world, but we all deserve to be able to have a little piece of something else. So anytime we play shows, I see the change or not the change, I see the different kinds of people in the crowd who are responding to this song. When we play ‘Diamond Diez’, all the girls love it. I call for all Girls Pit and all the girls come out and they all dance to it. Sometimes they mosh, but it’s sick. There’s something there for everyone, when Unity plays, it’s just a party.’

‘So that’s why Unity’s music is so much more fun. We don’t want to be standing around just being statues, playing instruments and stuff. We want to jump, we want to jump into the crowd. I want to get really hyped with everyone. I really want the most to come out of it. I think that us playing those songs from ‘Mad Boy’ will get people hyped, but they’ll be more excited to hear songs from ‘Ferality’. Like when we play ‘World Of Malice’, ‘Diamond Diez’, obviously we’re going to play ‘Burnout’. We just really want it to be the most dopest experience that we can, not only for us, but for everyone involved.’

Interview By Iain McCallum

Catch Unity TX with Void Of Vision, Gideon and Knosis on the following dates, tickets from Destroy All Lines…