After hitting the scene some four years ago, Melbourne based gothic metal five piece Hatchet Dawn released a very well received EP, entitled Faith in Chaos, and were selected to support Marilyn Manson across Australia in 2009, and now unleash their debut album Rebirth upon an unsuspecting world. This is a band who are going about things just a little differently than most heavy music acts in this country, from their sound to their theatrical stage show to their management approach, and their ridiculously strong work ethic should see them attaining a strong profile in the Aussie scene in the coming years. If there was any justice in this world, anyway…
Guitarist Howsie Noise and bassist Billie-Jade Hastings joined Beat recently to talk Hatchet Dawn, and very much impressed with their philosophies on life and music, down to earth, anti rock star attitudes and approachable personalities.
“Initially it was like, a ‘hatchet’, it’s a powerful weapon, it’s a tool,” Howsie explains, regarding the origins of and thinking behind their band name, “the connotation is that it’s every morning. So you have a powerful tool in your life, whether it’s a weapon or yourself. Every morning you have the power to change your life, and do good things, bad things. It’s just that reflection on life itself, and we just threw the ‘hatchet’ in there to give it that darker edge. Obviously the hatchet has an impact, whether you’re chopping wood, or someone’s head!” he laughs.
Rebirth is a world class slab of doomy, nasty and yet memorable goth flavoured heavy rock to metal, and comes across as being unlike much of what is happening in the Australian heavy music scene right now. The album was mixed by the Grammy Award winning Neil Kernon, who has also worked with the Sex Pistols, Queen, Judas Priest amongst many others, and who has walked the fine line between raw and polished. Howsie and Billie-Jade couldn’t be happier with the final result.
“Yeah, really happy,” exclaims Billie-Jade.
“With the songs, essentially yes,” Howsie explains, “because we got everything out that we wanted. Having Neil Kernon mix it, at first I sort of knew what he was going to do with it. But hearing the way it came back, it was like ‘wow!’”
“It was exactly what we were going for,” Billie-Jade offers, “what we wanted to achieve was like, people with an imagination will get it, that was the whole purpose of the album. A lot of albums come out and you go ‘yeah, but I haven’t really got anything from that. I don’t feel like going out and having a party, or getting excited over life’. Someone with an imagination will pick up that those tracks are for those people…it’s very open minded music.”
“I played it up against some of my favourite albums,” Howsie continues, “and it stacks up really well…I just wanted to keep it accessible too, so that your average man in the street can enjoy it and your streamlined metal head will also hopefully enjoy it too.”
With their horror movie inspired brand of heavy music, it seems highly appropriate that they should launch the album at Creepshow, the Halloween inspired local band festival that happens every year in Melbourne, at StKilda’s famed Esplanade Hotel. This year, the lineup includes such awesome local acts as Jericco, Engine Three Seven, Full Scale Revolution, Circles and many many more, and the members of Hatchet Dawn couldn’t help but choose such an occasion to do their Melbourne album launch.
“It’s Halloween!” Howsie exclaims, “every year we’ve gotta try and make Halloween a cool thing. I know it’s not Australian culture, but it is a cool night.”
“It’s an excuse to get dressed up and have some fun!” Billie-Jade says.
“We thought we’d hold off on the Melbourne shows, and just do a big one at Creepshow,” Howsie continues, “we’ve got our new stage props and stuff, people will start to forget about the band, where it’s been and what it was and just start to enjoy the new ‘fusion’ of it all.”
And so what should uninitiated punters expect from the Hatchet Dawn live set when they come to see you at Creepshow? “It’s just about fun, really,” Billie-Jade replies, “a lot of people take music too seriously when you’re onstage. We take it very seriously behind the scenes, but onstage we’re just trying to make it fun. We’re creating music and that’s what it’s about. And the whole concept of a band is important. It’s not just about the music, you don’t go to a gig with your eyes shut. So when a band gets onstage, you want to see the whole concept. You want to feel the music and see what it sounds like. A lot of bands will get up in a singlet and some board shorts or whatever!” she chuckles, “And it’s like, someone’s watching this, someone’s paid to come and see you, why not give them everything.”
“I guess it’s like, to be entertained,” Howsie carries on with the description, “I think I heard Rob Zombie say once, the second you’re onstage and you stop entertaining, get off…and for us it’s just like, have fun it’s a party.”
Make sure you experience the Hatchet Dawn party, as well as a mindboggling array of local talent, at Creepshow on October 29th at the Espy in StKilda.