Why Parkway Drive Have Their Roadies Test The Water First... Literally

As early DVD documentary footage indicated, and death-defying Vice Grip video recently reiterated, Parkway Drive are fond of the odd spot of risk-taking and other assorted escapades. The moniker of their upcoming regional jaunt, the 'All Aussie Adventure Tour' (derived from an online competition) was inspired by the accident-prone TV comedy favourite.

Has the Byron Bay outfit experienced any Russell Coight-like mishaps on tour? "What, jumping off a bridge and landing on a boat?" frontman Winston McCall jokes. "Probably the nastiest one we did, which was not intentional, was when we had the habit of jumping off things into water, we decided the best way to do it was make sure that our roadies tested the water first. So we'd make them jump off in front of us. We did a massive cliff jump in Sydney, made our roadie on his first day jump off. He couldn't do it properly, landed on his back, ended up having to go hospital the day of the show, and retire from the tour."

"We did a massive cliff jump in Sydney, made our roadie on his first day jump off. He couldn't do it properly, landed on his back..."

Better than a self-inflicted axe wound, at least. However, McCall, 33, is married, and most members of the chart-topping metalcore act are in long-standing relationships. Perhaps they're approaching a point where real-life responsibilities — mortgages, perhaps children eventually — may somewhat curb any inclination to be daredevils, or at least make conserving their health a priority.

Although the band remains based in their hometown, a domesticated existence seemingly doesn't beckon yet. "It's more the fact we give a shit about playing on stage far more now than we did in the past. Back in the day, we'd do the kind of thing where you're playing like eight songs, and no real concept of this being anything other than a fun tour. [Now] this has become something that is literally the primary passion in our lives. We really care about creating this music and creating a moment on stage every time we play. Sacrificing a lot of the time by going and doing crazy crap, to the point where the show is secondary… You don't have the energy to play properly when you get on-stage. The thing that makes me most psyched now is less the surf that we're going to get on the tour, and more the show itself."

Considering their upcoming itinerary, a more professional approach seems mandatory. Post-regional run, Parkway Drive return to Europe for "pretty much the biggest shows we've ever played", including prominent slots on major summer festivals like Leeds and Reading, and Germany's none-more-metal Wacken Open Air.

"We've had our share of interesting situations, for better or worse, that we've had to deal with over the band's existence, and it's one of those things where we just roll with it as we go. Luckily we're all still friends, we all care about each other on a level that isn't just, 'You're the guy next to me playing the music, and that's it.' I think there's more passion about what we do now than there has ever been in the band's existence. And we don't have any plans of stopping, unless we're forced to. So anything that pops up, we'll simply just work it into our lives… But that being said, we'll see what happens if anyone has kids," he chuckles.