PREMIERE: Mary Roll Strive For The Best with 'There's Nothing Left For Us'
I love discovering bands early on into their careers and seeing them grow and develop over the years. It's one of the best parts about this job, espeically when they've got a sound you love and adore and have high hopes and aspitations. Their motivation is infectious and their music sets them up for big things!
That's the wave of emotions I went through with Albury four-piece Mary Roll who have joined us today to show off their new single 'There's Nothing Left For Us', which harks back to the 2000s era of Aussie punk/rock bands like Kisschasy and new age acts Violent Soho, LOSER and Tired Lion.
The boys are fired up (like frontman Finn Lockley's blazing red locks) and hellbent on having their music heard by the masses and to leave a lasting impression with new fans along the way. Their attitude is welcoming and the origin of their name is wholesome as fuck. Seriously, jump in and get to know the boys and their latest single!
Mary Roll - Fantastic to meet you guys - loving the Aussie punk-esque sound you've got behind you with 'There's Nothing Left For Us'. Firstly, who would you say are your biggest influences when it comes to writing music?
Jarrem: See that's a really hard question. We just have so many different genres and ideas, and with every song we make it has its own inspiration for it.
Finn: Yea exactly! It's hard to say who exactly have been our biggest inspiration right now, but bands like Arctic Monkeys and Violent Soho definitely come to mind
That's a good place to start! Speaking of, this is our first interview with you so let's chat about your name - Mary Roll - it just rolls off your tongue, how'd you decide upon that?
Jarrem: When we first formed the band we didn't really have any ideas for what we wanted to be called. But then one day, my dad came to me and said he had an idea for a name, and proceeded to tell me a story about my grandma. See her name was Mary, and she use to make these jam rolls right? So he came up with the name 'Mary Roll', and it just stuck really.
That's the most adorable and wholesome dedication I've ever heard. Bless her cotton socks! As for you Finn, that big orange mop looks like a struggle to see through in the performance in your new music video. How do you tame that in a live setting?
Talking about live shows, when they come back that is - talk us through the local scene in Albury. What makes for a great night our your way?
Jacob: Albury's really unique in the way the local scene works. See everyone knows everyone around here, especially the local bands in the area and the venues too. So a lot of the time we all work together to put shows on and help each other spread the word for upcoming gigs or other stuff going on too. Plus with the crowds at gigs and at clubs, it's a bit of a mix of super young, older, and everyone in between. Super unique experience man.
I bet you all congregate at the Royal too! Australia's heavy music scene has been on fire lately and the sound of this single, akin to that of Kisschasy/Violent Soho/Tired Lion/Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers, is fast making a comeback to the scene. What are you boys doing to make sure you stand out from the crowd?
Jacob: Well, what I think makes us stick out is that we're always pushing, you know? Just pushing the different genres we mash together as well as the different inspiration we draw from to make some truly unique sounds.
Jarrem: Yea, and while we do stick to our roots of rock and what not, we're always trying to broaden our horizons. Mary Roll has no limits, we're always gonna strive to be the best we can.
Love that passion lads. This is just the start of what's to come for the band - how have you been using lockdown/covid to your advantage?
Finn: Working on our music really. We've just been in the shed, working away, making songs, writing lyrics, trying new sounds, upgrading our equipment and whatnot, also recording too. We've used this time to just perfect our craft as much as we can, and really improve our abilities as musicians too. We've worked hard!
What has been the biggest struggle of the past year for you lads, being an upcoming band trying to make noise in the scene?
Jacob: It's just the fact that while we can release all this music and do all this work, we can't play it live, and that just been such a struggle to deal with.
Finn: 100%, and it's even worse because while we do sound good through our recordings and music we release, we really shine as a live performing band, it's where we feel comfortable, and it sucks that we can't share that with people as much as we'd like to.
Hopefully we start seeing changes soon, especially in the Albury circuit and beyond! Can we start seeing more material in the future?
Jacob: You'll definitely be hearing from us soon, that's for sure. We've just finished recording a new song called 'Welcome to the War' and are hoping to release it with a video as soon as we can.
Finn: Plus, we're also aiming to have our own debut album out next year hopefully, so keep an eye out for that!
I've definitely got you guys on the radar. Lastly, any final thoughts?
Jarrem: It's important to remember that while we're a relatively new band, we know what we're doing, and we're here to prove that. We wanna be the best and Mary Roll will not stop impressing people and pushing what we can do as a band. So keep an eye on us, we're here to stay!
Interview by Paul Browny Brown @brownypaul
Pre-Save ' There's Nothing Left For Us' here
