Hellions are currently supporting In Hearts Wake and Hand Of Mercy on the ‘Skydancer‘ tour which began last week. This week the tour has the bands playing shows in Tamworth, Armidale, Port Macquarie, Central Coast, Blacktown and a sold out Sydney Harbour Cruise to hit the halfway point of the tour. We recently caught up with Dylan from Hellions to answer our Hotseat questions this week. Expand this post to take a read of his answers and see all the remaining tour dates.
THE BASICS
Name : Dylan Stark
Band : Hellions
Job In Band : Bass
Website Address : facebook.com/hellionsaus
HOME
Hometown : Geelong
Hometown is best known for : Oh man, probably for the footy or the rough as shit nightlife.
Best venue in your hometown : Sadly there isn’t too many, the best definitely don’t exist anymore. Potato Shed probably apart from the distance from the town centre.
Favourite show you’ve seen in your hometown : BMTH myspace secret show in like.. 2007/2008?
Favourite show you’ve played in your hometown : Some ‘Halloween fest’ type shows they’ve had there have been cool.
THE BAND
How did the band first come to exist? Hellions came to exist when a few guys from other bands that had split up decided they didn’t want to stop playing shows and music.
How long has the band been going? The idea of Hellions had been going around with 3 of the members for a while, but the band started playing shows around July 2013.
Any particular story behind the name? Dre got it from a lyric in an Eminem song and we thought it had a cool meaning.
What’s your most recent release? Tell us a little about it… Our most recent and only release is a record called ‘Die Young’ which came out last year. It was written when the band first came about and we think its a good representation of our vibe and what we are about. Some people have been confused which I can understand thinking the title is referring to dying at a young age, but the lyrics and title are about staying youthful and enjoying your life at what ever age. Theres a few themes on the record but that’s the general vibe.
Got a personal stand out achievement of your band to date? We just played the Sydney Warped tour show which was an awesome experience and we were so lucky and grateful to be able to do, got to play with a few friends bands and watch some cool internationals it was mad.
OFF THE STAGE
What was your first introduction to music that made you think seriously about playing it? I guess similar to most young teenagers. Early high school is when I really got into checking out different bands and being introduced to more and more things through friendship circles. Then the more music you got into you started to want to play your own music with friends. When I started to play with friends during lunch at school would be when I really wanted to be in a band.
Any particular band / album or song that you personally credit as a major influence? Probably Blink 182, at the point I was playing at school with friends they were huge and basically all we wanted to cover.
Your first band name, and what style did you play? First band I did that played outside of my high school was a punk band called Counterfeit Bastards, we got heaps into The Casualties and Exploited so it was that kinda stuff
Most prized music related item you own? Probably vinyl records like a lot of people. I have heaps from my dad which he bought at a young age, and a few of my friends and my own bands which I think is cool.
When you’re not doing band related stuff, what are you usually found doing? Work or trying to get work, other than that seeing friends I don’t get to see in music.
The thing you most look forward to just before a tour is… Seeing my band again, we don’t live in the same state and I miss them when I’m home, they’re my dudes.
The thing you least look forward to before a tour is… Public toilets.
ON THE STAGE
When on offer, what’s your one must have item on the rider? I’m always impressed when glass bottle coke is given to us. Hummus is also, with bread.
Favourite place you’ve toured… and why? Europe cause it’s just so different every place you go. It’s so unpredictable and the culture differences I find really interesting. I’ve without doubt seen some of the most weird shit and meet some of the wildest people while in Europe.
Most memorable show you’ve played? and why? My old band got to support Alexisonfire’s final shows in Australia and I’ll never figure out how we got on that so I won’t forget it.
Got a favourite song to play live? The Great Fabricator.
Any embarrassing on stage moments come to mind? I nearly shat myself on the last Dream On Dreamer tour in Adelaide. It was horrible and I didn’t do any my vocal parts because I thought it would make me shit.
Any pre-show rituals? I stress hard before I play any show, just always have. I’ll go to the bathroom a lot and just pace around.. yeah I dunno I just get nervous. That seems to be my ritual.
What do you find is the hardest aspect of touring in a band today? Eating good, getting decent sleep, those kind of things, touring can get pretty hectic and sometimes you find yourself having to leave a show at midnight, to drive 10 hours overnight because you’re playing at 2pm the next day in a different state. Tour is 24/7 living out of your bag and moving all the time which everyone has their days of being in a bad mood and it gets too much.
RIGHT NOW
Last song you listened to? Young Volcanoes – Fall Out Boy
Last album you acquired? Violent Soho – Hungry Ghost
Which band or album is currently on high rotation? Pendulum Swings and Grim Rhythm by Expire are both being played a lot recently
Tell us an up and coming band or artist you think we should go and listen to right now? Bare Bones from Sydney, they have an EP out called Villains. Get it.
What’s on the cards for the next few months for the band? We do the In Hearts Wake regional tour with Hand of Mercy to start 2014. We’re also writing at the moment.
IF ONLY…
You can pick any one album for your band to cover in full, what would it be and why? Far Beyond Driven – Pantera for the riffs in ‘5 minutes alone’ and ‘I’m Broken’, plus there is a Sabbath cover on it too so that’s mad.
You can pick any one band / artist to cover one of your albums in full, what would it be, and why? Oh I really don’t know, anyone who wants to cover it.
One band you wish you were able to see live but never had the chance? Pantera. I missed out on Dimebag hard.
One venue you have yet to play that you would love to? Anywhere in a place we haven’t been able to play yet.
The chance comes up to fill in for a member of a band for one tour, which band would it be, and why? Gwar cause you’d get to spray crowds with giant dicks and stuff.
A headline tour overseas comes up, tell us two bands you’d take along to support your band. Bare Bones from Sydney and No Bragging Rights from the USA
PLUG TIME
Got any final words? We are on the road for most of January with In Hearts Wake and Hand of Mercy, If you can make it to a show you should cause it’s a cool lineup and a good time.
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