“Things are really good. Yeah, really good.”
The past two years have been an absolute test of wills for artists, to put it mildly. Being denied their primary function has understandably taken its toll on our creatives. But when In Hearts Wake frontman Jake Taylor tells BLUNT magazine things are starting to look up, it’s believable – it’s clearly genuine.
“That’s the honest truth,” he adds. “And it’s nice to be able to say that.”
While it’s certainly not a competition, Byron Bay’s In Hearts Wake would definitely qualify for the upper quartile of artists who were screwed over by the pandemic, achieving just one show of their anticipated Kaliyuga national tour (re-scheduled dates below) before nation-wide lockdowns prevented more, and a slot at Full Tilt Festival (re-sheduled dates below) that continues to be reshuffled.
But that’s the past, and if there’s one tenet that’s remained presented throughout In Hearts Wake’s career, it’s that of moving forward. A process which begins with a vicious new single ‘Dogma feat. Alpha Wolf’.
“I haven’t checked out the comments at all.” Taylor says following the release, but that will be the last box ticked for this release, after all there are loftier aspirations for ‘Dogma’, “I know how ‘Dogma’ feels,” Taylor explains, “It scratches an itch…”
“Not to say that I don’t count what people think, but it’s the feeling that I get from a song that I want to listen to right now. I want that energy. I want the mosh back. We all want live shows to be back everywhere, and just to be able to press play. And that starts on the mosh straight away.”
With the unstoppable power of a king tide, ‘Dogma’ surges forward with very little warning, pummeling towards a white-wash breakdown which whether you go under, or over, will send you tumbling head over heels. In and amongst this sonic chaos of guttural lows and chug is an all too timely message, spoken in the unmistakable dialect of frustration and discontent.
“It’s important to write in, not in riddles.” Taylor says of framing ‘Dogma’s’ subject matter. “You don’t want to have it to be so blase that it’s like, “What does this mean?” But it’s nice if you can look at a lyric, and it’s got different angles.”
You can look into “In the house of dogs fighting over dead gods, ripping men from thrones, like flesh from bones.” You could look at that as just what’s happening in Parliament right now. You could look at it as where you’re living in the projects. You could look at it in so many different ways. You could just see countries fighting over this. Or it could be just fighting over the earth. There’s this bone, and we’re all picking at it. It’s up to you. But it still paints a very vivid picture. And people knowing In Hearts Wake think, okay, this is the angle we’re coming from. But sometimes, there’s hidden within that.”
Inviting Melbourne’s Alpha Wolf into the fold for the track is a move that is likely to be emulated by both band’s peers in the future and while Taylor jokes at the initial motivation to pick up the phone, “Well, if you’ve got a theme about dogs, you’ve got to [include Alpha Wolf],” he also describes a much more important reason for bands to, band together – mutually assured survival.
“It just so happens to be a coincidence that we’ve toured with them. They write really good music. They’ve got a great new record. But aside from their name, which matches really well with the track, I would say, I reckon, to be honest, if the pandemic hadn’t been here for the last two years, I think we would be seeing a different Alpha Wolf, in terms of your perception of how you perceive them.
Everything just got put on pause for the last two years. And they were right on a rise and so you’ll still see that rise, but it’s just been delayed in the pause. They had tours to go to Europe and all of that was just around the corner with that new record coming out when it did, and that all got waylaid.
So I think that answers your question of why, it’s an untapped resource. Now, I’m tapping into it. They’re writing good music, and they’re coming from a genuine place.”
It’s an issue fans by many bands – not so much being a failure to launch, but a stagnated launch; slowing down the physical progression of artists leaving them all too cognitively aware of this.
“No matter if you’re writing, the public perception of every band went on pause, not so much their creativity.” Taylor says. “I think nine out of 10 bands have written either new material or come up with something in the last two years as it’s what we do. So I think we’re going to see all the bands come out of the gates going one or two ways. The second way is just breaking up because we can’t afford to look after ourselves, and go get a job. I think that’s the only other way you can go.”
What way did we go? Well, we didn’t break up. We’ve gone the creative way.”
And seemingly progressed down that path in leaps and bounced. Taylor delicately hits at a ‘big picture’ project, a film or sorts that will be officially announced in the near future. But able to be seen in a much clearer focus is the band’s forthcoming Kaliyuga: Booster Pack, out Friday, february 11th via UNFD.
Not unlike a ‘director’s cut’ the imputations of a re-release can imply a lack of satisfaction in the initial offering, but in this instance, it’s more of a rediscovery.
“We love the child. It’s perfect as she is,” Taylor explains, “But, there are a couple of accessories. And those accessories we’re stoked on.”
“It actually brought it probably overall back to even more of a mosh record, I would say. And then the part that was cool was that the only show that we got to play on this whole cycle so far was in Brisbane, and we recorded it. It was live at Wireless Triple J. And so our guitarist ended up mixing it, and we have these five tracks.
We’re like, ‘Okay, well, let’s put what it feels like to play it live’. So people can feel what Worldwide Suicide is live. Because there’s a world in which Europe and America might not, probably won’t get to see Kaliyuga this cycle. We’ll play a song at some point there. So this is a way for everyone to feel what it feels like around the world. So it just feels like rather than being a deluxe, and it’s a cheap way to resell things. No, we’re really adding a whole bunch of this cycle into it to just really flesh it and bring it back to life.”
While Jake and his brothers in arms may have found themselves closer to contentment – something that’s hopefully on the horizon for other creatives, he accepts this isn’t a time to become complacent. Indeed, if there’s one thing In Hearts Wake have taken from the past two years, it’s that it’s time to do more than ever before. “With all of the situations that have gone down, it’s shown us that we have to have operations and ways of being sustainable. And I don’t just mean no plastic.”
“I mean operating as a band that lives across borders, finding ways to create art still. And whilst it hasn’t been easy, and they say, what is it, work smarter, not harder. To work smarter, you have to work harder, which is an odd thing right now. But it’s made us more resilient as artists. And I’m excited how we have been able to work through that as a band.
And me personally, it’s shown really what I truly value. That I value the guys, that I value the music. I value being on the stage. And also those three things, they won’t support health completely. We also need water. We need land, need air. And so without getting too far away, I’m also wanting to nurture that and acquire land that I can be custodian over. And then also have the band thrive. So we can just always live in abundance, I hope.”
In Hearts Wake ‘Kaliyuga’ Australian Tour
w/ special guests Thornhill & Drown This City
Last tickets available via
inheartswake.com
Thursday, January 13th – NEW SHOW
170 Russell, Melbourne
Tickets: In Hearts Wake
Friday, January 14th – SOLD OUT
170 Russell, Melbourne
Tickets: In Hearts Wake
Friday, February 4th
Magnet House, Perth
Tickets: In Hearts Wake
Saturday, February 5th – SOLD OUT
Lion Arts Factory, Adelaide
Tickets: In Hearts Wake
Sunday, February 6th – NEW SHOW
Lion Arts Factory, Adelaide
Tickets: In Hearts Wake
Friday, February 11th
Manning Bar – Sydney
Tickets: In Hearts Wake
Saturday, February 12th
Manning Bar, Sydney
Tickets: In Hearts Wake
ALSO APPEARING AT FULL TILT FESTIVAL
Tickets available now via Destroy All Lines
Saturday January 8 – Eatons Hill Outdoor, Brisbane
Saturday January 29 – The University Of Adelaide, Adelaide
Saturday March 26 – Reunion Park, Melbourne
