After forming towards the end of 2019 and releasing their promising debut single The Light You Promised, Gold Coast heavy rock outfit South Of Sideways – as did everyone else – fell victim to COVID and the ensuing lockdowns and basically had their career crippled at the knees before it had even had time to gestate.
Rather than bemoan what might have been, the band knuckled down and wrote new tracks to unleash on the other side of lockdowns and hit the ground running with their second single, Consequences. The song showed a more refined side to the band’s sound, while still maintaining the contrast of light and shade within their music that helped make South Of Sideways a band to watch from the outset.
On October 14 they return with their third single Closer To Nowhere, yet another step forward in a musical education which began in earnest more than two years ago.
Vocalist Sean Maguire joined HEAVY to chat about the song.
“It’s a pretty complicated song for us,” Maguire measured. “When we first started writing – we got together three years ago – the songs were quite basic. Over the years through COVID and other things we progressed as a band and this song has a lot of moving parts to it. The producer that we’ve got at the moment, Kalen, is really helping us out as well. We’re pretty proud of it. Lyrically, it’s about a bloke who has a near-death experience and woke up one day and realised that climbing the corporate ladder and making as much money as you can is just not that important anymore. He’s trying to change his life around and concentrate on things that are important to him. Like being happy, and love, and family and stuff like that.”
In the full interview, Sean talks more about the musical nature of the song, how it differs from previous releases, the light and shade inherent in the band’s music, whether the song is part of a bigger picture or a stand-alone release, surviving COVID and more.
