Their latest album might have won them an ARIA, but guitarist Mark Hosking says their victory was far from inevitable.
"I certainly didn't expect it to happen with this band, you know?” he says. “We were nominated for a couple, I think, and hard rock is such a weird area. We don't even really define ourselves as hard rock, and it's hard to say what we even are.
“The new album is quite challenging, but we don't make apologies for that as it's part of what we do. I think all awards need to be taken with a little bit of humble pie, but it's a nice accomplishment. You never know how these things are going to go, so it was a nice cap on what has been a very busy year.”
More than four years in the making, the Perth quintet's third full-length record sees the band once again pushing the boundaries of rock music. “‘Asymmetry’ is a continuation of the journey that this band is on,” Hosking says. “We've always said we're never going to do the same album twice. With this one we really had a chance to try a few things we've never tried before
“The process of taking a long time to write music, turning every stone over and making sure we always find something we can use to our advantage is just the next phase of how we're trying to be creative with this band. If we had our way we'd do an album every year, but we just know that's not physically possible with the kind of stuff we're doing. We do need time to breathe, and to be honest there are a couple of songs on the album that have come together in weeks, and others that have taken six to seven months. We're happy because if we wanted to change it we could, but we seem to keep falling back to this period of time which tends to be around three to four years, when it feels like it's cooked, if you know what I mean.”
Australian fans won't have to wait long to see the band, with a national tour locked in for January. “We definitely back our live show,” he says. “It's something we feel is strong and we love to do it. There's always trepidation about how new songs will be received; some people are going to like them and some people aren't. On the live front, some people hear the more challenging songs and it clicks, or they get it more when they hear it live. We know that live, we have a better chance of getting our music across to people and they can better understand what you're trying to do.”
Despite the ARIA win and plenty of recognition at home and abroad, Hosking is clear the band won't be resting on its laurels. “We've just had a discussion about what's happening in 2014. It's all a bit of a balancing act as we all have other things going on in our lives now and we're no spring chickens anymore. In saying that, we've made a big commitment to tour, tour, tour this album hard. We'll be doing at least another run around Australia. There are some festivals overseas, more European action, and hopefully we'll be getting to the States, as we've promised so many people we will. Around that, we'll be trying to get these new ideas out of our heads and starting to form the next album.”
Karnivool Tour Dates
Wed 8 Jan - The Palace Theatre (Melbourne)Thu 9 Jan - The Palace Theatre (Melbourne)
Sat 11 Jan - Marquee @ RNA Showgrounds (Brisbane)
Sun 12 Jan - Coolangatta Hotel (Coolangatta)
Wed 15 Jan - CEX (Coffs Harbour)
Thur 16 Jan - Newcastle Panthers
Fri 17 Jan - Roundhouse (Sydney)
Sun 19 Jan - Waves (Wollongong)
Thu 23 Jan - Red Hill Auditorium (Perth)
