Latest / HEAVY Music Interviews / Finding Beauty In Ugliness With MATT WILCOCK From WEREWOLVES

Transcript

Finding Beauty In Ugliness With MATT WILCOCK From WEREWOLVES · HEAVY Music Interviews

• 0:14
  Speaker 1: This is Matt from were Wolves and yeah, we've got
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: a new album out. It's called The Ugliest of All.
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: It's out now, all streaming, all bullshit, so yeah, by
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: it you'll like it, listen.
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: To it or else. Here you go, mate, Thanks for
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: joining us tonight.
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: Cool man. How you doing very well?
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: Thank you very well? Said, looks cold there, mate, you
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: got the beanie on.
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: It's it's cold in this room. It's kind I mean,
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: it's cold in Melbourne, you know. It's there was a
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: period where it was nice for a little bit a
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: few weeks back, but it's it's sort of reverted back
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: into winter. So yeah, I'm a little bit jealous of
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: you being up in Queensland. So there you go.
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: It looks like you've locked someone in the cupboard behind you,
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: their mates that's trying to get out.
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: I've got to hand. I'll give you one second's funny
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: to get out.
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: Someone's trying to chop your head off.
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: It's my Jason Voy's life size cardboard cut out.
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: You wouldn't want to wake up during the night and
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: look straight at that, and you're just scared to shit
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: out yourself.
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: Were you serving on the outside of the toilet?
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: Door.
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: So when people if we have visitors or in laws
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: or whomever, if they come upstairs during the night it
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: was a bit dark, there'd be this huge machette wielding
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: silhouette waiting for them at the toilet door. So we
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: kind of moved into the spare room. So it's a
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: little less a little less intimidating.
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: That's awesome. Now, speaking of intimidating, mate, Well released your
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: latest Slam with Brutality, the Ugliest of All, late last week,
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: so I know it doesn't be long, but how's the
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: early reception been.
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: It's been good. I mean, it's it's album six of
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: you know, like we've been around for six years or
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: something like that, for seven years and we're up to
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: album six. And to be honest, it's funny because for us,
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: it's just it's another album. But we're happy with it
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: and people seem to people seem to dig it, you know,
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: like we're getting a bunch of sort of good responses
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: and emails and people. People are into it. So it's cool,
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: you know, like we're always excited to release another ridiculously
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: brutal and stupid album. Things are going well.
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: I was going to mention that point like you guys
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: churn out music that regularly, like even bothered with what
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: people think about it anymore, We're just gonna put another
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: one out next year.
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: Anyway, there'll be there'll be another one. I mean, it's
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: it's it's a bit of boat. I mean, we do
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: it because we love it, and it's it's kind of
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: cool to see what people think. But I mean, if
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: no one likes this one, then fucking we're going to
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: do another one next year and it's going to be
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: even worse.
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: The album well, the press release calls the album a
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: devastating album with little let up or mercy. Is that
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: an accurate assessment, I'd say so.
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: We for the past well, I think since album too,
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: we've always included a slow song to sort of break
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: things up a little bit, but just the way I
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: worked this time around, didn't write a slow song. So
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: it's all just intense. And it's funny because like us
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: that the three of us will we'll talk about the
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: album and it's like, yeah, the Sada or the first
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: time of the record, of the first half of the album,
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: it's kind of got what we imagine as the singles
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: on it. So maybe the catchiest songs, the ones that
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: have maybe you've got the most variation, and so you
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: listen to Sada and you know there's a bit of variation,
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: there's a bit of this bit of that. It's all heavy.
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: But yeah, if you put the record or why the
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: time you get halfway through, that's it. The breaks break
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: breakaway and it's this full steam ahead. So the second
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: was even more aggressive than the first half. It's a
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: it's a pretty intense listen, which is which is what
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: we're aiming for.
• 3:54
  Speaker 3: You know.
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's the thing with where I was like, you
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: buy an album from you guys, you know what you're
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: gonna get. But within the band yourself, like do you
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: make subtle little changes in there that other people might
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: not notice.
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: I think we probably we're probably just getting a little
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: bit better at the were Wolves songwriting sort of scope,
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: Like there's there's album one was was a bit of
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: an experiment. It's just happened. And then from that we
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: sort of we probably subconsciously realized a few things at
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: work and that don't work. So we I imagine that
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: we probably individually we played our strengths and you know,
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: there's a there's a bit more sort of maybe mosh
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: picked groove in some of it, even though it's just
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: intense and it's all horrible and nasty. There's there's probably
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: a few more, maybe maybe hooks in it. As as
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: we go, we just we've probably just improve as songwriters
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: for the band. But yeah, it's like that. There ain't
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: gonna be no acoustic guitars, keyboards to lead guitars, just noise.
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: It's gonna be ten albums of fucking noise and that's it.
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: Anything else. Now, you touched on it before and again then,
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: but you started you promise ten albums in ten years. Thing, Well,
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: this is the album number six, so you're on the
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: downward slope now now you're halfway through it, or more
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: than half way through. Do you crack a beer to celebrate?
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: Uh? Not really. Dave was in the studio two weeks
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: ago doing starting the drummers for album seven, so there's
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: no time to stop and rest in your liars. I think,
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: I think.
• 5:31
  Speaker 4: When it gets to album ten, if we make it,
• 5:34
  Speaker 4: if we get there, which we're sure things are looking good,
• 5:37
  Speaker 4: then I think then we'll pause for a bit of
• 5:40
  Speaker 4: reflection and maybe a little bit of a celebration.
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: Do you reckon after that, all you'll make it best
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: off from those ten albums are just the best of
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: ten years, that'll be good.
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: I reckon if we're still with the same label or
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: whatever happens. I've got a feeling that at ten they
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: might do whoever we're with it is probably going to
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: do something a little bit special. I mean, that's just
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: wishful thinking. I mean, you know, we've got a box
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: set so far for the first four or first four
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: albums with the extra EP, so I like to think
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: that when it gets the number ten, maybe someone will
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: flip the bill for a ten ten vinyl box sets
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: something or other. That's a lot of money, though, so
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: we'll see what happens.
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: Four albums to find someone with money.
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: Yeah, that's sure.
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: I'm not sure how well you thought it three before
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: and ounce of the planing to ten albums in ten years.
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: But is it harder than you thought it would be
• 6:36
  Speaker 2: to sort of maintain that creativity and output while still
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: maintaining your high standard of music.
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: The last album. I mean, so we've written album number
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: seven and maybe a little bit like it's probably a
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: bit trickier. And that's the only reason I say that
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: is it's probably a little bit harder to sort of
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: not repeat some of the ideas and things that have
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: done before. I mean, you know, it's all the same.
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: It's it's it's it's all noise and it's all blasting,
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: it's all fast. But yeah, it's just it's probably a
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: little bit trickier. But I mean, if ac DC can
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: do however many albums have done with three or four chords,
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: then surely surely we can sort of, you know, we
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: can get to ten albums. So we'll see what happens.
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: That'll be sort of touched on this a little bit too.
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: But the more recent albums that had flashiness, sob touchiness,
• 7:32
  Speaker 2: like with the Hawks, like you say, in a bit
• 7:33
  Speaker 2: of levity, but with the ugliest of all, it's all darkness,
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: hate and vicious Like is that a sign of what's
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: to come to the remainder of the ten album series
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: or are you still going to change up?
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: I know, well the next album we've got a slow song,
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: so that that's going to sort of bring that into it.
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: They're always kind of moody and that they're dark and yeah,
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: it's just slow and heavy. There is a little bit
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: of there's a few different grooves happening on the next one.
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: So again, this it all just depends how it pans out.
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: Like I'll generally write, like I'll write an album or
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: you know, I'll write nine songs and I'll give them
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: to Dave and he'll do the drums, and then we'll
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: give it to Sam and he'll do the vocals, and
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: we don't really have much to do with well reach
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: you know, perhaps that Dave might say to me, You'll
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: hear the demos and he'll say, oh, maybe make this
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: one a bit quicker, or maybe slow that bit down
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: a bit. Whatever. It's all pretty minimal. But yeah, there's
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: I know that there's a there's a few sort of
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: different grooves in the next one. But I guess it
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: depends how we feel. I mean, I know Sam's Sam's
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: lyrics stem from what's going on in the world, what's
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: going on social media and just the news and all
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: the rest of it.
• 8:44
  Speaker 2: So more than ten years on that ship.
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think given how horrific things are, like, you know,
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: at the current time, there's there's probably no coincidence that
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: this album, the ugliest of all, is turned out so horrific.
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: It's got such a wide variety of bullshit to complain
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: about and get angry about. So it depends what happens.
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: It's something, it depends what's going on in the world
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: as to how the vocals will turn out, I guess,
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: but he's always got a plethora of shit to talk about.
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: So I didn't actually know this until I read the
• 9:22
  Speaker 2: press release. But you've got a tradition of putting a
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: song on each album that rips into your fans. What's
• 9:27
  Speaker 2: the story behind that?
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: Well, I think we're quite good at taking the piss
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: out of each other and what we're doing as a whole.
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: So I'm sure he is taking the people, he is
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: taking the piss out of the fans, but at the
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: same time, like I'm the biggest fucking heavy little fan
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: there is, so without a doubt, we're taking the piss
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: out of ourselves equally as much as anyone else that
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: we may or may not be taking the piss out of.
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: Does anyone take it the wrong way? Don't even come
• 9:56
  Speaker 2: up here the shows and go. You shouldn't be talking
• 9:58
  Speaker 2: about us that.
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: Not not yet, But there's still time still.
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: Four albums ago, so once more even listed Mitchell not
• 10:10
  Speaker 2: lead to the album cover right, and he's outdone himself.
• 10:12
  Speaker 2: Man Like it could easily be the visual accompaniment to
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: the speech of Bricktop gave him snatch about getting rid
• 10:18
  Speaker 2: of bodies.
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: Yep, that's right, that's exactly right to be. Uh, well,
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: we we sort of let him, let him. We we
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: hand the reins over to him. So we'll generally give
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: him when we're getting close to having an album done,
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: we usually send him the lyrics and let him and
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: Sam's Sam may Or may not have a theme that
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: is based loosely based around the album, and they'll they'll
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: converse and he'll read what he wants into the lyrics
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: as well, like he might come up with ideas based
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: on what he's reading, and he'll send over maybe five
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: or six really quite rough sketches, and from that we'll
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: look at them and go, you know, this, this one's
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: gott a vibe, and that they'll be very very basic,
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: you know, and they could just be like the figure
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: of a person and a bit of bloz whatever. It's
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: it's all pretty pretty, very very basic. But yeah, so
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: he sent through this album's selection of things and we
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: could see that it was pigs at a trough full
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: of blood, and gore eating a person, and it's like,
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: that's the one. That one, no argument, that's what it is.
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: Work on that one. So he developed it, and each
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: time he sends through a rough sketch of it, it's
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: gotten better and it's more horrible than it was before.
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: And then yeah, get to a point you look at
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: it and you feel kind of sick and it's like, yeah,
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: that's it done exactly.
• 11:48
  Speaker 2: Yeah, you hit the road early next year for a
• 11:51
  Speaker 2: few shows with a bat and Bastardizer. That's not going
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: to be to the faint hearted. That run of shows.
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: It's going to be amazing. I can't wait, so excited.
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: Where Wolves haven't done, we haven't done a run of
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: shows for a while. We're in we're in Perth for
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: Electric I first, I think it's cold, which is next week,
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: and that's that's gonna be great because we've not been
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: to Perth either. So yeah, we've played the odd show
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: over the last twelve months. But it's going to be
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: cool to play play with a bath And also I'm
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: so excited about watching him just play a set of
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: immortal songs. It's so yeah, it's gonna be great.
• 12:33
  Speaker 2: Kar wait and with all the albums. He's a Ryan bro, like,
• 12:36
  Speaker 2: you must be getting more and more difficult to come
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: up with the settlerst ones every year.
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: Well, because we haven't been to Perth yet, we're gonna
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: stick to the sort of the regulars for that show
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: because that'll be the one, the first show we've played
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: over there, so we'll do what would be comfortable with.
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: But yeah, for the shows in January, we'll we'll have
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: to ever think. I know there's one song off off
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: the new album that we're going to include in the set,
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: So we'll see how it all goes, see how long
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: the set is and what we what we feel like
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: doing and what.
• 13:08
  Speaker 2: Do you got played between now? Like I say that
• 13:10
  Speaker 2: tours in January, so what do you got between now
• 13:12
  Speaker 2: and then? Any gigs or them? Just bunkering down?
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: So the three of us in Werewolves also do a
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: band called Faustian and it's basically just our black metal outlet.
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: So we're in the midst of finalizing the mix of
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: our second album. So that's cool, And as far as
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: were Wolves go, I think I'll probably just start recording
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: the next one soon. We've Yeah, we've only got the
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: gig in November and the shows in January. The moment booked,
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: so we use all this spare time just to get
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: the next next welves done dusted.
• 13:49
  Speaker 2: It's all right, bro, Well the ugliest of all is
• 13:51
  Speaker 2: out now. And if you're on your mind blowing off
• 13:54
  Speaker 2: and melted and have a listener, she's a bracket rob.
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: But otherwise I'll see at one of these shows in
• 13:58
  Speaker 2: Brisbane early next year.
• 14:08
  Speaker 3: For cut.
• 14:18
  Speaker 5: Ss for some last Nation Joe So Uncle song father
• 14:24
  Speaker 5: jos I read, I think not box choice of f fuck.
• 14:29
  Speaker 6: Up ter fall for six three thoughts, fuck about fos.
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: So sa.
• 15:02
  Speaker 6: Cool cool, four three girls straight, nice way t a
• 15:14
  Speaker 6: mon same time says money when you got a stile
• 15:16
  Speaker 6: Hicks sus mind nice homes forty sells.
• 15:20
  Speaker 3: Waits two right when I say it's.
• 15:22
  Speaker 6: Something that everybody sign time say jack, God says else skill.
• 15:26
  Speaker 7: Say I'll do so, but the tree's really why they
• 15:39
  Speaker 7: would do a bolt se second parces ws W Consertius.
• 15:47
  Speaker 6: I S four s suit scoring some point.
• 15:54
  Speaker 3: We uh so.
• 15:57
  Speaker 6: Tell your side or boy, so U.
• 16:17
  Speaker 3: Want to buck a straight guse ve cool to you?
• 16:20
  Speaker 3: You t goes down black mass him.
• 16:23
  Speaker 7: Yourself something so hard right time and that's something to
• 16:26
  Speaker 7: features plains and not the two to see.
• 16:29
  Speaker 3: You swallow fire about thirty three year swas sing. Then
• 16:38
  Speaker 3: it's my son's office.
• 16:40
  Speaker 6: Sunday, two nights whenever a long.
• 16:45
  Speaker 3: Four, it's for a holy man.
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: It's on hers and.
• 16:50
  Speaker 3: Too good.
• 16:51
  Speaker 7: That's way.
• 16:54
  Speaker 3: Cool. May just feel something y I talk just annoying,
• 17:10
  Speaker 3: miss well.
• 17:11
  Speaker 7: We are side very well, thy nobodys I such.
• 17:34
  Speaker 6: Years, said.
• 17:44
  Speaker 7: Dodo.
• 17:49
  Speaker 8: Right, good evening everybody, but those of you who haven't
• 17:55
  Speaker 8: been initiated. That's what they call death metal music. That's
• 17:58
  Speaker 8: not just only and aggressive. It's obsessed with death, suicide, violence,
• 18:05
  Speaker 8: the kind of scuff that scares the daylights out a nice,
• 18:07
  Speaker 8: respectable middle class people