PREMIERE: There’s plenty of pop punk goodness in Loose End’s new video

Posted on February 14, 2018 by Paul 'Browny' Brown

There’s been a void in Australia’s pop punk scene with bands like Kisschasy, Skyway and Heroes for Hire null and void these days, but a band trying to make a good impression are Melbourne’s Loose End who are Premiering their brand new song/video for ‘Without A Trace‘. And because it’s Valentines Day you’d expect some sort of love filled or romantic clip about running off with your one and only right? WRONG. The climax will have you grasping at your chest after your heart gets violently ripped out.

We grabbed drummer Jackson Trudel to interrogate him over the idea and see if it was inspired by real life events…

Alright guys, firstly let’s introduce you to the world, who is Loose End?

Loose End is made up of two guitarists (Benjamin Schmidt and Mitch Parry), a drummer (Jackson Trudel) and vocalist (Ben Smalley). Our original bassist, Wilbur, left the band late last year on good terms and we’ve been looking for a permanent replacement ever since then. We’ve been working with a friend of ours to fill that spot but we’re yet to confirm anything.

How long have you been doing the rounds in the band circuit?

Benjamin, Mitch and myself have been playing in bands and performing for about 5 years now. I started back in my hometown of Horsham VIC at the local youth center. Funnily enough, Benjamin was actually the guitarist and lead vocalist in my original band from way back then too. Apart from a high school outfit, this is actually Ben Smalley’s first go at being a front man and playing shows. I’m so stoked to say he’s shown an incredible natural ability to not only play the songs we have in front of a crowd, but also put on a performance.

Your style is reminiscent of the GOLDEN days of Aussie pop punk e.g Skyway, Kisschasy, Heroes for Hire etc Is that the sound you’re going for?

We’ve definitely tried to give a nod to the classic sound of Aussie Pop Punk with our latest EP, but we’ve also taken influence from other international bands like Neck Deep, WSTR and Comeback Kid. However we’ve almost completed our next EP as well, which sounds more of this new wave type of Pop Punk that seems to be making a push through the scene with bands like Columbus, Belmont and with stuff like Trophy Eyes latest sound.

Let’s talk about the video for ‘Without a Trace’. What a twist ending that rips your heart out. Did someone experience something similar to this, hence the idea?

Ben Smalley is a huge film buff and drew inspiration for the twist ending of our Without a Trace video from movies like The Prestige and Shutter Island.

Well it worked well, and how’d you get Lorde to appear in the video at 2:04?? haha

Yeah! How good was Lorde to help us out with it? Absolute dream to work with as well. Shout out to Lorde hahaha

Most bands write about love, loss and breakups, whats the hardest breakup you’ve had to get over

I’ve had to part ways with my first car a couple of years back. That old Hyundai got me to my first couple of interstate gigs and I made so many fond memories in that absolute lemon. The sound system I had was worth more than what the car was. I had to wreck it after the last time it stopped working and I needed to let it go cause I refused to spend any more money on trying to keep it on the road.

Some members of the band are from rural parts of Victoria, does that make it easier to put on a gig in those parts?

Benjamin Schmidt and myself still have some good friends and connections from back home, so organising a show would be fairly easy. The trouble is the lack of people interested in going to see a live band that aren’t playing Daryl Bratheway and Oasis covers. That just isn’t the scene back home, which is one of the bigger factors in us leaving.

‘Without a Trace’ is out today, why should we be spending our money buying it?

The Without a Trace video is the grand finale to our campaign for our debut EP. We’ve sunk a lot of time and money in to this EP and everything that’s come between now and when we first started work on it. With that being said, this is only the beginning to what we have planned for ourselves. If you like this video clip, you’re going to love what we have in store for the next 12 months.