Interview by Angela Croudace
English punk/metal hybrid Rolo Tomassi have arrived in Australia for their smash and run of shows as part of sleepmakeswaves’ Love Of Cartography Tour, which also features Japanese math rock outfit Lite who make their debut Australian performances.
Rolo Tomassi return after an absence of eight years, with the pandemic repeatedly putting paid to the band’s efforts to make it back sooner.
With the first show of the tour completed in Perth last night, HEAVY thought it pertinent to spend some time with keys player/vocalist James Spence to get a feel for what to expect and their relationship with sleepmakeswaves.
“So we were supposed to tour with them in 2020, and that didn’t happen because of the global pandemic,” he explained. “I think since then, there’s been a willingness to make something happen again. I met them earlier this year at a festival in Europe and got to hang out, and we got on immediately. You could tell they would be nice people to spend time with and a good band to play shows with. There’s definitely something in our sounds that compliment each other, and it fits together in a cohesive way without being the same thing.”
Listen/watch the full interview for more, including what it’s like having a sibling in the same band and about what has changed sonically and technologically for Rolo Tomassi since they were in Australia last.