With a sound fans of System Of A Down and Incubus would embrace, Sydney alternative rockers The Opinion Industry are three mates each with extensive experience performing with other acts in the underground scene.
Fusing metal, punk and hard rock, the trio of Benj Axwel (vocals, guitar), Cruisy (drums) and Ben McDonough (bass, vocals) have been working on material (with producer Mitta Norath) for a debut EP that's slated for release early 2022.Their latest offering is a tongue-in-cheek expose of everyone's favourite social agitator, Karen.
"Well, 'Karen' is definitely a song we aren't hanging our creative hat on in The Opinion Industry that's for sure haha," Benj admits.
"This song is an alternate lyric version of our last single that came out in August called 'They're Recording This' and just by chance during the writing of that song, the woman from Brighton, Melbourne, was all over the news and out of my mouth came 'Karen's reporting this'.
"After that, it was all about having fun with the idea – no one likes a Karen and a Karen doesn't want to be one. Stereotypes were used and some liberties were taken to stretch out the comedy of it all.
"The overarching message of the song is to remind people to be kinder."
Ahead of the song's release tomorrow (12 November), scenestr is amped to premiere the 'Karen' music video today. Enjoy.
As for the guest vocals voicing Karen in the song, Benj had to make a call home after a number of people deserted the band when it was go-time.
"There are a few lines that were written for a guest 'Karen' to come in and record, and I had a few options lined up but they all bailed at the last second," Benj says.
"I called my Mum up, who is an Evangelical Christian, to come down to the dark, dingy studio and lay down some lines.
"Mind you, Mum has absolute zero studio experience and was a complete fish out of water – she learned the lines and knocked it out of the park on the first take. I mean she embodied the Karen spirit like she's been whinging her entire life.
"Mitta (engineer) and I start screaming at each other through plexi-glass like we'd just captured a career defining moment for the ages. Looks like all Mum's praying for me over the years really paid off on this one – the Lord works in mysterious ways!"
The creative direction of the music video also had some alterations after the original idea fell through.
"Originally I reached out to some Aussie comedians for a filmed video idea, but responses were either a polite 'no' or crickets – comedians in this country mustn't be short on cash *shrug*," Benj says.
"So I had to pivot and think outside the box and that's when Google put an ad for fiverr.com in front of me.
"I did the math and the 16 pages I needed hand-drawn, coloured and rendered was going to take 6 months and luckily the planning for our release schedule allowed for that. Budget-wise was another story.
"Lots of back and forward to Indonesia via the chat function and my painstaking numerous changes resulted in a lot of great material to get us most of the way there.
"Our bass player Benny Mac edited the whole thing and my script was alive.
"One of my favourite music videos is 'Do The Evolution' by Pearl Jam and so that's what inspired the initial idea. It has come out so good and ready for internet viral supremacy – definitely stands up to our other videos."
The Opinion Industry 2022 Tour Dates
Sat 22 Jan - Hamilton Station Hotel (Newcastle)Sun 30 Jan - The Soda Factory (Sydney)
