On The Road With: PistonFist...

Last week we mentioned that Australian petrol rockers PistonFist were returning to the live arena for a whole stack of shows in support of their new full lengther Redline, so this week we thought we’d hook up for a chat with the band’s vocalist Geoff O’Leary about all matters pertaining to being on the road…

First off, congratulations on the new album – Are you happy with it yourselves and has it met so far with the reception you’d hoped? “We are ridiculously happy with the album, after two and a half years years since we recorded the first track and several member changes, we are stoked with the result. Nik Carpenter from Core Studios on the Gold Coast did an amazing job producing it. And really deserves an award. As does Ayden Perry for nailing the mastering. We have had a awesome response and it’s had some amazing reviews”.

And now to the reason we’re chatting – your upcoming tour. It’s a big ‘un – sprawling across four months from start to finish. How hard is it pulling together a bunch of dates over such a long period? And is there any chance of slotting in a Canberra show to the list? “So we actually had a few more dates in there that got cancelled which was a bit of a bummer but we are already working on the next run of shows. We actually didn’t put together a lot of these shows. The New Metal Mayhem tour was put together buy our good friend and Kaosis front man Joel C Thompson. We are definitely looking at getting back to Canberra asap after an awesome response from Sunburn the last two years”.

What can you remember about your first tour as PistonFist? “Lots of Beer! Lots of kilometres, and some really awesome times!”

And what about your first tour with an international band – how did that differ after you’d been playing just with other Aussie bands? “While we have played a lot of shows with international touring bands, we haven’t really toured with them. We played two shows with Smashing Pumpkins and Janes Addiction which was amazing; the production, the organisation and definitely the crowd size was very different than what we are used to”.

What’s the best venue in your opinion in Australia? And does that differ as a punter to actually playing? “There really are too many awesome venues in Australia to nail down one. But personally, Frankie’s Pizza in Sydney is epic, Killfest at Kilmore was amazing but Ross River in Alice Springs for Blackened, was absolutely mind blowing. As far as is there being a difference between punter and artist. Not really. If the venue is awesome it’s awesome for punter and player usually”.

Who do you have the best memories of touring with – and why? “Frankenbok! All day! Not just because it’s a shit tonne of fun, but we are all fans. And touring with guys like that, just makes ya wanna be better!”

Aside from your tools of the trade, what’s the must-have piece of kit that goes into your bag first when packing to go on the road? “For me, it’s Manuka Honey. Keeps my vocals all lubey”.

And what about a luxury item that you probably shouldn’t take but manage to slip in? “This is a hard question. With the economy being as tight as it is, we all try to keep shit to a minimum”.

OK – what about tunes? Who makes it onto the PistonFist tourbus playlist? “At the moment, we are listening to a lot a lot of stuff. From Australia, Dreadnaught, Astrodeath, Lucifungus, Frankenbok, Mountain Wizard Deathcult, Black Rheno, Till ya Dead. And there are so so many more awesome Aussie bands. Malevolence and Killer be Killed for the international side have been sneaking in there as well!”

Overall, how strong do you think the metal scene is here in Australia at the moment? “While there are a lot of people turning up to international shows, there is still a lot of work to go into local shows before we catch up to where that scene was at pre-COVID. But in saying that, I think there’s something amazing going on in Sydney. It’s seems a lot of these guys really try hard to support each other. Even at a higher level of band. It’s really awesome to see. Seeing guys like Black Rheno up the front from start to finish is amazing. I think that as bands, we need to do more of this. Support each other and bring the whole scene forward”.

Back to the album – Which track do you think works best live? “Another hard question. We are super proud of all the tracks. But the standouT for me would be Become the Rage. It’s a banger and heaps of fun live”.

Anything else you’d like to tell our readers before they come and see you in action? “Look after your mates. Support your local scene. And get of ya lounge and come and see some live music! And most of all, THANKYOU!!!”