Sydney punk-rock outfit Black Heart Breakers are looking to build on their success in 2017 with bigger shows and another record due out this year.
“2017 was probably our best year yet, that was a really good year,” says guitarist/ vocalist Hayden.
“We put out our five-track vinyl EP ‘Wasted’, that was our follow-up to the debut album. There was a bit of time in-between because we wanted to get all the songs perfect and we’re really happy with the way it’s turned out.
“2017 had a lot of good gigs for us too. We did the Marky Ramone support in November and that was our best gig yet getting to open up for a Ramone, and we also got to start on what will be the follow-up to the ‘Wasted’ EP that will come out sometime this year.”
Black Heart Breakers debut album came out in 2014, leaving some three years gap between it and ‘Wasted’.
For ‘Wasted’, Hayden says the band wanted to move past their roots and produce music with a darker edge, resulting in the single ‘Bad Monkey’. “We were going for a little bit more of a darker vibe than our debut album,” he says.
“The debut album we put out was pretty much just ‘70s power-pop, very clean and happy sort of stuff, but for this one we wanted to try something a little bit more on the rock side than the punk side, trying to make it a little bit darker and meaner.
“That was generally the vibe for most of the songs on that EP, the lead single being ‘Bad Monkey’, which kind of sums up that whole EP really. In fact, that song and video are the flagship for the band: this is what we do, this is who we are.”
The band are already working on their next EP, which continues their desire to experiment with their sound and push the limits of their songwriting.
“This next EP we’re working on now is not as different as between the first one and ‘Wasted’ but there’s still a lot of difference because we’re big fans of bands who like to experiment and play around, try different things and see what works, and we’ll probably continue to do that.
“The only thing with this one was to get a bit heavier and a bit more punk on it; it’s been a while since we played some straight-up punk so it was about getting back to that but still putting all the things we love on it.”
With new music on the way, Black Heart Breakers now shift into performance mode for 2018, including plans for at least two east-coast tours.
For now, they play their first live show for the year at Dicey’s in Wollongong. “It is the first gig of the year really,” Hayden says.
“It’s been a while since we played just because we’ve been focused so hard on this new release and getting it perfect. So now that the heavy-lifting of that is out of the way we’re back to focusing now on our live shows, which have always been a big thing.
“This show at Dicey’s is going to be the big kick-off to 2018 for us really. It’ll be a high-energy night of rock & roll, I can tell you that.”
