If you haven’t already immersed yourself in the huge, hard-hitting sounds of House Of Mirrors, the debut EP from DEADNERVE, stop what you’re doing and go listen to it now. The EP is a brilliantly constructed slice of hard rock glory, and we’ve had it spinning on repeat ever since we first laid ears on it.
So, fresh off the EP’s release, we caught up with the band to chat all about it, musical influences, and what the future holds.
With an amazing debut EP fresh under their belts, we caught up with Brisbane-based four-piece DEADNERVE to chat all about it.
HAPPY: Hey, how’s it going? What are you up to at the moment?
DEADNERVE: It’s going great! I’m currently dodging responsibilities and shamelessly getting back to back shutouts with Oliver (vocalist) in the new Modern Warfare’s 2v2 mode.
HAPPY: We’ve been loving House Of Mirrors! How does it feel having the EP out there in the world?
DEADNERVE: It’s amazing! We’ve been working on it for so long, it’s been great to finally unleash something we’re all super proud of into the world for everyone to hear and hopefully enjoy.
HAPPY: For a debut release, it feels like you’ve got a very strong direction with your sound. How long had this project been in the works before you released the EP?
DEADNERVE: This one’s taken a lot longer than expected, and I think a lot longer than we’d like to admit. We’ve been a band for a few years and we’ve gone through a lot of changes stylistically, but we wanted to make sure the first thing we released would be something we’d actually be proud of and happy with. We’ve had the tracks Daytrip and Noir for about 2 years now, although we have rewritten them a few times over to make sure they’re were up to scratch.
HAPPY: Do you have a favourite track off the EP?
DEADNERVE: It’s kinda like choosing between your children, except I don’t have any kids and the choice is easy. Mine’s personally House of Mirrors. I feel like it’s got a unique take on the theme of damaged relationships and the somber atmosphere the track creates really gets me invested in that, but I know Noir is a favourite of a few of the boys in the band which is also a close second for myself.
HAPPY: Could you walk us through how the release came together? …where’d you record it? Who was involved?
DEADNERVE: Interestingly enough we actually did it all in house by ourselves. Our guitarist Daniel recorded, mixed and mastered the whole thing at his house which I think really helped to develop the personality of the EP. It gave us a lot of time to stew over the process, for better or for worse (I like to think for the better).
HAPPY: Were there any particular artists you were listening to when you wrote/recorded the EP?
DEADNERVE: We were all bumping a fair bit of Deftones and Linkin Park at the time, with a dash of some Ocean Grove in there too. Generally just the classic nu-metal influences, but we all brought our own little flavours into the mix as well.
HAPPY: Who else are you all really digging right now?
DEADNERVE: I know big Dan and I have been sweating some My Ticket Home at the moment, throw in a bit of Knocked Loose and Varials to tie up the hardcore side of things, and not to forget a shout-out to the local boys in Oldtown, we’ve been getting into those guys heaps lately. But in all honesty, I’ve personally been dabbling in more early 2000’s pop than I’m comfortable sharing, so if you could hook us up with a Justin Timberlake collaboration that’d be sweet.
HAPPY: What’s next for DEADNERVE? Any other exciting plans in the works?
DEADNERVE: We’re currently just looking to jump at some killer shows to showcase the EP and keeping the writing going in between while the inspiration is high. We’ve got a couple shows lined up at the end of this month supporting the boys in Life Pilot on the 28th at the Brightside and 29th at Vinnies Dive Bar; we cant wait to tear it up with those guys!
HAPPY: Cheers for the chat!
DEADNERVE: Thanks for having us along for the ride!
House Of Mirrors is available now. Listen above.
