Duane’s World Issue 13: Tatty Chats with Luppo from Flaming Wrekage
Flaming Wrekage have been wreaking havoc on the eardrums of heavy metal fans for over a decade and now, armed with their recently released fourth album Terra Inferna, this sub-genre crushing four piece from Sydney are geared up to take on Australia and the world.Guitarist/vocalist Dave ‘Luppo’ Lupton made the trek to Kurrajong to hang out with me at work at Higher Ground Tattoos and Records for the day to talk about their latest release and their current run of Aussie shows... But what’s the point of heading to a tattoo studio if you’re not getting inked up?
“I mean, it'd be rude not to get something sick when I come in here. I looked at the book of Duane's sketches and this was the first page. I went fuck it, that’ll do. It’s killer.”
Luppo has made his way here before, getting the Flaming Wrekage logo tattooed on his arm alongside his bandmate, guitarist Juzzee
“Both got it on the right hand, the riff hand. I got it bigger. His was a bit wimpy honestly.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/C7uuLC7yin1/Well, something that’s not wimpy is the new Flaming Wrekage album Terra Inferna. It’s been out for a month now, so what has the reception been like?“Man, it's been insane. Overwhelmingly positive. It's been crazy. It feels like all the hard work’s paying off. Spent a lot of time making and writing this record and just to have it out in the world, I felt considerably lighter the day it came out. The days leading up to a big release that you've been thinking about for years really can be a little bit stressful. But once it was out, just so rewarding. I couldn't be more stoked.”They’ve also had a string of shows this year, including their most recent album launch gig at Melbourne, that have featured the new tracks and it’s fair to say that the crowd digs what they’re hearing.“Yeah, it went down really well. We put a lot of effort into making this setlist cohesive, and similarly to the album, we wanted the tracklist to make sense. We've incorporated some extra ambient bits and pieces throughout the set now. It took us a while to get our heads around how to play them live because we often don't really think about that until it's time to start rehearsing for the tour. Like, oh fuck, how are we going to actually do this live, especially with guitars, because we always do way too many layers because we're just addicted to guitar tracks in the studio. Chris Themelco [Monolith Studios/Orpheus Omega], who's recorded us three times now, he's a mellow death dude as well. There's never enough harmonies. Then when it comes to figuring that out live, you're just like, how are we gonna get 10 guitar tracks down to two, which can be challenging, but I like that part of it.”Any artist loves a bit of praise, but none more than that of their peers. Local legend, musician and producer Ryan Miller (Black Rheno, Housefox Studios) has recently given Terra Inferna huge shoutouts on socials as well as in interviews, but his praise on the production has left the lads feeling a bit stoked with themselves.“We just played this killer gig in Sydney on the boat (Simo’s Dive On The Water) the other week, that Grindhead put on. Black Rheno played and I just had this massive chat with Miller about the release and just music. It's awesome. That's one of my favourite things about doing this, is just getting to hang out with your mates and talk about what we do. To hear the response from guys like that, it means a great deal, man. And especially because like, it's Miller.”
“He works in the studio as well. He gets it. I think he was nerding out over the production a little bit because he's got Housefox Studios, which is so sick. That's another thing with this. I'm really happy with how it sounds. We did some different stuff to what we’ve done in the past, production-wise, and I think it's come together pretty nicely. So it's high, high praise coming from a guy like Miller.”
Sydney gets its chance to experience the new material live when Flaming Wrekage host their album launch at The Lansdowne this Saturday night.“Hometown launch show, It's going to be awesome. We haven't played that venue before. I'm really looking forward to hitting that stage. It's a good size. I think venues that size that are pumping are a sign of a healthy scene. I think we could use a few more places like that in Sydney at the moment. But we've got this one. So we’ve got to support it. It’s also cool for us to like play at different places, mix it up a little bit. Because often, metal bands are not on the top of the booking list for a lot of places.”It is a strange and difficult time for the local live scene. In the immediate wake of COVID, with the absence of international artists, the stages of Australia were there for the taking for Aussie musicians. Now with the abundance of live acts from overseas, coupled with an economic downturn and the resulting closure of several iconic live music venues, it’s getting far more difficult for local artists to get any stage time. Releasing an album in a period like this must prove to be difficult when opportunities to promote your release are limited."Honestly, I can't remember a time where it's been more difficult to get a tour together for a band of our size and we've been doing this for a while. It's great that international bands are coming out. But it's so saturated between January to April. It's a bad decision to go and do a headline tour for a band because you can't compete with Knotfest and those kind of festivals and big tours. It's been such a slow crawl back from COVID and people's spending habits have totally changed. If they're gonna go to something, it often is that big show, so they're going to save their cash for that.
We're seeing that in local ticket sales, people aren't really buying tickets until the week of which makes it very difficult to budget for any tour. So yeah, it's tough man.
“It's good that we have places like the Duke that are able to do free gigs, because people will always show up to them. You’ve got try and adapt. I think we're seeing a bit of a shift in some Aussie bands, trying to do shows around winter time, where it's less competitive. But I would like to see a bit more of a balanced touring schedule all year round. We don't even really have winter in Australia. Let’s be real, it doesn’t get that fucking cold here. But we're just stoked that we can play at all right now. I think people need live music more than ever to take their mind off all the other shit that's going on.”
The upside of the international touring acts, other than punters getting to see their favourite bands, is the potential for our local musicians to gain further exposure to potential fans by landing the coveted support slots (as per the reintroduced Michael's Rule), a role that Flaming Wrekage has been fortunate enough to play in the past."Yeah, it's awesome doing them. I will say though, there was a few tours earlier in the year where there was no Aussie support. I know Chuggy (Michael Chugg - promoter) is pushing for that to be illegal. They used to be like that. You used to have to have an Aussie band open every show. Like I think it was In Flames and Kreator. There was no support for that and that would have been a great opportunity for so many bands. We did Katatonia earlier in the year, which was kind of a weird one for us. Like, it's not really our sound. But I love that shit. Because you get to play to people that definitely haven't heard of you before. So if you get to play to a crowd that aren't really in that world, you can become their favourite new band."
The one thing Aussie bands can brag about is their merchandise game. With local artists the likes of Glenno, Sindy Sinn and Mike Foxall (amongst others) pumping out stellar artwork that adorns album covers, t-shirts, stubby coolers, bar mats and even hot sauce, it won’t take long to fill your house with all manner of killer Oz music paraphernalia. For the bands though, merch can often be the one thing that makes the whole affair of touring worthwhile, or even possible.“That's where bands made their money these days as well man. Merch is crucial. To think that any venues are taking a cut of that is just such bullshit. We've only had to deal with it once and that was at the Katatonia show. But smaller sort of venues like Crowbar and people that give a shit about the scene won't do it. I don't know the ins and outs of it enough to make a full judgement other than it’s taking the only thing that is actually profitable about touring away from bands.”Punters will get their chance to obtain their Flaming Wrekage merch (featuring the outstanding artwork of Indonesian artist Riven Aji) at shows, starting this weekend at their Sydney album launch party at the Lansdowne, and continuing on throughout the year.“We are booking some stuff in August and September (including a support slot on the Psycroptic tour). Then we're doing the Metal to the Max Festival in Broken Hill, which is going to be killer, on the Mad Max Compound.”NO WAY!!!!!!!“You’re coming right? It’s like a camping festival they're doing there. It's on the October long weekend. I think it's fucking awesome. It's a pretty unique concept for a gig like, and those kind of regional festivals are so fun, man. Like we've done Blacken a couple of times and that's next level. Hope they do it again. It's the best. But yes, it does get cold. And when you're trying to sleep in a tent on acid.”[gallery type="square" ids="https://wallofsoundau.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/447465506_882068097062561_420225108631447596_n.jpg|,https://wallofsoundau.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/447595478_882068110395893_1399958254788432913_n.jpg|,https://wallofsoundau.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/432686311_838032331466138_6529809334372746969_n.jpg|"]Then after that, the lads have a European trek ahead of them“Back to Europe, which we've been trying to do pretty much ever since we went there last time. This promoter called Dagger Bookings are bringing us over. We're just finalising the last couple of shows. But it's from the end of November for about two and a half weeks. The main kind of draw was we got asked to do this festival in Alkmaar, which is not too far from Amsterdam. That one is called Herrie Metal Fest. Benighted and Baest are playing. We've got a couple other killer gigs in the works too. Remember that band Idle Ruin from Brissie? So they actually all relocated to Berlin, and Liam hit me up. He's like, man, do you want to do a show in Berlin? I said fucking oath. So that'd be cool to play with another Aussie band overseas. I’m looking forward to that.”Definitely something to look forward to, but not until they’ve finished kicking Australia’s arse with this new album Terra Infera, and these upcoming shows. Check out Flaming Wrekage at The Lansdowne this Saturday night, the 8th of June. Leave your earplugs at home at your own risk. Interview by Duane James@duanejames666
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOKERrEA6yg
