While music is experiencing a massive upturn in popularity with the exponential amount of bands and new music being released to the public on a daily basis, the ratio of actual fresh, new bands to recycled formula is staggeringly lopsided. Every so often, however, a band will break free from the pack and announce emphatically that they are here to revolutionize the way we see and hear music and right now that band is Australia’s own New Clear Vision.
Hailing from the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, New Clear Vision is an amalgamation of former bands in the coastal area that has come together as one cohesive unit to deliver a sound that, while maintaining influence from a plethora of styles, has also managed to put their own uniqueness and vitality into the mix to encapsulate a sound that is exciting, and for the most part, untried. All while maintaining an outlook of almost childhood petulance that should go hand-in-hand with the new kids on the block.
“We get tagged in the nu-metal genre a lot,” expressed vocalist, Brad Bromfield, “and there’s not too much of that in Australian music presently. We’re a little bit different from the metalcore bands, and we want to stay away from that as well. We like to be different, that’s something that has always been important to me. Every song on our debut, self-titled album has different elements to them. There’s a bit more flavour to us and our music, and I guess that’s part of the thing that makes us stand out. We like what we like and play what we play, and it’s just gonna get better. We’re gonna start working on the next album pretty much straight away and try to make it even more fucked up and funky and fun. I don’t know what the topics will be, but it might be a little more… brighter (laughs). The shit on this one is pretty dark, but it is for a reason and a point.”
When it comes to influences on New Clear Vision’s sound, Bromfield said they are many and varied, but also stresses that while they may be influences, they are only sources of inspiration, not defining characteristics.”
“Body Count is a big one,” he surmised, “but I also love Red Hot Chili Peppers and their pop sound. There’s lots of different stuff. Adam is into Metallica and Slayer, and you can hear bits of that here and there, and Shannon is into different stuff again. He likes Tool – even though that doesn’t reflect a great deal on our music – but the two guitarists are totally different but gel together so well. We’re all into older shit like Anthrax, but we don’t really reflect that either (laughs). There are a lot of hip hop/ metal influences too. The Cypress Hill era with Skull & Bones, plus One Minute Silence, Rage Against the Machine, all the cool shit. The influences are from a wide range of bands which I think reflects in our music.”
When it comes to dispersing the influences through their original music, Bromfield admits there is a fine line between imitation and inspiration.
“It’s hard,” he conceded, “because you don’t wanna be a carbon copy of anything else, so we really have to split the difference. I know there are things on the album that sound similar to other bands but we didn’t intend it that way. It just happens. We’re still us. You just have to maintain your own sound and your own flavour I guess and try not to influence yourself too much by other shit. You can hear a lot of Cavalera in there as well because I have always been into Sepultura. I don’t want to sound like Max (Cavalera), but fuck, it comes out (laughs). Mike Patton is another who is a massive influence as well, and there are a lot of Patton-esque things going on in there but we still mix it up and it’s a different blend. You’ve just gotta play what’s in your head and not straight out copy it.”
In summing all of that up, Bromfield ultimately admits he is at a loss to explain New Clear Visions actual sound.
“It’s fucken different,” he laughed. “That’s actually a hard one to answer. I’m honestly stumped. There’s nothing else I can really compare it to. We just sound like New clear Vision, I guess.”
People have the chance to decide for themselves with the release digitally of the band’s debut album on August 16 and the launch of the album with hard copies on September 1.
“We just wanted to make our mark and stand out a little bit with the album,” Bromfield shrugged. “We can’t wait to get it out there and have people listen to it. As you know because you’ve seen the cover, it’s pretty out there, and I’m sure it will be recognised and make an impact pretty quickly (laughs). We just want to get it out there and show people we are here to play and stay.”
Without revealing too much, the album artwork features the band members in a not too flattering light but is also a fair indicator on the band and their music.
“We had a lot of fun with that and just wanna show people that we don’t take things too seriously,” Bromfield stressed. “Musically with the album, we wanted to show our diversity and get in people’s faces, so we will have to see with that (laughs).”
Blending the styles mentioned above sounds simple in theory, but the music that comes out the other side is anything but. There are elements of death metal, hip hop, thrash metal and everything in between, with Bromfield admitting it was always their intention to take the listener on an eclectic journey through the bowels of the devil.
“That was the plan,” he said. “We always wanted it to be like that. I think a lot more of that will come through in the second album. It will be more refined, and there will be a lot more songs. We’ve got a bit more time to do that shit properly. It’s baby steps, mate; but this is a perfect place to start. It is a very polished representation of us as a band.”
While focusing on the imminent announcement of their musical intent to an unsuspecting world, Bromfield also reveals that New clear Vision has one eye firmly on the future.
“I wanna get over to America and stamp the Australian mark on the scene over there,” he announced. “We just want to do music and continue to do what we love, and hopefully people gravitate towards it. We want to make an impact here first and then go international and put out a few more albums and just ride the wave baby. We’re not that fucken good yet (laughs). We’re getting some interest which is awesome, so we will just take it as it comes. We don’t wanna think too far forward just yet.”
Copies of the album can be bought digitally here or at the official launch of No More Screams at the Prince of Wales Hotel, Nundah on September 1 with special guests Symbolic Weapon, Lavidius and Seven Day Mask.
