I couldn’t make them visit us in person, so I made I caught up with the band’s vocalist Ben Bullivant through the Web! Australia’s TIRED MINDS and their latest 7” “Good Life” (available via Break Bend) are currently one of the most interesting Australian names to watch out for next year. Their urgent guitar lines and aching, almost bleeding vocals fit perfectly to the criticism of social and political issues embedded in their lyrics.
Listen to the full EP and read my interview with TIRED MINDS below.
Hey man! Where are you at the moment? What’s up?
Right now, it’s 8pm in Aus and I am sitting around and spending to much time on the internet (as usual) in my apartment in Melbourne Victoria! Trying to find some new music to listen too!
Ha! Come and browse through IDIOTEQ’s depths of inspirations, haha :) It’s almost 11:00 am here in Warsaw and the gray of the day certainly doesn’t help keep yourself cheery.
Haha funny you mention that! I’ve been doing just that!
Melbourne seems similar to Warsaw today, grey and gloomy!
When I’m not sitting in front of a computer, I’m usually trying to write/think up something for TIRED MINDS, emphasis on trying, it’s a long process ha! I’ve also only recently moved to Melbourne after travelling across the USA for 3 months, prior to that I was on the east coast. So with an interstate move comes the usual things like job hunting, moving in etc. It’s all exciting and fun so far!
A nice road trip through the States is one of my biggest traveling dreams, hopefully to be fulfilled in the nearest future. How would you compare the US to Australia and your original neighborhood?
Definitely do it, it was unreal! I’m generalizing, but I found people to be a lot more outgoing which was nice, not afraid to ask how you are, make small talk etc which I found pretty rad. I sneezed somewhere in the south and a cyclist on the other side of the road yelled out “Bless You!” which was nice! I found the USA and Aus to be very similar but very different at the same time. I feel each state we saw in the USA had something different to offer from one another. I really liked the culture of the South! Southern Hospitality!
What places did you visit? Did you have a chance to go to a hardcore punk show somewhere?
We were lucky enough to get to travel both the east and west coasts, down south, Alaska and Canada also. But I didn’t actually go to any hardcore shows! I wanted to make it to some ALKALINE TRIO shows as well, but I missed both the NY and Chicago dates by a day I think it was. We did go to ACL down in Texas which was cool and I got to watch AFI which was rad!
Alaska?! Come on! It’s another long-wished destination of mine. I’ve been to Scandinavia a couple of times and I’m literally dying to see Alaska.
Did you manage to promote TIRED MINDS’ work there? You know, throw your record here and there? You were on a label hunt there, admit it! Haha
Haha I know! We were so lucky. But I would love to travel Europe, so much to see! I didn’t promote it at all actually, apart from tell a few people we met along the way. I had a plan to visit some record stores but that didn’t pan out. We were mainly trying to get the record out to people for some reviews in Europe and the USA to push it further. We do that all mainly by email at the moment, so it’s still nice being able to send out emails etc for TIRED MINDS whilst being out of the country.
Yeah, it’s been 9 months since the release of your second EP, which should definitely jump into most of this year’s summaries and best ofs. How do you feel about these tunes now?
Thank you! We are still trying to get it out into peoples ears before we release something new. We definitely still love playing all of these songs, but we’ve got a bunch of new songs and stuff in the works for the new year which we are all pretty psyched about!
Is there already a timetable for this next record? Are we talkin’ a full length here?
Not really, but we’ve got some things in the works at the moment, both full length and a split. We are looking forward to 2015!
Who would release your next record? Can you tell me more about your local DIY labels worth checking out?
We have a good friend of ours who has released everything we have recorded so far, you can check them out here! www.breakbend.com. There’s a plethora of local and Australian DIY stuff happening. Such as Breakbend, Lacklustre, Deaths Grip, Shaman, Life.Lair.Regret, Midnight Funeral, Arrest, Pee and there is a whole lot more I’m forgetting right now. It’s really cool being able to watch all these labels putting out a heap of releases from awesome bands.
By the way awesome bands, what recent records will end up on your “best of 2014” list?
Hmm that’s a tough one, I’ve been racking my brain for some best of 2014. Ones that come too mind at the moment! Right now, new JOB FOR A COWBOY rules as does SINGLE MOTHERS – Negative Qualities and ILL NATURED – Demo 2014 too, there’s a whole lot more I need to rack my brain for it! What about yours?
Oh, there is plethora of interesting records and acts that popped up for me this year. I guess one of my favorite acts would be VI SOM ÄLSKADE VARANDRA SÅ MYCKET, who provided an amazing, emotional post rockish journey that truly takes you out of this world. If you’re into such tunes, you should definitely check out VIVA BELGRADO – they bring in even more quality melancholic screamo in the vein of ENVY. SHIROKUMA is another Swedish masterpiece, proving the great worth of Dog Knights Productions label. WE NEVER LEARNED TO LIVE, Brighton’s finest, taking the blend of post rock and post hardcore to another level, MOJAPOŁOWA – new screamo / post hardcore act with intriguing lyrics, they showed up on Polish hardcore scene in a surprising and unexpected way, BLACK LOVE – emotional, shoegazing post hardcore / screamo act from Canada, BABY GHOSTS – incredibly addictive, female fronted lo-fi post punk / punk rock act from Salt Lake City, WE CAME OUT LIKE TIGERS – Liverpool’s blackened screamo / metallic hardcore punks proving why the lyrics make punk bands a great inspiration to their life, KADDISH – Scottish experimental post hardcore / screamo worth a lot of your time, JUNGBLUTH – antifacist crust maniacs, continuing the myth and legend of Munster, Germany’s ALPINIST. ADAM CIRESI – CARRION SPRING’s bassist and vocalist attepmting to spread his wings with his amazing solo grunge / folk rockin’, HIEROPHANT – massive metal/hardcore hybrid smash, constantly progressing, TODOS CEARAN – one of the most painful breakups this year, ENEMIES and RAVAGE RITUAL – classic metallic hardcore from the North, raging hard! OAK – sludgy, metallic hardcore punks from Sweden, GHOSTCHANT – Hungarian politically/socially aware melodic / metallic hardcore punks formed on the ashes of BRIDGE TO SOLACE, THE IDORU, and more, SLOTHS – one of the most promising noisy hardcore knock outs this year, LOST iZine and DIY Conspiracy Zine – online zines to keep an eye on this year, FOXING – moving, poetic emo/indie that overcomes the listener, STORM{O} – one of the biggest, monumental post metallic / dark hardcore / screamo bombs from Italy, CURSED EARTH – overwhelming noisy metallic hardcore from Perth, Australia, PSSGS – one of the most surprising post hardcore debuts of the year, highyl recommended, AKELA – a different type of post hardcore, also from Germany, but also worth your time, MARKSMAN – one of the most promising new Polish post hardcore / post metal bands, CALVAIIRE – chaotic / sludge hardcore madness proving the great strength of Throatruiner Records roster a.d. 2014, THE DOG and LIE AFTER LIE – Wroclaw, Poland’s finest, GORD TAYLOR and THE REAL MCKENZIES – sick bagpiper and one of the coolest dudes on Earth, LLNN – apocalyptic, post metallic hardcore formed out of the ashes of THE PSYKE PROJECT, LEFT IN RUINS – sick Italian metallic fastcore that will rip your face off, HEARTLESS BREAKERS – soft pop punk rockers in the vein of TAKING BACK SUNDAY, bringing back the good old emo pop rock, THARSIS THEY – Detroit chaotic hardcore / mathcore act recalling the good old memories of BOTCH, SICKMARK – German powerviolence / hardcore hybrid from Bielefeld, SVFFER – sick and incredibly massive metallic hardcore / powerviolence assault from Germany, of the strongest works this year, TUTTI I COLORI DEL BUIO – even more chaotic and uninhibited energy from Italy, DROPPING BOMBS, DOG KNIGHTS PRODUCTIONS, THROATRUINER RECORDS, CONTRASZT! RECORDS, REFUSE RECORDS, ZEGEMA BEACH RECORDS, COUNT YOUR LUCKY STARS, DISTRO-Y RECORDS, DIRT CULT RECORDS, THROUGH LOVE RECORDS – a few of the most inspiring promoters and rosters on the planet, DIY CONSPIRACY ZINE, LOST iZINE, LEGENDS ARISING, IN EFFECT, SOME WILL NEVER KNOW, HARDBOILED, REST ASSURED, – some of the coolest online hardcore zines out there, and one more bonus entry: PATH TO MISERY’S METALCORE BIBLE – for the sake of the original 90s metalcore era, a must to check out :) Just to name a few.
Ok man, what else? Is there anything you’d like to add before we wrap it up?
Love it! Great list! With a majority I’ve never even heard of before! So thank you for giving me a whole bunch of new music to get into. I hope one day TIRED MINDS can travel over to Europe.
Not really much to add except that we are working hard on a whole bunch of new songs for 2015 on some exciting projects so keep your eyes and ears peeled!
And thanks a bunch for taking the time out to have a chat man! Really appreciate it.
Thanks! Cheers for your time and good luck with the band and everything else you’re cooking down there. Greetings from Warsaw!
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