Captives. Carving the Way.
Picking up where The Ghost of a Thousand left off, Captives deliver stripped back, hardcore infused rock n roll that seeps into the nervous system, leaving you uncontrollably intoxicated by it’s sharpness and simplicity. Less than 18 months old, this 4 piece have set alight the Rolling Stone Live Lodge in support of Shihad, toured extensively filling rooms in their on right and unleashed 2 well articulated EPs. Frankensounds talks to frontman Aaron about their genetic make up, their Tassie influence and, of course, the music.
“We just had the intention of doing an album and it just snowballed into like where it is now, it's been really good, we've always worked hard to do what were doing, worked out better than what we planned.” Aaron looks back on Captives short yet rising career. So, how did it all begin? “We were in other bands - and I was overseas, I came back and we said ‘Lets go do an album, lets plug in and see why happens." From this initial chance jam to realising their was something more, Aaron continues, “We said ‘This is pretty good guys’ and we started working on different songs and it fell into place.”
Refusing to be restricted by their location, Aaron explains the cross-the-Tasman-sea set up, “Me and my brother Matt (drummer) moved to Melbourne in February, we’re living in Fitzroy, the other guys are in Tassie and they fly back and forth.” The distance doing more harm than good, “It’s worked out really well ‘cos we have a spread out fan base and meeting new people and having access to gear and stuff like that has made touring a lot easier for us.”
“When Matty was 11 he had a jazz kit cos he couldn’t see over the toms of anything else!”
Zombie Dog and Beyond
The snowball started with one Zombie Dog, a flat out, raw and artistic offering from their first self-titled EP that hooked us in from the start, “We went into the studio with a heap of songs but we were one short.” Illustrating the 'Cappy’s' way of falling into place just the right way, Aaron fleshes out the details, “That song come about with us just rehearsing in a hot room one afternoon, the lyrics and everything was pretty much written in a matter of an hour, it all fell into place and we just rehearsed it and rehearsed it and then hit record.”
“It was a bit of fluke that one, and it's set the standard of where Cappy's is now. I think.”
The band's second EP, Butterflies, Diamonds and Lightning released at the begging of October is another stomper that demonstrates the ‘meant to be’ status of this band. As favourite tracks go, Aaron explains how in his mind, its all about change, “My favourite track now was my least favourite to being with, it’s Already Dead, the track we just released on Triple J.”
The Ridiculously Early Years
A Band Called Death is a documentary about 3 brothers who defined punk rock, before punk rock existed. Playing from a young age and dedicating their lives and their families lives to the music that they love is something Captives is very familiar with. The 3 Captives brothers, Aaron, Matty and Mitch have been playing together before the youngest could see over his drum set up, “When Matty was 11 he had a jazz kit cos he couldn't see over the toms of anything else!”
Laughing, he takes us back to the start, “Yeah, so years ago when we were kids, Matty was 11 and we were doing pub shows, probably more covers and stuff back then, we had no real idea what we were doing but that didn’t stop us!”
“Mum used to have to come to the gigs and stuff because Matty wasn't allowed in the pubs. And I think we had a band, at one stage, where we had all matching shirts and other terrible fucking things!”
“It's been a learning curve over the years to get where we are, you make alot of stupid mistakes when you are younger and do all that stuff.”
How does that work touring with your brothers? “We're used to each other, you need to tour with people you can spend long hours in a car with, rather than playing together - we all know each others limits.”
“We’ve always got along but, saying that, it might be hard for the other guys! LOL!”
Tassie Incoming
Citing Tassie band Counter Weight as an influence, Aaron gives us the foundations of the Tassie music scene, “Counter Weight were one of the first punk bands that got out of Tassis and played the Falls Festival - “Lodi is another other band, and Always on Top are bands from a while back that have influenced the scene.” Being such a secluded, yet beautiful place, the need to get out and step up to make it anywhere is essential, “There are a lot of bands in Tassie but there isn’t as many opportunities, you’ve got to try ad get out of the state.”
Captives have released their latest single Already Dead on TripleJ and are in “Discussion to put the album next year.” Catch this intoxicating live show on the East Coast in November.
Butterflies, Diamonds and Lightning is out now.
Interview by Kenada Quinlan
CAPTIVES AUSTRALIAN TOUR DATES
NOVEMBER
1st – Brisbane Hotel, Hobart [18+] w/ The Mark Of Cain
14th – Crowbar, Brisbane [18+]
15th – 4ZZZ Carpark, Brisbane [AA]
28th – Valve Bar, Sydney [18+]
29th – Baker Street, Gosford [18+]
Tickets available at the door.