Day Of Contempt Play Their First Adelaide Headliner In 15 Years This Friday…

Well, hello! Tom, Ben, it’s an honour to be chatting with you today. Thank you so much for taking the time to talk all things DAY OF CONTEMPT; how’s beautiful Brisbane?
Tom: (Laughing) It’s a bit warmer than Adelaide!

I can imagine! Obviously, Tom and I were talking over email about swapping places; this time last week, I was in Brisbane, warming up my cold winter bones.
Tom: Oh, yeah. I always kind of think it’s the retirement age thing to do, isn’t it? Come up to Queensland, warm heat on the bones? Yeah, the arthritis is already feeling better (all laugh).

Far from talk of that, tonight marks a very special occasion, the first of hat-trick performances, on DoC’s first home headline run in fifteen years. Affectionately referred to on social media as the ‘silver fox tour’, what does it mean to be doing this, older and (hopefully) a little wiser?
Tom: Ha, that’s good! Well, for me, you know, we’ve grown up a bit, got kids, got families, and while that was probably not achievable eight to ten years ago, it’s now a lot more manageable and encouraged, I guess. My kids came to our last show when we did support for THE GHOST INSIDE in Adelaide, and they loved it. It’s just nice to be able to do it, be playing, to be making noise again. It’s fun!

Ben: It’s one of those things you take for granted, isn’t it? You’re young, you’re at shows all the time; it’s awesome but that’s your whole life. Then life sort of shoos you onto this other pathway, and then just getting that chance to be around friends is really special. That’s what’s really great. I feel like all the kind of bands that kind’ve got us into it, they’re a bit older than us – FORCE FED 9 and PRICE OF SILENCE, all of those early Adelaide bands – and, now, that we are, in a small way, that kind of thing to some other people who are a bit younger than us, is pretty cool. It’s pretty special and we feel pretty lucky for that. That we can show up and play a show a really, really long time later, and people are still enjoying going to it, you know? It’s cool.

Tom: I think the run last year really sort of solidified where we went, “Actually, this has been a lot of fun. Let’s see if we can do some more.”

As you mentioned, DoC have had a little practice recently – Going Down Under with TGI in 2025, and playing at 2024’s FROTH & FURY FEST. In the audience at both Adelaide shows, the performances and reception reflected the spiritual saying: ‘home is where the heart is’. The ‘family reunion’ up next on Friday, what should we expect and what are you hoping to see?
Tom: I just want people to have fun, enjoy it, you know? I’ve seen some older bands of late, like DOUBLE DRAGON last Friday. Haven’t seen them in ages, and we’ve all sort of wound the clock forward a bit; it’s still sort of the same people in the same room, and you’re still enjoying the same music. It’s great.

Ben: Yeah, I mean, there’s been a strange and pretty crazy kind of progression for us. We went from playing community centres in Adelaide, making veggie dogs or whatever else between sets, doing these really funny little shows that we loved, to then progress; it is really cool to come back to where it really started for us. Some of the faces are the same, whether they’re feeling a bit old and crusty at the back of the room, that’s totally cool, or some (laughs) spilling beers and smashing out some lyrics. We always try to bring the energy and sort of channel a bit of rage, and then you see someone like that, and I can let a little smile happen, you know what I mean? You’re trying to stay in the zone, but you can’t help it. I live in Melbourne now, I have for quite a while, but, you know, Adelaide’s always got a place in my heart, and (pointing to Tom) you’ve kept it mad real.

I think those are all stories that each of us, be it on or off stage, can resonate with. Similarly, we’re in that era now; the bands that epitomised our experiences, are all celebrating major milestones, and it’s pretty darn cool to remember what it was like, and throw down in that pit because we might not ever have the chance again!
Tom: Yeah, I feel that, but, you know, I can’t throw shade at the standers – because I am that person! (all laugh)

Ben: To be fair, we got our fair share of injuries back in the day: I think I broke my nose at a PROM QUEEN show. I think I broke my wrist once and Benny destroyed his knee!

Tom: Yeah, my injuries were more accidental, carrying amps down flights of stairs and twisting ankles, so…

Ben: That’ll do too (both laughing nostalgically). Not DoC related, but once I was playing guitar for CARPATHIAN, in New Zealand. It was kind of a high stage with a concrete low floor, and I did a bit of a (claps hands), you know, and hit it. I was borrowing someone’s Peavey stack and it started to tip, and I’m like, “Oh my god, I’m about to break and destroy this person’s amp, so I hug onto it, but it’s way heavier than me, so it’s dragging me. I’m about to plumb it head first, but luckily someone came out of nowhere and saved the day. Bodies are on the line with this stuff, aren’t they?! We’ve put in some hard yards, but it is really nice to get that sort of a bit of nostalgia back.

I mean, I guess we are part of the hardcore world. It’s all in the name, isn’t it?
Ben: Definitely (all laugh)

On that, DoC are amongst the most influential Australian hardcore bands of all time, and, built on one hell of a foundation, the scene remains strong. What do you think it is about our sleepy little city of Adelaide that inspires heavy music and do you think there’s enough recognition for the collective contribution?
Tom: Well, first and foremost, I think as I get older I realise I probably took it for granted when I was younger, that people actually liked the music that we wrote. We tried really hard with the music that we were writing, and, you know, we loved it, but now, as I get older, it’s sort of like, “Oh, actually, people really cared about it, and it just feels really good”. The second part of that question, what has driven that? I don’t know. I mean, I think I always liken it to: Sydney was always fast, Melbourne was sort of fast with some Grimecore mixed in, and then Adelaide had the other stuff. I think it was just organic…

We grew up going to see Price of Silence, Force Fed 9, EXPLODING WHITE MICE, and all those sorts of shows. I think what really hit home for us was its difference; I think it just naturally went down that path. But, I mean, as far as the heavy stuff, (thumbing at Ben) this guy’s responsible for me.

Ben: Well, I mean, we both were lucky enough to sort of bounce a lot of bands off each other; most of the hardcore stuff I got into, I found out from you (gesturing back to Tom). It was very nice of you to say that about our band. I don’t know if it’s necessarily accurate, but I feel like we’ve had some impact, and we’re lucky for being in the right place at the right time, and getting on a vibe kind of early in the mix. It’s a weird phenomenon, isn’t it? I feel like, for us, there were these bands that just sort of set fire under us, you know what I mean? Exactly like Force Fed 9, Price of Silence, WHERE’S THE POPE – all doing cool stuff, at different stages while we were getting into it, and I feel like there was that sort of niche, where you we’re a bit closer to them; you could actually talk to them after the show and just hang out. You know, Greg (Wood) from Price Silence would just be chatting to us, and we’re wide-eyed, and he’d say, “Hey, check out this band you might like from Belgium.”

It felt really cool, like we can do stuff like this, and I hope we passed a bit of that on to other bands. You know so much more about the bands before you, because you obsess over them, maybe more so than the ones following. We’re not in there, in the trenches at the small shows every weekend, but I love to see that that it’s still going, it’s still a thing that’s happening in some random location, weekend-to-weekend. If we’ve played a small part in the lead-up to that, fantastic.

As someone on the other side of the stage too, who’s been at every possible show this millennium, I completely agree. There’s just something humble about the artist experience in Adelaide, that is still pervasive today. That authentic and reciprocal accessibility is really special.
Ben: Yeah, for sure. I was also going to say, Darren (Reid) from EMBODIMENT 12:14. Embodiment were sick and probably underrated, but one of the coolest things happening when we were getting going was him being up front for us for shows. Even though we were probably garbage, everyone was very genuinely supportive.

I mean, we tried going down the mall, handing out flyers for random shows if we’re on them, even if we just booked them and there were other people on them; trying to give them out to, you know, “SLIPKNOT shirt, you might be into it” and trying to be welcoming. I guess it was different vibes.

Certainly when I went over to the US for the first time, I was kind of like, “Oh, this actually is pretty different”. It was pretty conflict driven, people were pretty happy to just, you know, proper attack people, turn the entire show into a fight. We had a pretty nurturing space most of the time. Of course, the scene had its things, and there was, like, you know, gossipy stuff that would kick off as well, but, by and large, everyone tried to do good by other people.

I’m sure soundcheck will be calling you shortly, a final multipart question if I may. The trajectory of recent years hopefully heralding DoC’s fulltime return to the fold, I’d love to hear your insights on then and now; what’s changed or stayed true, what does the future hold for yourselves, and what advice do you have for the new wave?
Ben: I mean, there’s a lot of parts to that. For us, we’re working on some new stuff! We’re not pushing it super hard, but we’re enjoying it and we’re feeling it out, so hopefully we’ll make that happen. We’re all busy with lots, but we are really enjoying it when we can get the time to make it happen.

Then to now? Look, it’s just so different. Social media is so different, it didn’t exist, and, we’ve said a few times, just finding out about records was just a completely different experience. You know, you had Spiral Objective catalogues that you would get from Greg and it would have this giant spreadsheet printed out in a huge booklet. It would have a band’s name, and you’d never heard of them, and it would give you a sentence to say what they’re kind of like. It’d mostly be, like, “Raging hardcore from here,” or it could be grindcore, or it could be metalcore; you wouldn’t even know until you get it, and you buy it. It’s just so different to anything you hear of now. You can press a button and you can listen to that band, you know?

Tom: I mean, it’s just a testament to the time. I think my first order on Spiral Objective was probably 95-ish, probably around then, and he (Greg) was in Adelaide, but he was pretty popular. Still, it was, like, a two-week turnaround! By the time you put your order in and then send your money order (all laugh).

Ben: Crazy, right? Oh, it sounds so bad, but it felt special because of that as well. At the risk of sounding old, everything wasn’t so immediate.

And there was a beauty to that right?
Ben: It’s a bit of a push-pull. It’s really nice to see someone releasing something and you hear it basically immediately, but when we were younger, you’d hear about someone recording an album and then it’s kept under wraps for a long time, and then you’d have to wait and wait. It felt like an event! Depends what you like as well, I guess. I tend to lock in with a record I love, and I’ll listen to it kind of forever, whereas some people will listen to all the new stuff and that’s awesome. That really is great, too; you need both.

It’s a much more globalised environment, which has its good and bad points; it’s totally different. Hardcore’s always been a bit less of a gatekeeping space. You could always put out your own stuff, but still it’s hard to get on the bigger shows. It was hard to get traction with bigger labels, probably less so now; you can really just record some stuff that sounds really good with minimal money invested, minimal equipment and sounds, and get it around to a lot of people, which is really cool.

Tom: I mean, we spent some hideous amount of money on our first recordings, and people were gobsmacked at the time. I listen to it now and go, “Look, it’s good for the time”, but I listen to demos that come out that are so much more polished and nicer now. It’s just the technology’s so, so different.

Ben: Oh, yeah, for sure. Recording onto a giant tape, actual tape?! Super different. Look, I don’t know what you think, but I think the social media space is pretty problematic. We’re all just stuck on this stuff, and we spend a lot of money to make sure we’re as addicted to it as possible. I feel like it’s not a great place to be as a human being, let alone like someone going through those like important kind of times and formative years. I’d say, you know, as far as advice for new bands? They know their world better than I do because my experience was a long time ago, but make what you think is great. If you like what you’re doing, just make it as good as what you would like to see and don’t take the haters to heart.

That’s a part of it, but just enjoy what you’re doing. I think, if you’re doing that, you can see the world, you can meet heaps of people who are awesome, and it all takes off from there.

Tom: I think if I were to wind it back, if I could say anything to my younger self, it would be: take advice and take criticism on, in a positive light.

Beautiful, yes!
Tom: Learn from it, rather than getting armoured up and use it to make the next one better. I guess, as an older person, that’s easy to say but being defensive is so easy but that is what will hamper you.

Ben: Look, I see what you’re saying, it’s natural, right? But, if there’s something to take from it, if it’s something you can add to what you’re doing, do, but then you have to let it go as well. I feel like it’s so easy to ruminate on stuff, I can do that as well, so, take what you can that’s worth it. Some of it’s gonna be garbage, but there will be genuine stuff that can be positive.

People really take you under their wing as well, and come up and say, “Hey, you guys should get your own mixer who does all your shows, come check out this amp, or you should meet this label guy”, you know, people who know the ropes. When you get those people who are good to you like that it accounts for a lot. I’m not like Mr. Network, at all; I’d rather just have a couple of friends and be chill. But, that really does help as well. It’s not my thing, it does take a personality, but it works and it’s something that I’ve learned in my elder years. I’ve had to.

I guess, all those ruminations can be summarised by the infamous Charles Dickens’ quote: ‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of times’. True then and now, each era has its positives and negatives, and, on that, I look forward to doing both, reliving some memories and creating some new ones together on Friday, and thanks again.
Tom: Thanks, Belinda, we’ll see you then.

Interview By Belinda Quick

Catch Day Of Contempt with Life Pilot, Hammer 618 and Forge Friday 31 July at Lion Arts Factory, tickets from MoshTix…