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Prepare For Annihilation With DAVE HALEY From PSYCROPTIC · HEAVY Music Interviews

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: I'm Dave from Socroptic. I'm the drummer.
• 0:03
  Speaker 2: We've got a brand new album out July seventeenth, the
• 0:08
  Speaker 2: Pulse of Annihilation, and I think it's album number nine.
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: So that's the brief synopsis.
• 0:14
  Speaker 3: Fantastic, Dave, thanks for joining us today.
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: Brother Pleasure, Pleasure A way's my friend.
• 0:19
  Speaker 3: Sir, as you say so, Croptic unvalue new album, The
• 0:22
  Speaker 3: Pulse of Annihilation on July seventies. So how are you feeling?
• 0:25
  Speaker 3: Man Like? How's this period by you?
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  Speaker 2: It's pretty good, Like we're all very excited in the band.
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: We feel like we're in a I guess a creative
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: hotspot at the moment. So we're all still we're definitely
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: not tired of the band, definitely not over it. So
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: it feels like, at least over the last couple of years,
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  Speaker 2: it's been a like a new lease on the band's life,
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: so to speak.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's good. We're nervous but happy.
• 0:58
  Speaker 4: Can you want to sue the album from a music
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  Speaker 4: still point of view and tell us that you were
• 1:01
  Speaker 4: going to pull this time round?
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  Speaker 2: Well, we never really know how an album's going to
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: turn out ntil it's finished, to be honest, To be honest,
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: like we kind of let them. It sounds pretty cliche,
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: it might sound a bit, you know, esoteric or whatever.
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  Speaker 2: We just let the songs right themselves. So by the
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: end of the process, you know, you sit back and
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  Speaker 2: you listen to it, and I noticed this was a
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  Speaker 2: bit more of a mid tempo, mid paced album than
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: previous albums, maybe a lot more catchy on the first
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: listen as well. And with anything so cryptic, you know,
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  Speaker 2: we just try to build on what we've done before
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  Speaker 2: and you know, try to move into some maybe some
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  Speaker 2: new territories for us.
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  Speaker 1: Definitely some fun songs to play.
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  Speaker 2: You know, it's hard to appreciate the songs until you've
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: had a little bit of a minute and kind of
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: sat back from the recording process.
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  Speaker 1: So looking forward to playing life for sure.
• 2:02
  Speaker 4: Yes, you've released a single was Gathering a Venomous Herd
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  Speaker 4: and No Blade of Grass. So are they good studing
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  Speaker 4: representation of what to respect of their dispassion of service?
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  Speaker 2: I think they're probably pretty pretty close together, those two.
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  Speaker 2: There's a couple of definitely I'm not going to say
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  Speaker 2: odd tracks on there, but some I know there was
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  Speaker 2: there's one track in particular, but it actually reminds me
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  Speaker 2: of like an Injustice for All thrash kind of feel, which.
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: It's very surprising. It's like, oh, wow, that came out different.
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  Speaker 2: I think Gathering is probably like the straight out of
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  Speaker 2: the gate catchy headbanger, which.
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  Speaker 1: That was.
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  Speaker 2: I didn't particularly have a good time in the studio
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  Speaker 2: with that song, but in listening to it.
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: It's like, wow, it actually came out pretty well in
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  Speaker 1: the end, So yeah, this is not me dodging your questions.
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: It's like wow.
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  Speaker 2: It's most of the time we don't really know where
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  Speaker 2: we're going in terms of Okay, we don't have a
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  Speaker 2: set goal that it needs to sound like this.
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  Speaker 1: It's just going to be fun for us and.
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  Speaker 2: I guess pushing us creatively, and I think definitely this
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  Speaker 2: album is one of our best.
• 3:24
  Speaker 4: Yeah, there's going to be a lot of people out
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  Speaker 4: there that are non musos that don't understand what you
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  Speaker 4: mean by saying didn't have a lot of fun in
• 3:31
  Speaker 4: the studio with that song, Like what do you mean
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  Speaker 4: by that?
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: Oh?
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  Speaker 2: I scrapped everything on the day of recording that song.
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: I just wasn't feeling it wasn't coming together. The parts
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: just didn't sit right. So I just we worked on
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: it for quite a long time, just trying different parts out,
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  Speaker 2: trying you be So that was I guess I put
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  Speaker 2: myself under a lot of pressure because.
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  Speaker 1: A lot of the other songs were pretty much how
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  Speaker 1: it rehearsed them.
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  Speaker 2: But I guess when you're on the clock in the
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  Speaker 2: studio and you've got nothing because you scrapped it all,
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  Speaker 2: gotta come up with something.
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  Speaker 1: So we definitely worked very hard to.
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  Speaker 2: I was just trying every different idea listening back, No,
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  Speaker 2: that doesn't work, scrap that. So it wasn't that enjoyable
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  Speaker 2: In hindsight, Now that I've come back and listened to
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  Speaker 2: it and I'm preparing to play it live, it's like, okay,
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  Speaker 2: this is this is a pretty fun song to play.
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  Speaker 1: So it's a good result.
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  Speaker 2: Man.
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  Speaker 4: The press really says that this is a decisive and
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  Speaker 4: new chapter.
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  Speaker 3: Let's play crapty. Would you agree.
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  Speaker 1: Not to? Yeah? I guess so.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, Like I mean, every album is a new chapter
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  Speaker 2: in the band for sure. It just feels like we're
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  Speaker 2: all excited, particularly to get out and play this one live.
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: So yeah, that enthusiasm, you know, sometimes it doesn't that
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  Speaker 2: I know previous.
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  Speaker 1: Albums, you know, you kind of dread getting.
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: Just feel it maybe a bit fatigued, done at all,
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  Speaker 2: But I think this album it just feels fresh to
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  Speaker 2: us and we're excited.
• 5:19
  Speaker 3: Yeah, but it's just your ninth album.
• 5:21
  Speaker 4: As you said before, man like you, in the lead
• 5:24
  Speaker 4: up to album cycles, you go back and listen to
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  Speaker 4: your past albums and sort of see where you might
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  Speaker 4: have been gone and maybe even pick up from another
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  Speaker 4: you know, like from the earlier days or things like that.
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  Speaker 3: Or does that not come in to come.
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: No, not particularly, not particularly.
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  Speaker 2: I guess we're playing a lot of the songs live anyway,
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  Speaker 2: so you get that, I guess refresher courses from different
• 5:48
  Speaker 2: eras in the band just by playing the songs live.
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  Speaker 2: But I don't sit down and listen to a psyccruptic
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  Speaker 2: album from start to finish before going into it. N
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  Speaker 2: I guess that keeps us well men, particularly, it keeps
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  Speaker 2: the slate clean in terms of ideas.
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  Speaker 1: When I'm working on new material, new ideas for the
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  Speaker 1: new songs. You know, I don't want.
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  Speaker 2: To accidentally get drawn into copying something I've done before.
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  Speaker 4: So if you had to look at the nine albums,
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  Speaker 4: I guess over the period of time you'll be making
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  Speaker 4: I'm like, how would you say, though, Coroptics sort of
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  Speaker 4: grown or change musically over those albums.
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  Speaker 2: We've definitely tried to become better songwriters and not just
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  Speaker 2: constructors of riffs in order, if that makes sense. Sometimes
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  Speaker 2: in the early albums we just tried to jam too
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  Speaker 2: much in There's some great stuff we did, but there's
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  Speaker 2: also some stuff.
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  Speaker 1: Maybe we should have.
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  Speaker 2: Let that breathe a little bit more, or maybe we
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: should have done that, But you know, that's exactly what
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  Speaker 2: we wanted to do at that point in time. Hindsight's
• 6:58
  Speaker 2: always twenty twenty, but I think we're definitely trying to
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: always improve as songwrinds. That's yeah, letting the song come
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  Speaker 2: first and then everything else kind of dictates from that.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, Coirl, It's going to be the second album having
• 7:15
  Speaker 4: both Jason's sharing the vocal duties. So how have they
• 7:18
  Speaker 4: done grain or come together over those two albums.
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  Speaker 2: It's been even though it's a bit unorthodox, it's it's
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: been quite a seamless introduction, to be honest, Like it's
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  Speaker 2: maybe that's added to the new enthusiasm we all kind
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  Speaker 2: of feel because.
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  Speaker 1: It's something different to us.
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  Speaker 2: Jason, Well, there's Peppo and there's Kaiser, the two Jason's.
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  Speaker 1: And they both had a hand in.
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  Speaker 2: Whoever writes the lyrics for the song also writes the
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  Speaker 2: structures and the phrasing and.
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  Speaker 1: Everything like that.
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  Speaker 2: So Kaiser, I think he this is his first time
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  Speaker 2: that he actually wrote a couple of sets of lyrics
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  Speaker 2: and structures and yeah, it's it's good. It's just injected
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  Speaker 2: a new element into the mix for us.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, but I suppose that would sort of change things
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  Speaker 4: a little bit musically, having to someone else write a song,
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  Speaker 4: like what.
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  Speaker 3: Sort of things do you reckon he's brought songwriting wise.
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  Speaker 1: That's probably.
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  Speaker 2: It's hard to pinpoint, you know, one thing in particular,
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  Speaker 2: but it could be as simple as okay, that's a
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  Speaker 2: new rhythmical element that hasn't been used before, you know,
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  Speaker 2: especially vocals, because you're treated.
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  Speaker 1: It like another instrument.
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  Speaker 2: So it's just different ways of approaching a song, different suggestions. Joe,
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  Speaker 2: he's the primary songwriter and he actually you know, produces
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  Speaker 2: the album as well, so most of the material musically
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  Speaker 2: comes from Joe, but then everyone else's kind of got
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  Speaker 2: structural inputs or production inputs and things like that.
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: So just having a new, a new element in the mix.
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  Speaker 4: This is going to be your first album with Metal
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  Speaker 4: Blade Records too, mate, Like it's been independent pretty much
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  Speaker 4: wasted in your career.
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  Speaker 3: So what things does being with the label like that
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  Speaker 3: open up for you?
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  Speaker 2: Well, for a start, I mean it's a legendary label,
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  Speaker 2: so we're out of contract and we had a short
• 9:27
  Speaker 2: list of labels would like to sign to a metal
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  Speaker 2: number one on it. So for actually for it to happen,
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  Speaker 2: it was like, Wow, it's Killer's kind of stuffed chop
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  Speaker 2: oildhood dreams are made of. I mean, they know what
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  Speaker 2: they're doing.
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  Speaker 1: You know. That's it's great to I guess fully just
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  Speaker 1: trust a label with your art, So here go. You
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  Speaker 1: do what you guys do because you know how to
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  Speaker 1: do it.
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  Speaker 2: You've done it for this long and you're pretty much
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  Speaker 2: the only independent metal label out there, so we're not
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  Speaker 2: going to tell you what to do something that regards.
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  Speaker 2: It's great. The trust is there. Even though it's only
• 10:10
  Speaker 2: been maybe a year or so that we've actually you know,
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  Speaker 2: signed on the dot of line with them, we definitely
• 10:18
  Speaker 2: feel part of the family. We've met lots of the
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  Speaker 2: staff and yeah, we couldn't be happier.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, tell us about the cover work on the album
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  Speaker 4: made like it just creepy is buck, but it's brilliant Blake.
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  Speaker 3: How does it tie in with the music?
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  Speaker 1: Well, whoever we work with we usually give yeah pretty
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: much full creative freedom and control too.
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: So we hit a stumbling block with a previous artist for.
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  Speaker 1: The cover art.
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: And not to get into that too much, but we
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  Speaker 2: had to had to find a new artist quite quickly.
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  Speaker 1: So we'd worked with the artist below, necro Arts.
• 11:05
  Speaker 2: He's a Portuguese artist, would work with him on a
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: couple of designs previously, so we just hit him. It's like,
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  Speaker 2: do you want to do the cover art? He's a
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  Speaker 2: loose concept and go forth. And within a week from
• 11:24
  Speaker 2: the loose concept we gave him, he came back with
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  Speaker 2: that so perfect.
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: Don't change it, it's perfect.
• 11:30
  Speaker 3: Well, how did you not go well? Working with a
• 11:33
  Speaker 3: guy called Blio though his real name he changed it.
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  Speaker 1: Uh No, I think that's his working title let.
• 11:41
  Speaker 3: In today his parents must rick if that's what they
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  Speaker 3: named him. A bird. He's headed out on the.
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  Speaker 4: Road as well, starting with three Tasmanian shows over August sixth, seventh,
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  Speaker 4: and eighth, and then you head over here for some
• 11:54
  Speaker 4: dates with Ribbons and Nile Mates, so great way to
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  Speaker 4: sort of road chest and new material.
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: Yeah for sure. I mean playing Tazzy, it's you know,
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  Speaker 1: it's our home hometown. It's always good.
• 12:08
  Speaker 2: I guess test quite quite test some of the new
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  Speaker 2: songs down there as well, because there's a lot of
• 12:14
  Speaker 2: our mates down there and there's a bit of a filter,
• 12:17
  Speaker 2: so they're going to tell us exactly what they think
• 12:20
  Speaker 2: you need that. Yeah, exactly exactly, and you know, those
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  Speaker 2: those tasty shows. We might mess around with the set
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: a little bit, just see what works, what doesn't work.
• 12:30
  Speaker 2: And then yeah, we've got the AUSSI dates with Rivers Nil,
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  Speaker 2: which that's a killer package.
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: So looking forward to that one.
• 12:38
  Speaker 4: Yeah, sweet, I've been asking a few bands just lately,
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  Speaker 4: but I'm not sure if it's gonna got to work
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  Speaker 4: with you.
• 12:43
  Speaker 3: But do you remember the first time we ever heard
• 12:45
  Speaker 3: one of your songs on radio? And what was it?
• 12:47
  Speaker 3: And where were you? Just not sure if you guys
• 12:49
  Speaker 3: would have had a song on radio?
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: No, No, we did back in the day with Costa
• 12:55
  Speaker 2: Costa Zulio with three hours of power back then.
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: Yeah, listening to it in my parents attic, where the
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: where our rehearsal room.
• 13:07
  Speaker 3: Was it would be a bit of a buzz.
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: Yeah, that was.
• 13:12
  Speaker 2: That was back on the first album, The Island Disenchairment
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: of Days.
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  Speaker 1: That's pretty weldre.
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  Speaker 3: We haven't had any more sense radio.
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  Speaker 2: Oh, I mean, there's always going to be the metal
• 13:25
  Speaker 2: radio shows the play it. But that was the first
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  Speaker 2: time I guess hearing it, you know, hearing it in
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  Speaker 2: the wild.
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  Speaker 3: All right, Dave, thanks very much for your time. Bro.
• 13:35
  Speaker 3: The Pulsive Annihilation is out to light the seventeenth.
• 13:38
  Speaker 4: I've got a copy to do a review before it
• 13:40
  Speaker 4: comes out, so I'll let you know what I think.
• 13:42
  Speaker 3: But I reckon the brutal of fuck.
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: I hope you enjoy it.