Australia is not the best known place on the planet for heavy rock and metal music, and yet in the past, the Continent has produced some awesome bands, AC/DC and Rose Tattoo spring to mind. There were other bands that threatened to break into the mainstream, but didn't, the Def Leppard inspired BB Steal from some years back is one such band. As for the female fronted scene in the land of Oz, well let me introduce to you the Melbourne band HEAVEN THE AXE and their singer Phoebe Pinnock. I have recently had the pleasure of reviewing their debut album 'Sex, Chugs and Rock n Roll'. Great title and a rather cool album too! Now, less of the chit chat and let's get on with it.
Phoebe, this is a real pleasure, can you introduce us to members of the band and how you guys all came together?
Hi Dave! Sure….so the mack daddy of the band is guitarist Steve Watts, he is formerly the frontman of one of the most brutal death metal bands of the nineties "Manticore". We hooked up because I used to go to his gigs to perve on him. He's a hot lad and very popular with the ladies. In fact his band was nicknamed "Mantiperve". Mat Silcock is also a shit hot guitarist. I shaved a mohawk into Mats head the other day! He's also total spunk rat too. Then theres Trav "Newstead" Price on bass. He's a wild guy from the west who saddled into town and hooked up with us randomly now he is part of the furniture. He's nuts and he plays bass like a motherfucker. Aramis SV is on live drums. He's an Italian Stallion with double kicks to melt your nipples off. We all came together through a certain branch of the Melbourne metal scene spawned by the connections Steve made when he was touring in his previous act. Matt "Skitz" Sanders plays drums on two songs on the record also. Steve and I have been writing tunes together for a lifetime. We grew up in the same neighbourhood. Apart from those fellas we have other fellas who we also play and co-write with, mainly Tom Rossell (who plays most drums on the CD) and Nik Rackham. I cant go on without mentioning Jimi our super tech. He's the most rock 'n' roll out of all of us and is there every step of the way. And our mixer, Skippy. Were co-writing new songs now.
And are any band members involved in any other musical projects?
Previously Steve was in Manticore and Terrorust for a bit. Heaps of metal bands want a piece of him. Mat was in nineties metal supergroup Damaged which (Mat "Skitz" was also in and became quite famous in) and he has this sick grunge garage project called Dead Canary. I love them but they're so anti promoting themselves so you'll never hear about them. Aramis is in his lifelong friends metal band Strict Vincent. They are some seriously talented dudes. Tom and Nik are in the best best best metal band in Australia, House Of Thumbs. Skippy our mixer has a band similar to Dirty Projectors called Skippys Brain they are MENTAL.You have to check them out! I work with some top electronic artists in my spare time and write pop tunes via email for fun ;)
Can you tell us how you yourself became involved in the music business?
I was five years old and I was watching some young kids sing and dance at a concert to the song "Catch a Falling Star". There were glittery costumes and beautiful lights and they were doing dances to the words. My heart was enraptured and I decided from that point on I would make music my life.
I read on a website somewhere that you do all the promoting, managing and virtually the whole behind the scene thing while more or less running yourself into the ground. And you are also a Mother. Well, I am not a Mum, but I must be honest and say that this is a similar thing to what I am doing here full time with Ravenheart, 16-18 hour days is not good! Are you able to find any leisure time?
Since then I've encountered an astrological aspect which has forced me to balance the tides. Saturn has just gone into my sixth house. Traditionally the sixth house is the "House of Illness" which is true! As soon as Saturn hit that part of my chart I got massively sick for three weeks which caused me a vocal problem which Ive now investigated, retrained and am better than ever! Modern astrologers commonly associate it now with Work, Health and Leisure. Saturn enforces a discipline about balancing these areas. So Ive enjoyed this energy because its given me a huge drive to be super healthy and watch what I eat giving me heaps more energy. For too long I focussed on band related stuff and neglected my own needs now I put myself and my relationships first.
The album's title is a great one...explain?
Well…………………..Its pretty much the whole thing. Sex is a massive inspiration to everyone here no surprise there…..the CHUGS are the metal players chugging away at the riffs and Rock 'N' Roll is…if you want me to explain that you're in the wrong place. It sums up the whole musical project.
And the name of the band intrigues me too :) ?
It really an explanation of the sound. Musically its a juxtaposition between melodic and rocky female vocals with riffs that come from listening to Napalm Death and Slipknot a bit too much. Its a coming together of light and dark, of light and heavy. Its taking the thing that I can shine the greatest light upon in my own being and make as big an impact as I can.
Living here over the other side of the world in Europe, we are fairly spoilt. We have a host of female fronted bands to keep fans of the female fronted scene happy. What is the female fronted scene like in Australia, and generally the rock and metal genre in general?
Its cool. You have to work really damn hard as you do anywhere. There is much more support for overseas bands than for the local talent because Australians are just all a bit too friendly and are renowned for dishing out the "tall poppy syndrome" on its own hardworking artists. Aussies can smell bull shit a mile off so we make it a priority to be very transparent as the artists and with that we have realised that our life is our art and the music is a byproduct of who we are. We are looking forward to getting on a big jet plane and come bring some Aussie hard rock over there as bands such as Airbourne have done.
Do you sometimes wish you was in the thick of it elsewhere, like Europe or the USA, as I am sure your band would go down a storm in these places?
Oh yes! Great question. Can not wait to get over there. We have so many shows booked here right now, but the next step is really making headway to Europe. We are interested in forging strong relationships with the right music industry teams worldwide.
And if you were to venture to Europe (or elsewhere), what would the punter expect from your live shows, as you do portray a sexy image (if I may say so) from your promotional photos?
My greatest hope from my performance is that I connect to my audience. That they are touched by the music, the lyrics and the performance and they live their hard rock fantasies of a good night out to a blazing Heaven The Axe soundtrack. The image is a representation of a lifestyle that we are the living embodiment of, don't be mislead. I was a stripper for a portion of my life and when you've come from living on the flipside of the day, I feel that that story is an interesting one to tell and a lot of people can relate to it or want to investigate what its like.
I suppose the issue with getting to Europe or the USA, would be finding a promoter who would be prepared to take that financial gamble regards bringing a band over from Australia - would you agree?
Sure. Theres no problems with the integrity of the band. Were 200% committed and the people we've worked with would vouch for our professionalism, organisation, artistry and enthusiasm! As well as our fucking stupid dad jokes and the boys anti-fashion retarded dress sense.
Back to your debut album, I love it! Can you tell me who was involved in the songwriting process, and do the songs reflect any personal issues?
The music is very close to my heart. The songs start with me, in general I write the idea of the song on an acoustic guitar and then Steve works his guts out to make the songs clever and the riffs tricky. He works hard on the layering and making the sound of the music cos without him its really just me playing them on acoustic guitar with basic riffs! The songs are a lifetime of thoughts and journeys. When I listen to it I feel really exposed but then I realise people will hear the lyrics and relate them to their own life and not mine. Im just a road sign for their own recollections. The entire band has added their own talents and flavours to the songs and some of the bits that make my brain squeeze happy fluid are the bits that have been contributed by the other band members and co-writers. Its a bigger collective than what people may realise. It looks like a bunch of hippies drinking kava and listening to Revocation and bragging about who has the poshest beer.
Where did you record the CD and how was your experience in the studio?
We recorded the CD with Ren Parisi of Melbourne Records. He's amazing. My experience in the studio was the feeling of being very much at home with the producer, now a great friend. He pushed me in certain areas vocally and certainly contributed to the songs being the best possible of what they are. We also co wrote layers with Nik Rackham of House of Thumbs and recorded drums with Tom and Skitz who helped in defining our sound. I remember one day of being overwhelmed towards the end of the mixing process I just sat there and read an amazing book while the boys fine tuned it. Shakti Gawain's "Living in the Light" Ill never forget it.
And what has the media reaction been like to the album so far?
Its been phenomenal. We are so grateful to all the journalists and reviewers who've taken the time to listen to us, being an unknown unsigned band from Australia and give the music and our dream the respect and promotion they have. I was really nervous when I first put it out there because it has been so important to us to get it right, and now I am just so grateful and happy about all the people with media spotlighting abilities who have received the album so well and said what they have. Thank you.
Do you have any personal faves on the CD?
I am really happy with the whole thing. "Unconditional Love" is such a profoundly meaningful song to many people and Im so glad to get that out. People have a preconception about hard rockers and metal heads and that song just says it how it is. We are tough and strong on the outside and deep softies on the inside.
And can you tell us a little more about the bonus track?
Well that was a track I wrote and recorded one night. I wrote it about having your prefect dream, in my case my band and the music, and then having to be a marketing guru to get anyone to know about it. It was about my battle with that and having to be who I am, a blonde front woman, and peoples preconceived notions about who they think you are based on your appearance. It pays homage to being grounded and not forgetting the importance of your life while all this nonsense goes on around you. It just captured something about the feeling and the boys loved it. They wanted to release it because it gives a sense of where all the songs come from. They receive all of them packaged that way from me so I guess its a little visit into the nakedness of my songwriting. I played cello on that track too - i LOVE cello its such a sombre, sexy, feminine instrument with great depth.
I actually used to play Cello at School, but we had better not go there :) What are your band's plans for the future regards touring, and do you yourself have any future musical ambitions?
We have a lot of shows in Australia at the moment right up the east coast. Im really excited about them and heading up to Queensland in January. We are planning on making connections overseas and we are writing new songs as a collective. The talents of the musicians individual styles are what gets me so WILDLY PUMPED. The next album will draw from a whole pallette of talents which are Heaven The Axe and where we are now.
Thanks Phoebe for that chat. Is there anything else you would like to say to readers of this website?...you have a free reign :)
Thanks to all for reading about us. Don't be shy get on our Facebook and twitter and let us know about you. We love to hear from you we are a pretty friendly band when we have the time.
We wish you all the very best for the future and hopefully, who knows, we all may meet one day? Take care!!
Thank you
Check them out here folks.
Dave Smith (Nov 7, 2011)