With Death By Carrot’s Riffmageddon II scheduled to hit South East Queensland over four days next weekend, HEAVY felt compelled to reach out to some of the major players in an attempt to shed some light on this massive undertaking that has taken in more than 60 cities over 14 weeks for Australia’s biggest and most ambitious 100% homegrown stoner rock festival EVER.
The Queensland leg will feature a host of national acts which includes Death By Carrot, Planet of the 8’s, Giant Dwarf, Human Dinosaur Machine and Kitchen Witch, as well as a selection of hand picked local bands including Fumerole, Rhino, Krave, Kobrakai and Gutterfire.
HEAVY caught up with Planet of the 8’s guitarist J.C for a look at the shows, starting with the current state of the stoner metal scene in Australia and what can be done to further nurture it.
"It's... so we're in Melbourne and I like to think of Melbourne as being the stoner rock capital of the Southern hemisphere,” he measured. “There's a lot of bands down here doing it and there's a great scene around it. It crosses over from stoner rock into psych rock into doom and then the more metal elements of rock, so Melbourne has a great scene but what I have noticed around Australia as we go is it's kind of harder to find other bands in the genre to come through as supports. I think while Melbourne is the epicenter of it in Melbourne and the Southern hemisphere there's a bit of work... not work... but there's not as much around the country - at least that's how it seems. There might be underground ones we haven't heard of, but what can we do about? Keep going out and playing shows. I think a lot of people like this kind of music but aren't aware that there's a scene. When we first started our band, we just started doing this kind of music because we love it and then before we knew it, it was like hey, there's actually a lot going on. So, it's out there to be discovered - a lot of it in Melbourne obviously - but by going out and seeing bands and realising that there's a scene, I think that encourages people to get involved. Because one of the best things about the scene is the people. They are some of the most inclusive, chilled out, no dickheads environment than I have ever seen in a music scene. I like the idea that if we can keep putting on shows and touring and taking it to different parts of the country where they don't have so much of a scene people go ah, this is a thing, let's get involved. Maybe we'll start our own band."
In the full interview, J.C talks more about Riffmageddon II, what to expect, the other bands playing, the importance of homegrown festivals,
Expanding their sound, the band’s upcoming album and more.