Doin’ it yourself is a big thing for bands, it’s hard to do, but when done right there’s no limits to what you can achieve. Earth Caller and one such band following the DIY ethos, and after turning down many labels they’ve just released Degenerate. We had a chat to vocalist Josh Collard about it all and sending a message to their fans.
Hey guys, thanks for chatting to Forte Magazine, how are you and what are you up to at the moment?
No worries, thanks for having us! We’re great, we’ve been really busy as of late preparing for the drop of our debut record Degenerate and playing a bunch of shows.
So the debut is officially out, how are you feeling about it all?
Everything has been progressing nicely, and the response has been overwhelming! Big love to everyone who has pre ordered the record so far, you guys are g’s!
We understand that you turned down a lot of labels to release it independently, are you glad you stuck to your DIY ethos?
We are, we’ve always gone about things with the intention and assumption that we’ll be doing everything ourselves. We’re lucky enough to have members with multiple talents and we’re not afraid of a little hard work! We’re really excited to have our own label as well.
The cover image is quite striking too, how’d you come across that one and what made it the right image for your album?
It is isn’t it! We found the image on the net. The reason that we thought it would be perfect for our cover-art is because it is a symbol of defiance and that is exactly what we consider our record to be.
It is such a strong image, do you think it’s important to make some sort of statement in your art form?
It absolutely is. As an artist, you have at your disposal the language of emotion and that is a really powerful thing and with that comes the responsibility to use it properly. There’s so many people in this world who are lost and/or disenfranchised and as artists that’s who you’re supposed to be representing and we hope that our work makes everyone feel like they’re not alone in their suffering and that it can be better.
Short.Fast.Loud and The Racket have been a really good support of your new album too, have those guys given you much feedback or advice on the industry?
Yeah they have, Josh and Lachlan from Short.Fast.Loud and The Racket (respectively) have both been absolute gurus to us. They both care so much about music and the people involved in it and it’s such a great gift to have people who actually give a fuck in the position that they’re in. Big love to both those guys <3
Were you ready for the first time your track was played on the radio or was it a surprise?
We actually found out the day that it happened! Lachlan from The Racket messaged me on Facebook while I was at the studio recording something and asked for a high quality version of our track ‘Your Enemy’ – which features Dre from Hellions. He told me the guys from Aversions Crown were coming into the studio and wanted to play that song. We were naturally all surprised in the greatest kind of way, big love to Aversions Crown also! <3
Some people would say that the hardcore scene is dying off, what’s your take on where it’s at?
I’m a little bit surprised that people would say that. It has never been stronger! I watched my friends in The Amity Affliction side-stage at Festival fucking Hall. I looked around me and saw thousands of people in one place all loving hardcore music and it almost moved me tears. In my time, I’ve seen Parkway Drive go from playing at The Arthouse (R.I.P) to Festival Hall as well. Hardcore isn’t dying, it’s thriving and about to take over.
Thanks again for having the chat, anything you’d like to share before we finish up?
Thanks again for having us! I think we’ve covered everything, those questions were great thank you!
Release: Degenerate is available from all good retailers now