[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ admin_label=”Section” fullwidth=”on” specialty=”off” _builder_version=”3.0.51″ background_color=”#0c71c3″ global_module=”34476″][et_pb_fullwidth_menu admin_label=”Menu #20″ global_parent=”34476″ _builder_version=”3.0.51″ menu_id=”66″ background_color=”#0c71c3″ submenu_direction=”downwards” fullwidth_menu=”off” background_layout=”dark” text_orientation=”center” dropdown_menu_animation=”fade” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” background_size=”initial” /][/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ admin_label=”section” background_color=”#000000″ custom_padding=”1px|1px|58px|1px” padding_mobile=”off”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row” custom_padding=”40px|0px|0px|0px” custom_padding_tablet=”170px|0px|4px|0px” custom_padding_phone=”170px|0px|4px|0px” padding_mobile=”off” column_padding_mobile=”on” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” background_size=”initial”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_image admin_label=”Image” src=”https://digi.heavymag.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/01/unnamed-4.jpg” animation=”fade_in” align=”center” max_width=”600px” /][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ admin_label=”section” background_image=”https://digi.heavymag.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/01/Advocates-2015-1024×683.jpg” padding_mobile=”off”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row” custom_padding=”25px|0px|715px|0px” padding_mobile=”off” column_padding_mobile=”on” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” background_size=”initial”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ admin_label=”section” background_color=”#000000″ custom_padding=”1px|0px|1px|0px” padding_mobile=”off”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row” custom_padding=”100px|0px|53px|0px” padding_mobile=”off” column_padding_mobile=”on” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” background_size=”initial”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” background_layout=”dark” text_orientation=”justified” text_font=”Comfortaa|on|||” text_font_size=”16px” text_text_color=”#cccccc” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” background_size=”initial”]
With the release of their monster EP “The Complex Truth” on December 8th and the support slot for one of their biggest shows to date with Make Them Suffer two days later, it’s safe to say that December kicked off to a pretty fantastic start for New Zealand’s Advocates. HEAVY spoke to drummer Simon Webby about the band’s roots, what the EP release means for the band and their future, and how 2017 is taking shape for the kiwi quintet.
“It has been a really big week for us, pretty hectic,” commented Webby. “The show with Make Them Suffer was probably one of our biggest shows over here to date, we spent quite a bit of time preparing for that, making sure our set was up to scratch, that kind of thing. Personally, it was one of my favourite shows that we’ve played since we moved over here.”
The drummer’s excitement was subtle yet undeniable as we went on to discuss the release of The Complex Truth and their collaboration with The Plot in You’s Landon Tewers and Void of Vision’s Jack Bergin.
“It’s the first thing we’ve really released since we moved over here, everything leading up to this point has been to get the EP out there. The response has been much better than we could have imagined, we’re really stoked on it!”
“Our guitarist recorded the EP in his home studio which is where everything started with us just working on it together. We’d played a few shows with Void of Vision and we’re quite good friends with Jack, and we thought he’d be a good addition to the EP. [Bergin] and our vocalist Detlyn has very similar vocal styles, so it worked pretty well.”
“Landon is probably one of our collective favourite vocalists, and The Plot in You one of our collective favourite bands, and we’ve drawn quite a lot of influence from them. It was a bit of a no-brainer to try and get him involved. We emailed him and he was really keen to get on the track so we jumped at that opportunity.”
On the subject of additional musical influences, Webby cited Barrier and Sworn In as prominent sources of stylistic inspiration for the band’s music.
“We draw a lot of influence from those sorts of bands with their heavier, aggressive sound, particularly because our lyrics can be quite intense. Then we just try to put our own spin on it.”
“Our lyrics are inspired by everyday issues, serious issues that people face. A lot of it’s to do with things like drug addiction, violence, domestic violence. There’s a song on there about my father who was an alcoholic, so I wrote some stuff down about that.”
[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” background_layout=”dark” text_orientation=”justified” text_font=”Comfortaa|on|||” text_font_size=”16px” text_text_color=”#cccccc” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” background_size=”initial”]
Moving away from the sombre discussion, I was interested to find out about the origins of Advocates and what prompted their relocation across the Tasman Sea.
“The plan had always been to move over to Australia. [Our guitarist] David and I formed the band originally after our high school band disbanded, and we’ve had quite a few line-up changes, but the plan was always to move over here. The New Zealand scene is so small, it’s a really tight scene, but there’s only so far you can go.”
“It got to the point where our older guitarist got engaged and a few other guys didn’t want to move, so David and I had to decide whether to end the band or give it one last shot. I’d never even been out of New Zealand before we moved over here, but it was one of those decisions where you’re just like ‘fuck it, let’s do it.’ It was probably one of the best decisions I’ve ever made, both personally and for the band as well.”
With the momentum of the success of the band’s relocation and a killer new EP behind them, we turned our attention to the future for Advocates. Webby’s keen anticipation of the year to come was evident.
“It’s looking pretty big. We’re just going to try and tour the EP as much as we can, get it out there and get people interested. We’ve been working really hard on a new set with all new songs, it’s a lot more professional now and we’ve put a lot more effort into the live aspect of it. It’s really exciting. I’m looking forward to playing more shows as well, hopefully, some bigger shows, bigger tours. If we got the chance to tour with The Plot In You I could die happy, and touring with Make Them Suffer would be pretty ideal, too.”
With so much to look forward to and so much potential behind them, it’s abundantly clear that 2017 and beyond will have plenty in store for Advocates. Until then – suss the band’s mammoth EP “The Complex Truth” here!
Written by Sam Sweeney
[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ admin_label=”section” background_image=”https://digi.heavymag.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/01/Front-Bottoms-Bg.jpg” background_color=”#000000″ custom_padding=”0px|0px|0px|0px” padding_mobile=”off” fullwidth=”on”][et_pb_fullwidth_code admin_label=”Fullwidth Code” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” background_size=”initial”]<iframe width=”100%” height=”50%” src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/jwku_MiatwM” frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen></iframe>[/et_pb_fullwidth_code][/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ admin_label=”section” background_color=”#161616″ parallax=”on” custom_padding=”0px|0px|0px|0px” padding_mobile=”off”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row” custom_padding=”68px|0px|111px|0px” padding_mobile=”off” column_padding_mobile=”on” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” background_size=”initial”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_button admin_label=”Button” button_url=”https://figures.bandcamp.com/” url_new_window=”on” button_text=”GET YOUR COPY” button_alignment=”center” custom_button=”on” button_text_size=”30px” button_text_color=”#ffffff” button_bg_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0.58)” button_border_width=”3px” button_border_color=”#ffffff” button_border_radius=”3px” button_letter_spacing=”1px” button_font=”Abel||||” button_use_icon=”on” button_icon=”” button_icon_color=”#ffffff” button_on_hover=”off” button_text_color_hover=”#ffffff” button_bg_color_hover=”#545454″ button_border_color_hover=”#ffffff” button_letter_spacing_hover=”8px” background_color=”#c12424″ /][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” background_size=”initial” /][et_pb_image admin_label=”Image” src=”https://digi.heavymag.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/01/unnamed-3.jpg” url=”https://www.facebook.com/Advocatesofficial/” url_new_window=”on” align=”center” /][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ admin_label=”section” background_color=”#000000″ parallax=”on” custom_padding=”0px|0px|83px|0px” padding_mobile=”off”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row” custom_padding=”43px|0px|31px|372px” padding_mobile=”off” column_padding_mobile=”on” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” background_size=”initial”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_code admin_label=”Code”]<iframe width=”300″ height=”56″ src=”https://embed.spotify.com/follow/1/?uri=spotify%3Aartist%3A1LTYpqN3WnLHdE9wRuBGPE&size=detail&theme=dark” scrolling=”no” frameborder=”0″ style=”border:none; overflow:hidden;” allowtransparency=”true”></iframe>[/et_pb_code][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row admin_label=”row” custom_padding=”17px|0px|0px|0px” padding_mobile=”off” column_padding_mobile=”on” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” background_size=”initial”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_code admin_label=”Code”]<iframe src=”https://embed.spotify.com/?uri=spotify%3Aartist%3A1LTYpqN3WnLHdE9wRuBGPE” width=”100%” height=”380″ frameborder=”0″ allowtransparency=”true”></iframe>[/et_pb_code][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]
