Alien Weaponry is a three piece metal band whose style has been influenced by old school thrash and hardcore. Not content to rely on the shock value of their extreme youth, the group understands the value of professionalism, and works crowds to a frenzy with their tight, thrashy energy and wild stage performances. Their plans for world domination include playing at Wacken in Germany and touring the big international metal festivals. They refuse to play covers, and have enough material to begin recording their first album later this year.
Photo by Lisa Crandall
If your music was a person, what would their personality be like? Do you have any character that comes to mind?
Passionate, sensitive, renegade – not afraid to speak their mind.
What’s the plan for 2018?
Touring Europe is top of the list – we’re playing at Wacken, MetalDays and a bunch of other cool festivals in July/August. We’ll be releasing our first album before that, and also have a few dates to announce in Australia in April. We’d like to end the year with a summer tour around NZ.
What’s on your music bucket list?
Playing at Wacken was a goal we set when we were 10 and 12 … now our new goal is to headline there.
If you had to choose an album title as a quote to live by, which one would it be and why?
Lewis: “Caress Your Soul” by Sticky Fingers – because it’s important to take care of your mental/spiritual well-being and “Resolution” by Lamb of God because I’ve made some resolutions recently.
What is the most bizarre moment you’ve experienced during a performance?
Ethan: When we played at Soundsplash recently, quite a few people were throwing items of clothing onto the stage. A guy threw his hat and I wore it for a while and then I threw it back and he kept chucking it back to me, so I put it on top of my amp cause it kept falling off when I was moshing. Then I saw him looking really sad, so I gave it back to him again and he kept it and looked happy.
Henry: When we played at Whangamata on New Year’s Eve 2017, there was a guy at the front of the stage yelling ‘Drummer! Drummer!’ for the entire performance. It was pretty cool because it’s usually the two at the front of the stage that get people yelling out to them.
Photo by Lisa Crandall
If you could perform in a concert with three other musicians/bands of your choosing, who would they be?
System of a Down, Lamb of God and Slipknot
What’s on your Spotify playlist at the moment?
Ethan: I have just discovered this small instrumental band called Plini – they are super cool and weird and chill.
Henry: Lamb of God has been my go-to band for quite a while now. I listen to some Alice in Chains and 12 Foot Ninja, and played a bit of Stevie Ray Vaughan the other day. I have also been listening to a playlist of all the bands that will be playing at Wacken 2018.
Lewis: Lately I’ve been listening to quite a bit of Sticky Fingers and $uicideboy$. Also Trivium, J Cole and Katchafire. Often what I listen to is quite different from what we write and play.
If you could talk to your younger self, what advice would you give about the music industry?
We still are our younger selves, but I guess if we were going to say anything, it would be, ‘Watch out, things are going to happen quicker than you think.’
What’s in your gig bag?
Heaps of water and throat lozenges. Henry takes lots and lots of drumsticks. Everyone takes guitar picks cos Lewis always loses his. And we take our Audiofly IEMs of course.
Why do you use Audiofly IEMs?
They protect our hearing and they sound badass … and they stay in our ears even when we headbang hard out.
Check out one of their hits, Rū Ana Te Whenua, below:
For all things with Alien Weaponry, visit their Facebook. Make music? Check out our Mates On Stage page to find out more about the program and how you can get involved.
