Froth & Fury Festival 2026 is sneaking up on us rapidly, and with so many bands playing there is no way HEAVY will have time to speak to them all. Which is why we have sent out a carefully curated set of questions to each band and let them take their time in answering. Today we chat with Zuko.
Welcome to the FROTH & FURY FROTHY DOZEN, where you get a chance to let everyone know what it is about you and your band that makes them special. There are no wrong answers, but choose wisely, hehe…
HEAVY: Firstly, tell us the name of your band, tell us a bit about yourself and why you were put in charge of answering these questions?
ZUKO: What’s up, this is Ben and I play bass in Zuko! I’m 31, live on the sunshine coast and love all things heavy! Big ice hockey and warhammer fan, so if you’re reading this, and you like either of those things, congratulations, we’re besties now haha. I was put up for this as myself and Logan (lead guitar) cover all socials and PR, but Logan is busy in the riff kitchen getting the next EP ready.
H: Froth & Fury 2026 is just around the corner, what have you been doing to make sure you are ready to kick ass come show time?
Z: 2025 was our biggest year to date, and we have been lucky enough to play A LOT of shows this year, as a result we are super locked in and playing the tightest we ever have! Earlier in the year we played an outdoor festival in Mackay (Rhythm & The Reef) which was an awesome experience, but we were 1 of 2 heavy bands on the bill haha. That didn’t stop us though, we went out and went as hard as we could and thankfully the energy we put out was contagious and everyone got into it which was sick. Super excited to be a part of a seriously stacked HEAVY festival where the vibes will be next level.
H: Each year sees a great mix of international bands and local artists descend on Froth & Fury, but this year there’s also an Australian band, Polaris, with their name at the top of the posters as headliner. What does that say to you as a band in the Australian music scene?
Z: The Australian heavy music scene is in such a strong place right now, There’s some serious talent at ALL LEVELS. From seeing some of my favourite “local” bands getting partnered with big labels & landing supports on massive tours to being absolutely gobsmacked by local openers I hadn’t even heard of. It’s honestly such a great period of time for the scene and I couldn’t be any more stoked to be a part of it right now.
H: It’s a long day of music, with lots of froth and lots of fury. What will you be doing to make sure you will still be standing come your set time?
Z: Thankfully we’re on the main stage a little earlier in the day so it’ll be no problem for us at all. Super keen to get out there and set the vibes for the rest of the day. There’s some serious assbeaters on the bill so we gotta put in the work to make sure everyone’s nice and warmed up for them.
H: Give me your Top 3 Festival survival tips.
Z: 1- WATER, cannot stress this enough. Too many times i’ve made the mistake of not smashing water between beers and have paid the price
2 – SUNSCREEN, again, this one slips my mind so damn often and there’s nothing worse than the throbbing sensation of your skin literally glowing red
3- PHONES – Always good to record a little video of a band you love as a little keepsake but get the clip and put it away! Climb on your friends head and get wild. Festivals are an experience and if you’re watching it through a screen you are doing it wrong!
H: Which band – other than maybe yourselves – do you think will get up to the most mischief on the day?
Z: If i had to pick ONE that isn’t us I would be putting my money on Private Function, I can see them getting up to a little mischief for sure!
H: What song do you think the crowd would want you to play to finish your set?
Z: We used to end our set with a cover of Bulls On Parade by RATM, but as the discography has grown we’ve phased that out of the set. Still to this day we get a lot of people screaming for it, so I would say Bulls for sure haha.
H: We’re assuming you won’t give away to us what the last song of your set will be, but can you let us in on what the first song of your set will, or potentially be?
Z: The opening track off our last EP Hatred is a fast paced 90 second assbeater so we like to start the set with that to let everyone know exactly what they’re getting themselves in to for the next 30 or so minutes.
H: One of the best things about festivals is the chance to see bands you might have not even heard of before, so say someone is coming and has no idea who you are, what three songs of yours should they listen to, so they know what to expect?
Z: If you’ve never heard of Zuko I would definitely tell you to check out our most recent single Teeth To The Curb, No Place For You & Broken Neck!
H: You get to jump up with one band on the day to do guest vocals to one of their songs. Which band do you get up with and what song do you sing?
Z: For me. It’s gotta be Comeback Kid – Wake The Dead. Super formative song & record in my teenage years and it’s such a banger. YOU SAID YOU SAID YOU SAID, THIS TIME WAS GONNA BE DIFFERENT. WAKE. UP. THE. DEAD. So good dude.
H: Time to rip out the crystal ball and predict two Australian and two International bands you think will be on next years line-up. The closest to guessing all four gets a big frothy tinny and a furiously big high five…
Z: I could seriously go a big frothy and a high five right now so time to lock in. I reckon probably THROWN & CURRENTS. I may be a little biassed though because I want to see those two bands again so badly!
H: Finally, what plans does your band have for the rest of 2026 after F&F goes back into hibernation until 2027?
Z: It’s not announced yet (depending on when this comes out) but we are embarking on our first interstate headline tour in February which we are super excited about! We have also spent the back end of this year writing material for our next EP which if all goes to plan will have the first single from it out around March!
For the rest of the year, who knows what the future holds but we’re hungry and are ready to kick 2026’s ass! See you fuckers in the pit!
PERTH LINE UP – JANUARY 24, 2026
POLARIS • SOULFLY • IN HEARTS WAKE • NAILBOMB
LAGWAGON • ABBATH ‘DOOM OCCULTA’ • OCEAN SLEEPER
FRENZAL RHOMB • ARCHSPIRE • VOYAGER • SHAI HULUD
ABORTED • PRIVATE FUNCTION • TERMINAL SLEEP • ABRAMELIN
FREEDOM OF FEAR • VALHALORE • SILENT KNIGHT • ZUKO
NICOLAS CAGE FIGHTER • INIQUITOUS MONOLITH • ALL THIS FILTH
YOMI SHIP • PATIENT 67 • PINCER+ • RAT KING
ADELAIDE LINE UP – JANUARY 31, 2026
POLARIS • SOULFLY • IN HEARTS WAKE • NAILBOMB
LAGWAGON • ABBATH ‘DOOM OCCULTA’ • OCEAN SLEEPER
FRENZAL RHOMB • THE MARK OF CAIN • COMEBACK KID • ARCHSPIRE
SNOT • BLEEDING THROUGH • ABORTED • BIG NOTER • GRIDIRON
MORTAL SIN • PRIVATE FUNCTION • TERMINAL SLEEP • BATTLESNAKE
DOUBLE DRAGON • DIESECT • ZUKO • THE BEARDED CLAMS
FLANGIPANIS • I CHOOSE VIOLENCE • BONE REAPER
ROCKYS PRIDE & JOY • BROKEN LOOSE • CONTROL THE SUN
Tickets & info: www.frothandfuryfest.com/
