Light. Dark. Light again. With apologies to Angie McMahon, it's the perfect description of the timeline of the Brisbane-based punk band that is WAAX.
Formed 13 years ago as a rough and ready punk band, playing local south-east Queensland haunts, fronted by the fierce and fiery Marie 'Maz' DeVita, WAAX quickly grabbed the attention of the triple j audience, landing a BIGSOUND slot, recording their first EP, and building a reputation for being one of the hottest new bands in the country within just a couple of years.They would go on to record two albums, the second of which 'At Least I'm Free' highlighted some dark times for the lead singer. Not long later, everything hit the skids as the band announced farewell shows and seemingly the group was sadly done.
Before their farewell shows, Maz announced: "All I ever wanted was to play gigs and make records – who knew sh.t could get so complicated."
No more than half a year later, WAAX was revived as a one-person act. DeVita, the driving force of the group, decided she needed to keep the name alive as a means of continuing her musical journey.
It wasn't long before DeVita decided to travel to Los Angeles to start working on her songwriting, collaborate with some big names and look towards the future. With a fresh start, a new band of musicians and a zest for life, DeVita returned to Australia to perform some powerful shows in November and is set to replicate that as part of the Great Southern Nights initiative in March.
This phone interview finds Maz at her temporary home on the Gold Coast just days before returning to the US to continue writing. I asked her what it's been like living State-side. "I find the atmosphere there really, really good for songwriting. It's really motivating," DeVita explains.
Despite only having played a handful of shows in LA, including the Mates festival curated by fellow Aussies VACATIONS, the main reason for being in the US is to find a new sound and to attend songwriting sessions and opportunities with big artists, including Alisa Xayalith from Kiwi band The Naked and Famous.
Living abroad has also given DeVita a chance to look at the Australian music industry from a new perspective. "The industry needs to move faster," she shares, when talking about the local scene.
"They need to think outside of the box and put more investment into local artists. It's rebuilding, but still not where it needs to be."
Community is important to DeVita and that's why she's collaborated with a new group of artists in her Australian shows. Half of Cry Club and accomplished producer, Jonathan Tooke is on guitar, while Izzy De Leon on bass plays with Pink Matter, Thelma Plum and solo as Of Lion.
Guitarist Karelia Moloney and brutal drummer Rangi Barnes make up the current group who will be performing two shows in March. "It's become a collaborative project," Maz says, talking about the current state of the band. "They're my steady people that I want to work with."
Only one new song was revealed at the shows in November, but DeVita hints there may be more on the way this year. When asked if the sound of WAAX will be taking a new direction, she is coy. "I'm really excited about it and it's still going to have the old flavour but some fresh sounds."
The light is around the corner. Two shows in two nights in March will again give fans a peek into the new world of WAAX as things start to look bright again. The passion that exudes from DeVita for writing, collaborating and giving it her all guarantees that the revival of her group will be bright.
WAAX play the UOW UniBar (Wollongong) Friday 28 March as part of Great Southern Nights.
WAAX 2025 Tour Dates
Fri 28 Mar - Great Southern Nights @ UOW UniBar (Wollongong)Sat 29 Mar - King Street Warehouse (Newcastle)
Thu 10 Apr - Solbar (Sunshine Coast)
Fri 11 Apr - Soundlounge (Gold Coast)
