Interview with guitarist Adam Preston | By Spencer Snitil
Australia is often cited for its abundance of progressive metal and metalcore bands. However, recently, the continent has seen an explosion of hardcore bands flooding the scene, popping up seemingly out of nowhere. Long before this trend became just that, Slowly Building Weapons unleashed a fantastic blackened hardcore album on the world, 2007’s Nausicaä. Shortly after its release, the band broke up and stayed dormant for the better part of a decade.
Now back with a vengeance, the band released the monumental album Sunbirds via Art As Catharsis in October of 2017, and contrary to its title, it’s one of the darkest hardcore albums to drop in quite some time. Guitarist Adam Preston takes a moment to speak on the band’s reunion, the concept of the new record, and what the future holds for Slowly Building Weapons.
This is the band’s first release in roughly a decade, yet it feels like you never left. Was this album similar to Nausicaä in terms of energy, or would you say there was another machine driving the band this time around?
This time around, it was very different. When we did our first album, Nausicaä, we were more of a “normal” band: one that played shows, toured sometimes, and was full of youth and hope. This time around, we were older and much more tired. Also, our singer Nick [Bowman] lives in Japan now, so we had to do the whole thing by correspondence. It made it a very long, painful, drawn out process, but it did give us time to experiment more and let things evolve.
As far as energy goes, I’m glad if it feels like we never left. Overall, Sunbirds took a long time, but we actually recorded the majority of the basic instrument tracks in just a few days. At the time, it felt rushed and pretty ordinary, to be honest. But when we listened to the rough recordings afterwards, there was definitely this energy there, which was a nice surprise. We messed with those initial recordings a lot afterwards, but tried hard to keep that part intact.
The album really focuses on the heavier and slower moments, which most blackened hardcore really doesn’t do. Was this a conscious effort or did it happen organically?
Initially, things were very organic. We didn’t have a plan at all, or even know we were reforming the band. It was just a few of us jamming, and it grew from there. Once we figured out what it was, though, then yeah, that was a conscious effort. The concept for the album eventually became “darkness and light.” We wanted to play around with the idea of both options existing closely together, or cycling back and forth. Musically, this meant trying to blend them together, and not just in a typical “here’s a soft bit, and now, here’s a loud bit” kind of way—though there is some of that. We also tried to have sections where both are sort of happening at the same time. The hope is that these contrasts make the album more listenable all the way through, because it evolves and changes along the way.
Where does the title of the album come from, considering the album is so dark and the title is so different?
It’s related to that same contrasting “darkness and light” concept. I wrote most of my guitar parts for the album in a sunroom at the front of my apartment. A lot of the time, I would be in there working on these heavy or dark tunes, but it would be nice and sunny outside, with birds chirping away. I liked the contrast of that, so I called one of the tracks “Sunbirds” as a working title. From there, that idea grew, and like I said before, we ended up basing the whole album around it. So then, further down the path, when it came time to pick an album name, Sunbirds seemed to fit pretty well.
What made you decide to work with the label Art As Catharsis, especially considering you are probably the most blackened band on the label?
We actually knew Lachlan [Dale] from Art As Catharsis back when we were a band the first time around. He’s put out so much great music on his label, so when he offered, we were very keen to be involved. There’s a lot of genuine variation in terms of musical styles on Art As Catharsis too, so we didn’t really think in terms of where we fit. It just seemed to make sense.
How would you describe Australia’s hardcore scene now compared to a decade ago?
That’s a hard one. All my memories from a decade ago are dripping with nostalgia. So, everything seems great back then: lots of venues, good crowds, and awesome bands. These days, most Friday nights, I’m on the couch with my wife and dog or playing guitar alone in my room. So, it’s difficult to make an accurate comparison. There’s definitely still plenty of amazing Australian bands out there, though. That’s for sure.
Any tour plans in the mix?
At this point, we’re just happy to finally have the album out, and so far, it’s been received really well, which is nice. Nick is still in Japan, so touring is a bit tricky, but if Sunbirds continues to find an audience, then I’m definitely hoping we can make it happen.
What’s next for Slowly Building Weapons moving forward?
We’re already writing again and talking about another album. Based on how long Sunbirds took, you can expect this one to drop around October 2020.
Pick up Sunbirds today via Bandcamp, and keep up with Slowly Building Weapons on Facebook!
