Ocean Grove kicked off 2020 by unleashing their most lucrative release to date, Flip Phone Fantasy (our review here). While their plans to tour their brand new release were heavily disrupted by COVID-19, the band instead focused on remaining positive and do what they do best — write music. Read on to see what else came of 2020 from OG vocalist Dale Tanner...
TOP 5 RELEASES OF 2020?
5. All Them Witches - Nothing As The Ideal
4. IDLES - Ultra Mono
3. Mildlife - Automatic
2. Ulver - Flowers of Evil
1. The Strokes - The New Abnormal
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewOPQZZn4SY
TOP 5 SONGS OF 2020?
5. DMA’S - 'Life Is A Game of Changing'
4. The Budos Band - 'Sixth Hammer'
3. Tropical Fuck Storm - 'Legal Ghost'
2. YUNGBLUD - 'mars'
1. Architects - 'Animals'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdWhJcrrjQs
BEST MUSIC VIDEO OF 2020?
Bring Me The Horizon - 'Obey'
Honourable mention to Christine and the Queens - 'La vita nuova'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AolstL1_MhE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIdSORj_dd0
LAST GIG YOU PLAYED BEFORE COVID?
Riverside - Newcastle Upon Tyne, England - in support of Crossfaith
https://www.instagram.com/p/B9fId0BDxui/
HOW DID COVID AFFECT YOU/YOUR BAND?
Ocean Grove thrive on the energy in the room, whether that be the studio or the venue. Having that taken away felt like we were zapped of our life source and we definitely felt a huge lull in our own vitality as a band. Especially coming straight off the back of a pretty epic European tour with the legends in Crossfaith and putting our new album ‘Flip Phone Fantasy’ out a week prior to lockdown commencing, we went from the highest high to what felt like the lowest low. Like everyone else we just had to cop reality on the chin and get on with it.
We did our very best to stay positive, to claw our way through this mess of a 2020 and continue to write music. It definitely wasn’t easy having to turf a year and half of plans out and embrace the unknown, but we are pumped more than ever to pick up where we left off and take OG to the stratosphere.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B9R5VO1DFzZ/
BIGGEST THING YOU LEARNED ABOUT YOURSELF IN 2020?
This year has just felt like the year for introspection, and it felt hard not to self-reflect when that’s all we could do for a while. Before COVID, I had been moving through life at such pace that in retrospect was not healthy or in line with my true priorities. Addicted to the game of ‘being productive’, I have since realised there is a lot of value in discarding this need to constantly achieve or be busy and instead make time for the nothingness, the breaths in between. I learnt more skills, explored more new interests and forged deeper friendships and relationships than any other year due to the divine intervention of sorts that we were all handed down. The sentiment of stopping to smell the roses has never rung truer.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CA411eohc3z/
WHAT ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO IN 2021?
Instinctively I would tend to avoid giving this answer as it seems like it would be the first thing to come to mind for any musician. But honestly, the idea of playing live shows again is more thrilling than anything. No doubt everyone reading this has so much pent up energy and emotion that needs to be set free, and being able to be part of, and to witness that mass catharsis for the year we have all had is going to be such a significant and revelatory moment for us all. We have so much new music that we have NEVER played live before, so the anticipation could not be greater to get back on stage and let ‘er rip.
Words by Dale Tanner. Insta: @nahdale
