Having just released their debut album “Juggernaut” I was lucky enough to have ALKIRA drummer and song-writer Ryan Quarrington take the time to discuss the new album with me
Your Red Devil E.P was in my top 10 releases of 2013 and the leap from their to Juggernaut is quite huge and shows a lot of progression, what was the writing process like for these tracks?
Well the first couple of songs we wrote for Juggernaut were in the (very) early stages of writing before we even released Red Devil, but I guess we properly knuckled down to write about September of last year. We always write as a band and it generally comes pretty easy; someone will bring an idea and a riff or two and we will go from there. I think 80% of riffs on the album were written on the spot in our rehearsal space. Everyone contributes equally to song-writing in ALKIRA and then Greg and I write a majority of the lyrics. It seems to work pretty well and we are stoked with how each and every song came together on Juggernaut.
It’s funny, Spiritual Abuse and Inebriated State were torn apart and re-structured several times during the writing process, even up until 2 weeks before I recorded the drum parts, so it was touch and go whether either of them would make the record for a while. They both turned out great though and seem to be fan favourites already!When you guys hit the studio to record Juggernaut did you have a specific goal in mind?
Only to get everything recorded in time before we sent the tracks off to Jenk to be mixed haha! We feel ALKIRA has a particular sound and I think Andy (Kite, our recording engineer) and Jenk (Darren Jenkins) were able to capture that on Red Devil, but we wanted to refine it even further…just make things bigger and better I guess. We spent a lot of time pulling a big drum sound and blending different amps to get the tones we wanted, and I think that comes through in the final product. We like big drums with twangy bass and an old school guitar tone!
You didn’t re use any tracks from the previous E.P. They are all brand new tracks, had some of these song been things that you had been working on for a while or did you go into this album starting fresh from scratch?
As I mentioned before, fragments of songs were written soon after the Red Devil ball got rolling but a majority of the songs were written from scratch…we didn’t re-use old riffs or anything like that. I think you can hear the natural progression in our sound and improvement in our song-writing in the songs on Juggernaut, compared to Red Devil. It is much darker, faster and heavier, but also more diverse and thought-out. We take a lot of pride in writing not only all the elements that make good thrash songs, but composing them into good songs in their own right.
Who do you guys look to and listen to for inspiration in music, not necessary metal music but all music that you enjoy and can draw from?
Honestly too many to list man…we all love thrash metal but each of us have our own personal tastes as well. I love the way Kirk from Crowbar describes their sound: “sludgy down-tuned riffs with 70s love song sensibilities”…I can definitely relate to that. I dig all forms of thrash, death and black metal but nothing beats 70s and 80s “pop music” in terms of song-writing and composition, and I think all of us agree on that.
In a general sense, the great bands like Black Sabbath/Dio, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Pink Floyd etc are huge musical influences, as well as more modern bands like Mastodon, Havok, Warbringer, Sylosis and Black Breath…then you’ve got the whole 80s thrash metal movement (US and Europe) and the NOLA scene. Anything and everything man! Suzie Q is the queen of rock and roll by the way.
On the recent Sepultura cover you worked with Jason from TC and on your previous Down From The Hill EP you worked with my mate Liggy Gardiner of the late great Double Dragon, Do you feel that there is a great camaraderie in the Adelaide metal scene, is it a supportive environment that allows you guys to thrive in South Australia or is there any issues or isolation?
Definitely. Everyone in the Adelaide metal scene are all good friends. We all go to each-others shows, support from the front row, buy the merch, learn the words and get pissed together after. It really is a killer community to be a part of. There are so many good bands here as well, as good as anywhere else in Australia (and we’ve been everywhere).
Having said that, there is becoming an increasing divide between the metal scene and the more “underground” scene. I know most of the “metal” scene really enjoy and support a lot of the bands in the “underground” scene, but that really isn’t reciprocated…and those bands like to make sure everyone knows how much they hate “mainstream metal”! It is a shame that certain people from that scene want to encourage this divide and segregate an already small community, but history shows that those people don’t hang around in Adelaide very long (and have no friends, ha!).
Having seen you guys play gigs with a lot of local thrash bands on shows such as Legions of Steel and the likes who would you guys consider you peers in the current Australian scene
Everyone in hard-working bands, and there are so many in Australia! I don’t think the general public (or even people in the Australian metal scene) give our bands the credit they deserve. They have to travel the furthest and invest the most to promote themselves compared to any other country in the Western world! Plus they write music that is on par with most bands that are signed to major US and European labels. I think the hard-working attitude in the Australian metal scene at the moment is going to pay dividends in the near future and we are going to see a lot of Australian bands on the touring and festival circuits internationally in years to come.
A few favourite bands of ours are Truthies, the Bok, Malakunts, Voros, King Parrot, Requiem, Sewercide, Desecrator, In Malice’s Wake, Harlott, Mason and Hidden Intent.
If you could support any major international act when they toured here who would you choose?
Personally, Mastodon, Black Breath or Crowbar. I mean, everyone would like to support Iron Maiden or Metallica, but I think those three are somewhat more realistic at this stage. I really hope Warbringer get their shit sorted and come back to Australia soon as well so we can party with Kevill again!
After your successful Asian tour if there any plans for an international tour of the back of Juggernaut?
Well we had a South East Asian tour with Revocation from the US lined up for December but that ended up falling through unfortunately. We are going to New Zealand in January with Frankenbok to support 8 Foot Sativa over three nights which we are REALLY fucking excited about. No other plans set in stone at this stage, but we really wanna get ourselves over to Europe as soon as fucking possible! We will just keep pushing until we get there.
Now that the album is out what the plan for the next 12 months?
Tour and party!
cheers thanks for your time
“Juggernaut” is available now
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