Future Music

Like many local musicians independently putting together an EP launch as well as all the necessities that come with it, Nicholas Gardiner appears a busy man. As the frontman for shape-shifting rock band Heytesburg, Gardiner is admittedly happy to be in such a position though. Having come to the attentions of local audiences through their debut EP From the River I Come, To the Desert I Go, Heytesburg have up and shifted from the more Eastern textures of the former to the more synthesized, but still definitively organic, PYR.

Drawing upon cinematic influences for PYR whilst trying to establish a sound unique to themselves, listeners won't be able to ignore the forefathers of industrial rock, however there is much more to the band. “I'm inspired more by sounds, more than actual bands. I hear a group of sounds and I kind of think that could make this sort of song,” states Gardiner. “We do always try and keep it something that's…I wouldn't say catchy, but something that's accessible to people; so it doesn't just sound like a mish-mash of different styles or whatever. We wanted to have an audience I suppose.”

Whilst elements of the former EP still remain, this time round the band have taken to an atypical recording approach to discover their sound. “Our last EP had a lot more organic type stuff, but this one is erring a bit more towards synthesis and electronics.” Tinkering around with recording drums from the kitchen, hitting chairs with steel poles and all other sorts of metallic collisions, the more aggressive elements of the EP were brought out through an atypical recording process. Birthing the four-track at Studio Couch with Matt Gio, the band started the process with a seven-day tracking session in December, applying the finishing touches in early and late February. Whilst the intermission in progress was put down to the busy schedule of Gio, it did allow the band and their producer to really find the sound that will dictate the next chapter of Heytesburg, one which will hopefully push them away from any of their peers. “It made us take a real step back and get a real feel for our sound,” states Gardiner. “With an EP, you want it to sound like an EP; concise and one aspect of your band.”

With the mixing of the release handled by Simon Struthers at Forensic Studio, the Perth heritage is a testament to the quality of music being made, played and produced in our city. Sounding like something you would expect from a more established act, the objective of sounding like no one else has done Heytesburg some real favours. Regarding the progression of the band's sound Gardiner muses, “It's like a different arc of the band, it's not like we've moved on. That one was all eastern, and now we've moved on and now we're industrial. Lately we've been bringing in a futuristic type cyberpunk thing.”

Speaking of the future, Heytesburg appear to have plenty in ahead of them. With the EP up and running, ready to launch this Saturday at The Rosemount, the band aren't prepared to lose any momentum by holding onto a finished release. “We wanted to milk it, and just to have something to build on. In the time between our main launch and those follow up ones, we're planning to do a video, to build promo for the EP,” states Gardiner. Keeping the ball rolling from there, the band will be backing up this week's release with a couple more launch shows in a few weeks, the next step being a double A-side single release for later in the year as well as an “experimental showcase” for WAMi and talk of some shows over east to spread the Heytesburg word; a word that is set to become increasingly spoken in our city.