Interview by Jimmy Glinster and Kris Peters
Videography by Squirty
Don’t let the name fool you.
While we at HEAVY favour the metal side of life, we also have a soft spot for rock – especially Aussie rock.
So when we were offered the opportunity to set sail on Rock The Boat 2023 and conduct onboard interviews for the first time ever we jumped at the chance.
Who wouldn’t with over 40 bands playing across 8 glorious nights on board the Royal Caribbean?
It wasn’t just a first for HEAVY, but also a first for the organisers of Rock The Boat, who had never entertained a media crew in their many years of sailing. Which meant none of us really knew exactly what we were doing, but our point of contact Tatiana soon eased all of our minds by instructing us from the outset to “have fun”.
Which we did.
Rock The Boat 2023 was headlined by Jimmy Barnes, Jon Stevens and Chocolate Starfish, but there was also a host of other bands that caught HEAVY’s eye, such as Daryl Braithwaite, Black Sorrows, James Morley, Bob Spencer and Haxan.
Plus the massive supporting cast, some of which sounded familiar and others who did not, but by the end of the cruise HEAVY had become acquainted with nearly every band and had the time of our lives!
It must be said that there were many occasions we were a few fathoms outside of our comfort zone, which made for some pretty humorous moments in the interviews.
Before, during and after the cruise there was one band name that seemed to be getting whispered everywhere. They were talked about in the chat groups, and some ship goers even boarded with the band’s t-shirt. They were touted as the band to watch, so of course HEAVY had to see what all the fuss was about, which led to us interviewing three young ladies from Wales who were every bit as good – if not better – than the word on the street pumped them up to be.
The band? Haxan. And best you remember it…
