Interviews

Eat Your Heart Out - 'Facing Fears and Playing Mind Games' (Audio Interview)

Walladmin

Heavy Metal Wordsmith

Feb 1, 2018

7 min read

2015. That was when the heavy Australian music landscape started to see a shake up when this Newcastle quintet released debut EP Distance Between Us.

Inspired by their tight-knit local scene since forming in 2012, which ranged from hardcore to punk, Eat Your Heart Out have been making waves for the past few years. That’s all while joining global heavyweights such as Wales’ Funeral For A Friend and Real Friends from Illinois (US) out on the road.

The band’s grungy hooks, direct lyricism and experimental rhythms led to Fearless Records signing them last April, before the release of two EPs: Carried Away, shared that month, and latest offering Mind Games in December.

The EP’s musically raw and searingly introspective, and I sat the whole band down for a balcony chat to dive into just a few things about it (and the group’s history)…

Meet Eat Your Heart Out:
Caitlin Henry – vocals
Andrew Anderson – guitar
Will Moore – guitar
Dom Cant – bass
Jake Cronin – drums

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The essence of punk music

"I think punk's a term." - Moore

Reflecting on how people ultimately connect to feeling rather than musical technicality, Moore said, "I think punk's a term."

"People put things onto punk, and there's this idea of it being raw and underdeveloped. But the idea is just seeing something and straight up relating, going 'It's not perfect yet, but I get what they're trying to get at. I feel it'. That's what's cool about it."

Laughing, the guitarist admitted, "At the same time, you're going to have to learn how to play at some point."

Their individual fears

"We all play our part, it's a trust thing." - Moore

With Mind Games being a body of work exploring mental health and anxieties around writing the EP, the conversation turned to what eats at each person the most:

Henry: "I'm still learning how to write songs by myself. I build off other people's ideas a bit, but I'm not very good at writing on my own. So going to the studio's always super nerve-wracking for me, because you don't have much time, and I'm not very good at being put on the spot."

Anderson: "Being in the live setting. I see a lot of other really cool bands who rip it live that we play with, and I started to get really introspective. Like I go, 'Well what do I do live? I should be a little bit better at guitar'. That made me pull my head in and practise a bit more to get better at that aspect."

Cronin: "When we first started writing stuff, straight after we got signed, the first song or two didn't work out and I was like, 'Can we still write songs'? (laughs)."

Cant: "Same as Caitlin. I have a bit of self doubt in the studio, because I'm not a songwriter, and I don't sit in on a lot of the jams during the songwriting process. So I learn how to play the song just as we go in, but then try to put my own little thing on it. Then I have to listen to what Will and Andrew are doing... As long as I can lock into what Jake's doing, it'll usually be alright."

Moore: "My guitar parts. I spend so much time thinking about the structures of the songs, that I don't think enough about what I want to play. I'm thinking about what everyone else is going to do. That comes into a live setting too. I feel like I'm the least tight musician in the band, because I've spent too much time thinking about it. That's the fear. Being the showrunner, but my job's not really that either. We all play our part, it's a trust thing."

The impact of Trophy Eyes on the band and the scene

Anderson grew deeply thoughtful as he regarded the fellow Newie band, who come from the rural parts just like these guys. He reflected, "They showed us it was possible. Everyone's got that vague idea of, 'I could make a living off music'. But when you see people you've played shows with, that're your age... It's possible."

Grab a copy of the new Mind Games EP on iTunes and delve into the rest of our chat below; part extrospective, part self-deprecating and brimming with banter.

[audio src="https://wallofsoundau.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/EAT_YOUR_HEART_OUT_IV_Audio.mp3"][/audio]

You also won't want to miss out when these guys head out with pop punk icons Simple Plan on tour in April, details below!