Born Lion
Subscribe
X

Subscribe to Forte Magazine

Born Lion

With new music out and in the midst of their ‘The Final Words’ Tour, we had a chat with the band about zombies, bass and The Simpsons, and new music too of course…
Hey guys, thanks for taking the time to chat with Forte, how are you and what are you up to at the moment?
Binge watching season 16 of The Simpsons. My wife wanted fairy floss last night, the only place that had it was Blockbuster… And here we are.
So the new album’s out and receiving rave attention, how are you feeling post-release, glad it’s out? 
Of course. A lot of hard work went into it. We’re keen to see how the songs translate in a live setting now they’re out there and people have a chance to get familiar with them. We’re really hoping that the people who come to the shows – if they know the songs – will feel more inclined to be a part of the show, rather than observing.
Given the style, it’s the perfect kind of tracks to perform live that we’re sure will be a tonne of fun on stage, how have rehearsals been going? 
They’ve been great. We’ve been focusing a lot, again, on turning the show into a more inclusive experience for anyone who comes. We don’t want people to just watch, we want them to be a part of it.
We imagine things on stage with the shows will have the chance of getting quite wild, will you open the craziness with open arms or are you looking for a bit of a quite one? 
We’re definitely open to it getting a bit wild. So far both John and Red have been given piggy back rides mid set… Come grab a mic if you know the words… But if you’re a bit shit, and you outstay your welcome, I’ll let you know. Hot tip for stage invaders: What’s your end game? Know that before you come up here. If you’re end game was to just get on stage, that’s awesome, that’s why I play bass, but the second you feel like you’ve been up here too long, get the fuck out of there. We’ve got shit to do up here.
You did recently tour alongside Yellowcard as well, was there any knowledge or tips shared between you both? 
Not any explicit tips from them to us. However, it was certainly eye opening to see that has been at that level for quite a while do things. I rode next to Josh, their bassist, on the plane from Perth to Adelaide. We had a bit of gear talk on the flight, but that’s boring. No one gives a shit about bass.
We’re lovers of your clip for ‘Break the Curse’ too, how did that idea come about? 
Honestly? We really wanted to put a good film clip out for Break The Curse. Plans fell through with our video director and we were sort of left in a bind. Our label directed us to these people in The US who ended up making the clip for us fairly quickly. Considering the horrible time we’d had leading up to the release of that clip, I was thrilled with the coverage it received and how people reacted to it.
How well do you think you’d fare in a zombie apocalypse? 
Pretty well I think. The biggest problem people seem to face in all of the zombie movies I’ve seen is that it takes the characters far too long to recognize that it’s actually a zombie apocalypse going down. I’d be throwing down, following all the zombie movie tropes from the time I’d had my first suspicions about what was going on. Fuck waiting to establish that it’s zombies. Just assume it’s zombies and act accordingly.
‘Good Dogs Play Dead’ is another great clip, is that a bit of a reflection you’ve had after a big night out? 
Probably in my younger days. But I’ve never found a bunch of dead bodies in my pool… I did, however, have a penchant for getting hammered with my friends and collecting all the “For Sale” signs around the neighbourhood I grew up in. I wish I could say that it was some type of statement we were making about gentrification or something, fact is, we were just idiots.
Thanks again for taking the time to chat to Forte, any last words of wisdom you’d like to share with our readers? 
Play football. No one gives a shit if you’re in a band.
When & Where: Cherry Bar, Melbourne – October 9 & The Loft, Warrnambool – October 16