Music / Features
Wrapping Up 2019 with Horror My Friend
Adelaide indie-punk outfit Horror My Friend have been a wrecking ball powerhouse in the scene over the past half decade, and 2019 might have been their busiest year yet. In the space of twelve months they’ve made multiple trips overseas, shared stages with heavy-hitters such as Swervedriver, Tiger Jaw and Bass Drum of Death, and still found time to blow the roof off their own local headline shows. To cap the year off, they took home awards for Best Group, Best Song and Best Music Video at the 2019 South Australia Music Awards.
We had the pleasure of asking Horror My Friend about their whirlwind experience and what’s to come in 2020.
We had the pleasure of asking Horror My Friend about their whirlwind experience and what’s to come in 2020.
TJ: Horror My Friend is a real Australian music success story with two highly regarded albums, huge support slots, tours and festivals. Were there any notable ‘we’ve made it’ moments that you remember?
HMF: Uhhh, I think touring Canada with Hockey Dad and DZ Deathrays was a massive one, along with our UK/EU Tour earlier 2019. But playing hometown headline shows definitely feels great.
Your latest track ‘Dopamine Waster’ is a fuzzy alt-rock thrasher touching on mental illness. Can you tell us more about the track’s inspirations?
Musically, I drew a lot of inspiration from shoegaze bands like My Bloody Valentine, DIIV and Ride, along with Smashing Pumpkins for the chorus fuzz haha. In terms of lyrics, the major influence for me was the experience of consistent anxiety, how quickly it can shut you down, but how quickly the right person can pull you out of it.
2019 has been a huge year for Horror My Friend, with international tours to the UK and now Canada. Can you see yourselves as a full time touring band or would you prefer spending more time in the studio making new music?
As much as we love touring, I definitely feel that our favourite part of the process is recording. Just because, we and our main guy Richard Bowers, love nerding out on guitar tones and recording techniques. Playing shows is always fun though!
Who has been your favourite band to support?
Playing with Swervedriver was pretty incredible, they're a massive inspiration on us musically, so it was a big moment. But our favourite shows have always been with our best mates Hockey Dad, it's just nice to tour with your friends, especially when they're such a great band.
HMF: Uhhh, I think touring Canada with Hockey Dad and DZ Deathrays was a massive one, along with our UK/EU Tour earlier 2019. But playing hometown headline shows definitely feels great.
Your latest track ‘Dopamine Waster’ is a fuzzy alt-rock thrasher touching on mental illness. Can you tell us more about the track’s inspirations?
Musically, I drew a lot of inspiration from shoegaze bands like My Bloody Valentine, DIIV and Ride, along with Smashing Pumpkins for the chorus fuzz haha. In terms of lyrics, the major influence for me was the experience of consistent anxiety, how quickly it can shut you down, but how quickly the right person can pull you out of it.
2019 has been a huge year for Horror My Friend, with international tours to the UK and now Canada. Can you see yourselves as a full time touring band or would you prefer spending more time in the studio making new music?
As much as we love touring, I definitely feel that our favourite part of the process is recording. Just because, we and our main guy Richard Bowers, love nerding out on guitar tones and recording techniques. Playing shows is always fun though!
Who has been your favourite band to support?
Playing with Swervedriver was pretty incredible, they're a massive inspiration on us musically, so it was a big moment. But our favourite shows have always been with our best mates Hockey Dad, it's just nice to tour with your friends, especially when they're such a great band.
The Australian music scene is far from easy to navigate and rarely the ‘rock n’ roll’ lifestyle many fans would imagine, and is often physically, mentally and emotionally taxing. Have you experienced many challenges in the past few years in this regard?
Absolutely, I think the music scene and industry is incredibly difficult to navigate, especially for a band at our level where we're not earning money directly from the band. Obviously, playing in a touring band is awesome, but it can negatively affect your relationships, your job, your family life and your bank account, which then leads onto a huge amount of mental stress.
In terms of physical demand, I definitely feel as though you just gotta remember that you don't have to party if you don't want to. Waking up without a hangover is actually really, really nice on tour.
What was the first song you (as individuals) remember learning to play when first starting out as musicians?
Tom: Hot Cross Buns
Josh: Mary Had A Little Lamb
Sam: Wipeout
Are there any exciting things to come for Horror My Friend in 2020 that you can share with us?
Playing at Australia's number one festival, Farmer & The Owl, in Feb. But there'll be more to come!
Absolutely, I think the music scene and industry is incredibly difficult to navigate, especially for a band at our level where we're not earning money directly from the band. Obviously, playing in a touring band is awesome, but it can negatively affect your relationships, your job, your family life and your bank account, which then leads onto a huge amount of mental stress.
In terms of physical demand, I definitely feel as though you just gotta remember that you don't have to party if you don't want to. Waking up without a hangover is actually really, really nice on tour.
What was the first song you (as individuals) remember learning to play when first starting out as musicians?
Tom: Hot Cross Buns
Josh: Mary Had A Little Lamb
Sam: Wipeout
Are there any exciting things to come for Horror My Friend in 2020 that you can share with us?
Playing at Australia's number one festival, Farmer & The Owl, in Feb. But there'll be more to come!
Horror My Friend are playing two aid shows for bushfire relief, on January 26th at Jive and February 1st at the University of Adelaide, before they hit Farmer and the Owl on February 29th.
