Having already sold out several dates of their ‘Node’ November tour, Northlane fans will now be able to catch the lads at Soundwave 2016.
2015 has, so far, seen the band complete a large slice of their world tour; their first major tour since ex-singer, Adrian Fitipaldes, was replaced by Marcus Bridge. The response to their third album ‘Node’, released in July, has been positive, debuting at #1 on the ARIA charts, and landing a feature album on Triple J.
With an intense work schedule, Northlane won't be resting until just before Christmas. “We're pretty much on-tour until a couple of days before Christmas. It's pretty full-on, that's for sure,” the group's guitarist Josh Smith says.
The guys are excited to join the likes of Bring Me The Horizon, Refused and Bullet For My Valentine as acts announced to play Soundwave 2016. “Some of the best shows we've ever played were last time we did Soundwave. There have been a lot of rumours, about the supposed line-up that have got me excited, so hopefully we get to catch a lot of sick bands when we're not on stage.”
"I had to delete my old Facebook page because I didn't even know what my girlfriend was up to; she didn't show up on my newsfeed."
The Sydney-based five-piece have been impressed by the response to the first leg of their international tour. “We've headlined the States and North America. Definitely the highlights were Boston, Toronto and New York. Toronto was definitely the standout – I've never seen that many people stage diving during a gig before. There were about 600 people there and no barrier.”
The Toronto show saw singer Marcus unexpectedly pull-up a female member of the crowd – Lauren Babic from Red Handed Denial – to sing ‘Quantum Flux’ with the band. “He just pulled her out of the crowd, and I was thinking, ‘I've never seen this girl before in my life’, then I heard her sing the song, and was like 'Woah, she's really good!'”
When Northlane put the call-out online for auditions to be their new vocalist, Josh says they received only 2 female applications out of 2,000. “They were really good. There was one girl called Nikki Simmons, who was incredible. And Lauren Babic posted a cover of one of our songs about a year ago.
“There are a lot of girls out there with a lot of talent, but unfortunately, it's a fairly male-dominated industry. Obviously we wanted to choose a male voice to carry-on our sound, because that is what we had already done. There are a heap of female-fronted bands popping up at the moment that are killing it.”
Northlane are no strangers to connecting directly with fans online. “The whole social networking aspect of it is something that has been normalised for us, from day one. "Sometimes it has its drawbacks. I mean, I had to delete my old Facebook page because I didn't even know what my girlfriend was up to, she didn't even show up on my newsfeed.
"It's cool to do stuff like what I did for Soundwave [he managed the SW Facebook account for a day recently], and really get stuck into what people want to know about; they can ask me anything.”
Josh agrees that some of the questions people ask are a reflection of our times. “The internet has come into its own with this new age of entitlement from fans… they have a bit more attitude than they used to have, and because information is so freely available, they want to know everything.
"While that is always with the best intentions, it’s always nice to surprise people. If people knew what they were getting every time they came to a live show, then what's the beauty in doing a live show?”
This “age of entitlement” does make it seem like some fans want to know a band's set list before buying a ticket, in the same way as wanting to know what meals they’ll be served on an airline. “Commodifying it and calling it a product is completely accurate, in that sense. I guess that's how people see it now, whether it's intentional or not.
“There is a song that I wrote about it, actually, on the record. It's definitely changing the way we interact and behave as people, and it's not always for the best. If I go watch one of my favourite bands, I don't want to know what the set list is beforehand… I want to be surprised, I want them to play to me organically and experience what a live show is.”
Written by Leisa Howlett
Northlane Tour Dates
Wed 20 Jan – Grand Hotel (Gladstone)Thurs 21 Jan – Club Hotel (Bundaberg)
Fri 22 Jan – The Wharf Taven (Sunshine Coast)
Fri 29 Jan – Club 54 (Launceston)
Sat 30 Jan – Brisbane Hotel (Hotbart)
Sun 31 Jan – Brisbane Hotel (Hobart)
Thurs 18 Feb – Prince Of Wales (Bunbury)
Fri 19 Feb – Studio 146 (Albany)
Sat 20 Feb – Hyperfest (Midland)
Sun 21 Feb – Lesiure Inn (Rockingham)
