Northlane are joined on the Free Your Mind festival by Thy Art Is Murder, Veil Of Maya, Volumes and Make Them Suffer this Wednesday, May 28, at the Fly By Night and Thursday, May 29, at Capitol. AARON BRYANS reports.
It’s been almost five months since we last caught up with Northlane; fresh off the 2013 release of their sophomore album, Singularity, which debuted at #3 on the ARIA charts and received the #1 album of the year award by Short Fast Loud and The Racket.
In that time the Sydney metal quintet have been taking on the world, starting with a huge US tour alongside the unstoppable and momentous Bring Me The Horizon.
“More than anything I really enjoyed the atmosphere of the tour,” vocalist, Adrian Fitipaldes, reveals. “All the bands were really open and friendly and up for hanging and having a good time, even Bring Me The Horizon themselves. We spent a lot of time hanging out with those dudes. They were very welcoming and very open. In regards to the shows, it was really cool. A lot of people knew who we were, a lot of people got involved and were participating in the show and showing us some love, which means a lot to us when we’re so far from home; it makes it so much more worthwhile. It was a really good opportunity to expose ourselves to a larger audience in the States. We do want to spread as far as we can; go to Asia possibly and hopefully one day go to South America.”
Back on Australian soil, the boys wasted no time announcing their biggest step forward yet; the Free Your Mind festival in collaboration with their label, UNFD, which sees the band team up with Thy Art Is Muder, Veil Of Maya, Volumes and Make Them Suffer for a 10-date national tour.
“I actually can’t remember who came up with the idea originally or if it was a collaborative idea,” Fitipaldes says, “but we wanted to create or attempt to create something we could possibly repeat every year or every two years as a miniature festival. Rather then having three or four bands we could have five to six or even seven bands some years and really give people an action-packed musical experience with a lot of bands from all around the world. With this tour we don’t want to make it so much about us and make it more about all the bands and it’s also going to be something that other bands can headline in the future. It won’t be Northlane’s tour and Northlane’s tour only; its definitely going to be something that other bands can take part in, in the future.”
“I haven’t been this excited before; it’s probably the most excited I’ve been for a tour just because it’s such a good line-up. We’ve put a lot more thought into the production side of things and we really want to give people less of a vibe where we are just playing songs back to back and instead really take the audience on and give them an experience they can remember.”
Alongside the Free Your Mind announcement Northlane have released the deluxe edition of their Singularity LP which features an instrumental version of the entire record along with a booklet that explains the themes of each track.
“I think it’s going to give people a deeper appreciation of the musicianship and what’s actually happening underneath,” Fitipaldes explains. “The vocals can be a highlight and a main point of focus when you’re listening to music so when you take that out of the picture it really forces you to listen to how the music’s been written and how all the instruments are arranged and hopefully give people a deeper appreciation of that side of the spectrum.”
Northlane’s extensive touring won’t hold the group back however; as Fitipaldes hints, new material may be coming sooner then we think.
“We haven’t got a whole album ready to go, it’s still in the works. We’re taking some time off after this tour to jam and write as a band in person with each other and really get back into touch with what it means to be a band. It’s exciting. I’d like our fans to start getting excited because from what I’ve heard so far its very promising.”
