Interview by Ali Williams
There are plenty of ways to introduce yourself at BIGSOUND. L.O.W have chosen the wonderfully uncomplicated option of turning up with five members, a stack of hardcore songs and absolutely no intention of pretending they belong on the polite end of the program.
For a band that has spent just over two and a half years building itself out of Wollongong, landing a place on Australia’s biggest music industry showcase is a considerable step. For bassist Luka Flanagan, it also comes with the odd experience of attending BIGSOUND from the opposite side of the fence. Flanagan has been there before through his day job in music, but this time there will be an instrument involved.
“I’ve been to BIGSOUND a few times through work,” he tells HEAVY, explaining that being there as an artist rather than an industry attendee will be an entirely different exercise. That change of perspective is significant for L.O.W, particularly because hardcore bands are hardly flooding the BIGSOUND timetable. Flanagan is well aware of it too, happily describing L.O.W as one of the event’s token heavy acts.
Somebody has to ruin everyone’s sensible networking conversation. The opportunity arrives at a good point for the Wollongong five-piece. L.O.W have developed steadily without trying to manufacture a complicated origin story, largely because they don’t have one. Singer and principal songwriter Dave initially put together a handful of tracks digitally with a friend before receiving an offer to play a show in Wollongong. There was only one minor administrative issue: he needed a band.
Flanagan took bass duties, Tom joined on guitar and the project abruptly became something that needed amplifiers, rehearsal time and actual human beings. After a short period involving the traditional revolving door of drummers, Brian settled behind the kit, Brad joined on lead guitar and the current five-member line-up has now been together for a little over two years. Even the name refuses to provide unnecessary drama. L.O.W doesn’t officially stand for anything, although apparently the public has been doing unpaid creative work on the band’s behalf for some time. “Lords Of Wollongong” and “Legends Of Wollongong” are among the more common interpretations. Flanagan is happy to leave it unresolved. The acronym, he says, is in the eye of the beholder.
Frankly, that is a sensible policy. Give people three letters and eventually somebody will establish a committee. What L.O.W are considerably more definite about is the music. Flanagan describes the band firmly as hardcore rather than attempting to bury it beneath twelve increasingly specific subgenres. It is heavy music, it belongs in the hardcore world and the distinction is important to a band that has built its identity within that community. Their Wollongong base has helped shape that identity too.
Being outside Sydney comes with a peculiar balance. Flanagan believes it gives L.O.W room to develop without automatically falling into the patterns that can emerge inside larger scenes, where bands naturally influence one another and certain sounds begin appearing more frequently. There is a degree of separation in Wollongong that allows L.O.W to get on with their own business. The downside is obvious. Opportunities tend to concentrate around the major cities and bands operating outside those centres can simply be overlooked.
BIGSOUND therefore offers something more substantial than another couple of shows. It puts L.O.W directly in front of people who may never have come across them otherwise and introduces a Wollongong hardcore band to audiences well beyond their usual territory. It certainly won’t be their first attempt at leaving home. The band has already made several trips to Melbourne and will soon appear on a compilation featuring a collection of Melbourne hardcore acts. L.O.W have recorded a new song specifically for the release, adding to a catalogue that includes their earlier digitally recorded material, a live-recorded EP and the single Die Guilty, released late last year.
The compilation format itself appealed to Flanagan because it has become considerably less common, despite once being an effective way of discovering bands beyond your immediate scene. For L.O.W, it also provides another route into Melbourne and strengthens connections the band has already started establishing there.
Then there is the live schedule, which apparently has no interest in allowing anyone an early night for the remainder of 2026.
Following BIGSOUND, L.O.W. will return to Queensland at the end of September for compilation launch shows across the Gold Coast, Brisbane and Nambour before continuing through Sydney and Wollongong the following week. October brings a Wollongong appearance alongside Negative Approach, with several further dates still waiting to be announced.
December will also see the return of L.O.W’s annual Wollongong Christmas show, now entering its third year, with proceeds donated to charity. It is a small detail in the broader conversation, but an important one. Hardcore has always operated best when community is something practised rather than printed on merchandise, and L.O.W putting their own event behind a charitable cause says considerably more about the people involved than a carefully constructed mission statement ever could.
Amid all this productivity, Flanagan remains refreshingly unwilling to present himself as some kind of bass virtuoso. Asked about his instrument, he cheerfully admits to using roughly half the available strings. As a fellow bassist, I see no administrative problem here whatsoever. Four strings were supplied. There was never a contractual obligation to use all of them. The conversation quickly lands on the enduring truth that plenty of memorable bass parts are ridiculously simple, while the musicians capable of terrifying technical feats can occasionally make the rest of us reconsider whether fingers were a sound evolutionary decision.
For Flanagan, Les Claypool was part of the reason he picked up bass in the first place. The unfortunate discovery came later, when he realised Claypool only makes what he does look achievable. Still, L.O.W are not a band requiring anybody to count notes. Their appeal lies elsewhere: in directness, live energy and a clear understanding of the scene they belong to. Among an event traditionally weighted toward indie, alternative and pop artists, L.O.W arrive representing a heavier corner of Australian music that deserves to be included in conversations about where the local industry is heading. Hardcore scenes do not need industry conferences to validate their existence, but bands operating within them deserve access to the same opportunities, audiences and rooms as everybody else.
They will play Tomcat on September 2 at 8.30pm before backing up with an 11.15pm late slot the following night, bringing Wollongong hardcore into the middle of one of the busiest weeks on the Australian music calendar. For Flanagan, it will be BIGSOUND viewed from an entirely different position. For everyone else, it is a chance to find out exactly what those three letters stand for.
For more information about BIGSOUND and tickets head to wwwbigsound.org.au
