Perth has been producing some of the best upcoming Aussie heavy acts in recent years and one we were stoked to work with last year was Grenade Brain, who dropped their heavy AF EP Sick Of It towards the end of the year (our review here), setting them up for an eventful 2021 (once touring returns to us).
Go deep into their year and how they used COVID's lockdowns to their advantage with frontman Matt Daly's 2020 Year in Review...
TOP 10 RELEASES OF 2020?
10: Brockhampton - Technical Difficulties
9: SHACKLΣS - Hatred’s Resorvoir
8: Koi - Before It’s Too Late
7: Concede - Indoctrinate
6: Alpha Wolf - a quiet place to die
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rNtr3sfuqw
5: The 1975 - Notes On A Conditional Form
4: The Kid LAROI - Fuck Love
3: Justice For The Damned - Pain Is Power
2: Triple One - Panic Force
1: Brakence - Punk2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYN-wYlG5-A
TOP 5 SONGS OF 2020?
5: The Smith Street Band - 'I Still Dream About You'
4: The Kid LAROI - 'Not Fair (feat. Corbin)'
3: Soulkeeper - 'Heavy Glow'
2: Diveliner - 'Fix You'
1: Sewerperson - 'One Time For Old Times'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53nEa7RXJY4
BEST MUSIC VIDEO OF 2020?
Pretty easy answer here haha Alpha Wolf - 'Akudama' OOOO
Closely seconded by Triple One - 'Salina' but that’s probably more so because I just really REALLY like Triple One.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ENMe1rlA0M
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21Xi7x2kIsU
LAST GIG YOU PLAYED BEFORE COVID?
Alpha Wolf ‘Fault’ Tour: Perth leg!
I had no idea at the time that I’d be taking almost a year off of playing shows with any of my bands due to lockdown etc. It’s been super hard waiting for the timing of record releases to coincide with launching back into shows again, so I’m glad the drought is finally over!
[gallery type="rectangular" ids="https://wallofsoundau.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/grenade-brain-live.jpg|,https://wallofsoundau.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/alpha-wolf-fault-perth.jpg|"]
HOW DID COVID AFFECT YOU/YOUR BAND?
Wrote a whole record over lockdown, so all in all pretty well to be honest. We had a couple of lineup changes at the start of the year, it was a really positive move and made for some really excellent times writing the new record with a really synergistic amalgamation of members. Ryan joining Grenade Brain really rounded out the lineup beautifully.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CHe1OyiHg1o/
BIGGEST THING YOU LEARNED ABOUT YOURSELF IN 2020?
How much one man could sink into Pokémon games, with or without a lockdown.
On a serious note, I learnt how much the normal routine of life/things you can easily take for granted (the gym, normal public interactions) being taken away from you can affect you. It might seem stupid, but having to get creative when gyms closed down made me feel so genuinely lost haha
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBYORdr_TY8
WHAT ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO IN 2021?
Playing shows and writing more music in all my musical projects/endeavours. I just wanna make music with my friends really.
That and Halo: Infinite.
Words by Matt Daly. Insta: @neusworthy
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