Q&A: Northlane at Slam Dunk Festival, Midlands – May 2016

Hello Marcus, Alex and Nic. What can people expect from your set at Slam Dunk Festival today?

Marcus: A lot of energy.

Nic: We’ve got a crammed, packed set full of the crowd favourites and the heavy hitters. It’s a pretty full on set list.

You recently released your joint EP Equinox with In Hearts Wake. How was the collaborative experience and was the recording process different to previous EPs that you’ve done on your own?

Marcus: It was really cool. The two bands stayed together in an apartment and we would all walk to the studio together every day. It was just nice to hang out. I think that with doing something like that as well, there’s a lot more freedom to do what you would with your own band respectively. It was just a cool, fun time I guess, hanging with the boys.

Nic: I guess both bands could embrace each other’s band as well, in terms of writing. It kind of gave both bands a little more freedom to use techniques that the other band might use to make the whole piece symmetrical in some way.

Will you be performing Equinox on your forthcoming Australian tour with In Hearts Wake?

Marcus: We’re still kind of working on how we will do it; but yeah, definitely.

Alex: It’s the Equinox tour; we have to play it. We definitely will be playing it.

Do you guys have any plans to bring the tour over to the UK in the future? It’d be cool to hear Equinox live.

Marcus: I’m not too sure.

Alex: It would be really cool to do, but it’s just so hard to organise a tour for two bands in the same place and make their schedules work together. It would be so awesome to do though; there seems to be quite a lot of people who are very keen for that.

Nic: Timing-wise, it worked well for us to do it at home; so can’t say yes, can’t say no. If it works well then you might see it.

Out of all of your songs, which is personally your favourite song to perform live?

Marcus: Mine would be Worldeater. It’s an older song, but we started jamming it again recently for the future. We did it the other day and it’s just so much fun; there’s a lot of energy in that one.

Alex: Mine was Node when we started playing that, but I’m really starting to get back into the Obelisk groove. It’s got some cool parts to it. It’s one of those songs that I don’t really think about playing any more, I just play it. That has become one of the favourites.

Nic: All of the songs are just so different; and for me, it’s just fun playing the whole set. All of them are so different drum-wise, that it is hard to choose one that stands out amongst the others.

Are there any other artists that you guys would personally love to team up with in the future?

Marcus: To be ambitious; Panic! At The Disco, Linkin Park, Limp Bizkit. I don’t know; there’s just so many crazy bands that would be really cool to work with.

Congratulations on Node getting to number one in Australia last year. How do you feel about the success of that album and do you feel any pressure to emulate that success with your next release?

Marcus: It was very crazy; it was a very hectic year with everything that was going on with Northlane at that time. To be recognised in that way with everything that was going on, I guess it was reassuring; our worry was not necessary. We just keep trying to do what we do. It’s not the case that we really play our music for rewards or whatever; we do it because we enjoy it.

Nic: It was surprising and humbling. I don’t think it put any pressure on us whatsoever, because we didn’t expect it. Obviously, we’ve got to try and make a new record that stands out over the last; but we’ll just keep doing what we’re doing and if people like it, then people like it.

Alex: I feel like this one might even be a little easier. It was such a big change for the fans, obviously with the addition of Marcus. Not only were we doing a new CD, but it was a completely new sound. We had a new front man, so that changed the sound of the end product. This time people won’t be like ‘Woah, this is really different’ because our fans are into Node, and this time there isn’t going to be a huge change when it comes to the vocal dynamic. This time people will be expecting more melodic and more singing as opposed to Node after Singularity. Singularity was a very heavy CD, and people weren’t expecting Node.

When you’re touring and your away from home from quite long periods of time, is there anything that you particularly miss that you’d like to take with you on tour?

Nic: Coffee. We have amazing coffee in Australia and that is so hard to find. Actually, today I had the best coffee in about 3 or 4 months. It was great; it was glorious.

Marcus: I can’t really add anything else. Coffee. I have the hugest coffee addiction. I guess on tour more than anything I’d just like to have that freedom to relax for a bit, like you have at home. Sometimes you just get a little bit antsy and need a break for a bit. Just time to chill with friends and family and whatever.

If you guys could all be superheroes for the day, what would your secret powers be?

Alex: I’d love to have great vision. I’d love to be able to see really far ahead or something.

Nic: I’d like to be able to stop time.

Marcus: I’d want to teleport. I’d just like to be able to go anywhere that I wanted. I’ve always thought how awesome would it be to just be able to play a show and then just go home afterwards and sleep in my own bed.

Final question; what’s in the pipeline for the band for the rest of the year?

Marcus: We’ve got a bit of time after the Equinox tour at home; so we’re going to spend it writing the new album. I think we’ll also be announcing an UK and Europe tour for later this year. That’s about it; we’re just trying to focus on new stuff.

Nic: We’ll be recording by the end of the year probably.

Alex: Hopefully we’ll have something out very soon.