Being Dubbed "Hardcore Hippies" Is No Insult

In Hearts Wake are in Texas on the Byron Bay metalcore act’s maiden US jaunt. As said run is about to conclude, singer Jake Taylor is audibly delighted regarding inroads made and his assessment of growth abroad seems appropriate. “It’s like any garden you’ll ever have. If you give it lots of love and you look after it, it’s gonna grow quicker than others.”

Taylor is also eagerly awaiting new LP, Skydancer’s release, written and recorded at the same time as last year’s chart-bothering Earthwalker. “I think all the guys feel that this is probably the better of the two. It’s a little more diverse and definitely a little heavier… There’s some banger tracks on this record.” 

“It’s like any garden you’ll ever have. If you give it lots of love and you look after it, it’s gonna grow quicker than others."

Its subject matter is a companion piece to the inaugural chapter, crafting songs of substance a priority. “Earthwalker was all about the feminine world – that is the very earth we walk on – and symbolising that with Mother Earth. It’s a very important thing that we as human beings have lost our touch with. That’s partly because most children I would say, don’t really have really good relationships with their parents. And that stems from the disconnection of who they are, and what life is. 

“Skydancer, that’s about the masculine world… It’s very chaotic. It’s powerful; it’s got that vibe, and all the songs are much more broader topics, in terms of racism, war, man’s disconnection with nature in terms of building cities around everything – it’s so rigid nowadays – and progression. It’s all about cities and goals, rather than sustainability of the Earth. It’s a big concept, but those are the two halves – mother and father. [The concept is] there for people that want to access it, but to those who don’t necessarily want to, or haven’t really delved into it, it’s totally still enjoyable and accessible in terms of we haven’t over-complicated it too much for those that don’t want to go there. But we always want to leave a little food for thought.”

In Hearts Wake are also associated with charitable and humanitarian endeavours, supporting non-profit organisations Local Futures, dedicated to grassroots safeguarding and renewal of ecological and social well-being, and the Byron Young Residents Alliance. Partnered with Carbon Neutral, they planted 1379 trees as part of the Earthwalker campaign.

They’ve thus been dubbed “hardcore hippies” in jest. “I’m happy with that. Hippies are generally pretty cool when you think about it. They’re either surfing or enjoying a free lifestyle, and I guess hippies are generally pretty in touch with the Earth. A few of them might be a bit smelly and stuff like that, but what guy on tour for nine weeks doesn’t get smelly?” he laughs. “We haven’t had showers in a few days, bro. We are from Byron Bay as well, that gets generalised as a hippie town. But I think people are just jealous of the hippie lifestyle; they’re in a nine-to-five job where they can’t enjoy themselves. I think the future of everyone is to create more leisure time and live healthier and happier.”