After kicking off 2016 with shows alongside Confession and Make Them Suffer, Perth based metallers Havoc have spent the past few weeks touring through Newcastle, Sydney, Wollongong, Geelong and Melbourne with Melbourne by way of NZ pals Advocates.
The next leg of the tour is at home in WA starting next week, then stops in Brisbane and Adelaide later in March. The tour is in support of the recent release of their second EP ‘Affidavit‘ which is out now through Firestarter Distribution.
Ahead of the big home state shows, we caught up with Mitch from the band to answer our Hotseat questions. Take a read of his answers below. Dates for the rest of the tour can be found below the interview.
LISTEN WHILE YOU READ
THE BASICS
Name : Mitch HardingBand : Havoc
Job In Band : Voocalist
Website Address : facebook.com/HavocAus
HOME
Hometown : PerthHometown is best known for : The Beaches for sure.
Best venue in your hometown : Amplifier Bar and / or The Rosemount Hotel for sound reasons.
Favourite show you’ve seen in your hometown : Any sold out show is great to see in Perth.
Favourite show you’ve played in your hometown : Probably our ‘Affidavit’ EP launch!
THE BAND
How did the band first come to exist? I had spontaneous idea to start a band, so I posted on Facebook, shortly following that I had a few boys that I semi knew bring some mates down for a jam and that was it, we had member changes quite early until we found our sound and the music we wanted to write.How long has the band been going? As “Havoc” just coming up to 2 years, so in hindsight not too long.
Is there an interesting story behind the name? Probably our live set backs the name with the intensity.
What’s your most recent release? Tell us a little about it… We most recently released our music video ‘Redemption’ just before tour, which is off of the EP ‘Affidavit’. Affidavit tells the story of a protagonist who is faced with a life of drugs, crime and mental health issues throughout the 6 tracks. ‘Redemption’ is the sequel to our first video release ‘Captured’.
Got a personal stand out achievement of your band to date? Hard to say, because at first it was the release of the EP, Then it would be a support show and right now it is being on tour with Advocates. I’m quite proud of all of our achievements to date.
OFF THE STAGE
What was your first introduction to music that made you think seriously about playing it? I saw Miles Away and Break Even at YMCA HQ for my first live show and it gave me the urge to want to be on stage one day.Any band, album, or song that you personally credit as a major influence? As cliché as it sounds, watching Parkway Drives docos was a massive inspiration to get out of Perth and travel with the music as much as possible no matter what the cost.
Your first band name, and what style did you play? Haha, Pending The Silence it was extremely basic metalcore. We were still trying to find our sound.
Most prized music related item you own? As a vocalist, I don’t need any equipment, but I hook up everything through my laptop/phone as lame as that sounds!
When you’re not doing band related stuff, what are you usually found doing? Well I’m a proud father of my son, chase, and my 2 dogs. So of course, these keep me on toes at all times. Due to this tour I had to leave my Boilermaker job, so i’ll cross that bridge when I get to it after tour.
The thing you most look forward to just before a tour is… Spending time with the boys on the road, at times its frustrating, but also the best times of my life. We are all really close and best of mates.
The thing you least look forward to before a tour is… Leaving my son and dogs at home. When I skype them, it can make me quite homesick.
Any item you seem to always forget to take on tour? The first 2 tours, I forgot everything (pillow, blanket, towel) so that always involves a stop off to Kmart. This tour I forgot a hard drive full of movies and my Lanyard for our AAA pass.
WATCH
ON THE STAGE
When on offer, what’s your one must have item on the rider? WATER! I don’t drink alcohol on stage or rarely before the set!Got a favourite place you’ve toured… and why? Nothing can beat playing your own country and being welcomed over east the same as Perth.
Got a favourite venue you’ve played… and why? We played a HUGE university in Jakarta, Indonesia. There was about 1100 people there and the stage/sound was incredible.
Any embarrassing on stage moments come to mind? Back at Amplifier Bar, it was one of our first shows there; I jumped up and ripped my pants. I then went to make a joke about it and my voice cracked and I squealed like a 12 year old girl.
Any pre-show rituals? I always go away by myself about 20 minutes before the set, I put headphones in and scream through about 3 tracks, then it is usually straight to the bar and get 2 jugs of warm water for the set.
What do you find is the hardest aspect of touring in a band today? Lack of sleep! The late nights traveling in really uncomfortable vans/beds is hectic. I’m always so tired and it takes me about a week to recover once I’m home.
RIGHT NOW
Last song you listened to? Haha, Sorry by Justin BieberLast album you picked up? The Guilt and The Grief by Polaris.
Which band or album is currently on high rotation? Always Architects, but Acrania has been coming on quite regularly.
Tell us an up and coming band or artist you think we should go and listen to right now? Well I’m on tour with Advocates at the moment and these guys deserve to be huge, riffs and stage presence is next level.
What’s on the cards for the next few months for the band? We don’t plan on slowing down on touring and writing a full length.
IF ONLY…
You can pick any one album for your band to cover in full, what would it be and why? Nothing ever again, because we covered Parkway Drive – ‘Killing With A Smile’ for a club night, and learning a whole album felt like a waste when we could write our own.You can pick any one band / artist to cover one of your albums in full, what would it be, and why? I, The Breather (RIP) purely because they were a massive influence for us.
One band you wish you were able to see live but never had the chance? Haha I, The Breather.
One venue you have yet to play that you would love to? Not quite, Maybe some bigger international venues would be rad.
The chance comes up to fill in for a member of a band for one tour, which band would it be, and why? Winston from Parkway because who wouldn’t like that on their resume.
A headline tour overseas comes up, tell us two bands you’d take along to support your band. All the bands I want to mention would be headliner over us haha! So I’d be bringing over some solid local bands over who deserve the bigger stage, so my pick would be Iconoclast from Perth and certainly Advocates whom I am touring with currently.
PLUG TIME
Got any final words? Thankyou to everyone who has supported us in anyway, bought some merch or just checked us out live. We couldn’t do this without you.
WATCH
TOUR DATES
HAVOC and ADVOCATES
MARCH
3rd – Last Night, Perth [18+]
6th – Day In The Dust, Margaret River [AA]
11th – Babushka, Leederville [18+]
18th – The Lab, Brisbane [18+]
19th – Enigma Bar, Adelaide [18+]
—> Tickets available at the door.
—> For more information, visit [Here].
TOUR POSTER
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