There’s not just an urgency about the Die! Die! Die! band name. Their music too is an insurgent mix of riffs and melodies. We spoke with the New Zealand group to get the lowdown: While your music is deliberately loose and abrasive, there’s something incredibly appealing about it. How do you maintain this sheer energy without striding too far into the obscure? ‘We always try and make sure we are not being too indulgent when we write songs. We come from a very “noise” background of just jamming and whatever sounds best turns into the song. So we try and make sure there is at least something which sort of resembles a hook of some sort. We also try and make sure that when we write songs there be a vibe and something exciting happening in the room. We like having fun’. Comparisons will no doubt be drawn with At the Drive-In, The Misfits, perhaps even Nirvana. But it’s a sound that rarely hits the mainstream these days. What are you doing that’s different to all those who have failed to breakthrough? ‘I don’t think we are in the mainstream at all or “broken”. We are very far from that. I think because we are all best friends and the fact we spend all our time together and we party together, we are a little bit different because we are always on the same page as each other. It is pretty sick if you think about it’. Despite its quality, New Zealand’s music scene is only slowly coming to the world’s attention. What can bands like yours do to shed light on this unsung hero? ‘I LOVE: The Coolies, Haunted Love, Operation Rolling Thunder, and Tapeman. There are some amazing bands in New Zealand. I hate how the greatest bands in New Zealand are usually the laziest’. Finally, what kind of Promises Promises are you making, and to who? ‘We aren’t making any promises. People make promises to us’.

SPONSOR