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Music

St Heartless “Stay Hungry, be loud”

The three-piece band hailing from the Western Sydney suburbs of Quakers hill, North Rocks, and Ermington has brought forth a bold, loud and captivating contribution to the music scene.

Jim Magee, Mitch Sinden, and Luke Vella, bring a perfect combination of post-punk and garage rock to their new EP The Bite. Refreshingly candid and cool, with a little punk here, a little metal there, a dash of country, and a sprinkle of indie trappings, St Heartless is emerging as a very solid act.

With the driving force of hunger propelling the three-piece, they are on a definite steady trajectory to achieve their heart’s desires. We caught up St Heartless to discuss among other things, the beauty that lies in creating your own creative community, and the collaborative hand that the audience has in their creative process.

st heartless
Credit: St Heartless

Happy: Hey St Heartless, thanks for taking the time to chat with us today. 

St Heartless: Cheers for having us

Happy: What are you up to today?

St Heartless: Today, we’re all at work, or possibly overcoming a hangover. Most likely both.

Happy: Tell us about your suburb, what do you love/not love about where you live?

St Heartless: We’re all from different suburbs out west. Quakers hill, North Rocks and Ermington. They all kind of met into one out here. The people, the culture and the intensity of it all. There’s little chance of getting a gig out here but we make it work elsewhere in this fine city.

Happy: Describe your average work day? 

St Heartless: Average workday differs between the three of us. Luke works retail in Parramatta Westfield, Mitch casually on weekends and a few days of the week and Jimmy’s just started his big boy job, working full time as an environmental consultant. Bit of a mix really. 

Happy: What about your ultimate day?

St Heartless: Ultimate day? Probably sitting down at a pub with the gang, having a beer and maybe retiring to a garage somewhere to write the best album the world’s heard yet. 

Happy: Study or Self-taught?

St Heartless: A little off column A, a little off column B. We all started on different instruments and ended up here self-taught. Jimmy played the piano when he was younger and realised “that’s shit, I want something that will cut my fingers” and started bleeding on guitar necks. He’s a bit kinky like that. Luke played the Ukulele for the longest time before realised those strings were much too thin for him. Now, he is the master of the sub tones. Mitch is our secret weapon. Dude played saxophone and guitar forever, realising soon enough that smacking the skins is much more meditative. And no one can stop the guy. 

st heartless band
Credit: St Heartless

Happy: Tell us about your creative community.

St Heartless: Our creative community is ourselves and the bands we’re inspired by, whether that be local or huge international bands. Theres a few local bands we play with regularly, we all seem to practice at six10 studios in Castle Hill. We get a lot of inspiration from our regular supporters too. Which songs to keep playing, which songs to drop. Thats all based on audience reaction and feedback after shows. We love engaging with those people the most. It’s nice to hear directly from people who love what we do and keep coming back for more. We’re always looking to make connections wherever we can cause we know how much better it can make our shows. Of course our family and partners are a massive part of that too.

Happy: How does each member of the band influence the creative process? 

St Heartless: We all put in the effort to make each song work well. Which is a breeze as a three-piece band. If something sounds great, we’ll keep it, if it doesn’t spark joy, out the door it goes with the ego and pride. Marie Kondo style.  

Happy: Can you tell us a bit about the creative/ recording process of your new EP ‘The Bite’?

St Heartless: The EP has been a long time coming. We decided very early on we wanted something as a base. Something we can flog, and that everyone can enjoy. Little punk here, little metal there, a dash of country and a sprinkle of indie trappings. We didn’t want to be limited. Some of the songs have been in the works for years, so actually getting it out is nuts. 

Happy: What did you read or watch growing up that fuelled your passion for music?

St Heartless: ACDC, Foo Fighters, Queens of the Stone Age, Arctic Monkeys, big acts that opened our eyes to sex, drugs, and rock n roll. And more importantly, realising we could do that too. Maybe even a little better. 

Happy: What did you read or watch last that opened your eyes and mind to a new perspective? 

St Heartless: Charles Bukowski, The Prophet, Albert Camus, Scratch our manager, Norman Lindsey, poetry and strange surrealist art that explained so much in so little. 

Happy: What makes you happy?

St Heartless: This. All of this. Not just the music but everything around it. Working a job to pay bills. Buying second-hand gear and making it our own. Driving hours around the place to do a small-time gig in the middle of nowhere just to say “hey we did it”. Even the times feeling like crap leads to something amazing. A new song. A new lesson learned. A new experience. But it’s all worth it in the end. As we say at St. Heartless HQ, “Stay Hungry, be loud”. 

Listen to St Heartless here.