Hallower

20 November 2015 | 4:08 pm | Alex Sievers
Originally Appeared In

Killyourstereo.com speaks with Melbourne's Hallower ahead of their final show at December's Invasion Fest.

One of the biggest draw cards at this year's Invasion Fest is Melbourne’s Hallower. Having broken up, rather abruptly, in 2013, the boys are now back for a one-off show to put the band to rest in a proper fashion. We spoke with vocalist Mitchell Beanland and guitarist Zachary Myers to discuss the band's final performance.

Have you guys managed to get many full-band rehearsals going and, if so, how have they been?

Zach: We have been a bit lazy [laughs], but I had a practice with our drummer, Simon, last week, and it was a bit rusty. But then it all came back suddenly, kind of like muscle memory.

Mitchell: If you played the same set for three years straight, with literally no change, it tends to become part of your being [laughs].

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Zach: Yeah, and George is over later tonight and I’m going to re-teach him all of the bass parts, as he left the band in 2012.

[Laughs] right on, guys. When you made announcement you said that you don’t remember how to play the old songs and you asked if anyone had any tabs, so I guess there was some truth to that?

Zach: Arguably, yes. But he’s a gun so he’ll remember it all. We hope.

Regarding your spot at Invasion Fest, has it been in the works for a while now or was it an 'out of nowhere' kind of offer?

Zach: I guess it’s been a while. Ash [Hull] proposed it to us ages ago and it took a bit of convincing for some of us. Eventually, it all just came together.

Mitchell: I actually forgot that we agreed to do it, and I saw us on the flyer and I went, “What the hell is going on?!” Ash like came out of the crowd at a show one time and just asked if we wanted to do it. He’s stalking us [laughs].

But it’s all coming from a genuine place, as he really seems to love you guys. I’m curious, how are you picking the set list for the show? Will it all be off ‘Allegory’ or just a few select cuts?

Mitchell: I looked at the set times and we have half an hour, but we’re thinking of going over so we can play it all. Basically, it’ll be the same set that people were used to seeing us play, because I think it’ll be a bit jarring if people expect that intro we always play and we don’t. If time restrains us, we’ll have to cut off some of the lesser known songs.

Ah, fair enough man. As long as you guys play ‘Outshine’, that would be great.

Mitchell: I’ll dedicate it to you, man [laughs].

[Laughs] cheers man. You can just say something like “This song goes out to Alex – fuck you” or something like that.

Mitchell: [laughs], I’ll do it that way then.

Sick! I imagine you guys are somewhat nervous about this?

Mitchell: Yeah, and I’ve been in my room for basically all of those three years. I don’t know how many people are attending, but I’m mostly excited. I think it’ll be a bit of a shock to the system.

Oh, of course. I’m wondering what you guys may do next, as you’ve said it’s a one-off show, but nothing seems to be set in stone at this point?

Zach: No, not really. I mean, we’ve all got our own things now. I went back to uni, Simon’s doing his masters, Andy’s doing an apprenticeship, Mitch is doing social work, and George is working full-time. I definitely miss it, and with the jam with Simon, it all just started coming back and it was a really good feeling. Like, all the pieces of the puzzle together again. That’s what I missed the most.

Mitchell: Giving a band three or four years of your time, and then have it cut short can be very jarring. I agree we are all too busy at this point. I think we had our own thing going, so it would have been cool in another time if it could have worked out.

Yeah, hindsight’s always 20/20. Just quickly, why did the band break up? I never knew why.

Zach: We did Allegory, we had a change in direction, and we actually asked Mitch to leave, and it went down really well. Then we had Daniel, the guitarist for Of Whispers, and their new guitarist Jack, sort of like a merging of two bands and sounds. It was all or nothing at that time, and we all didn’t have our hearts in it, I suppose.

I can get that man. At that point, you had the decision of sacrificing other things to make the band big or not. So I’m glad that you’re at least back together for this show. With the line-up, what other bands have captured your interest?

Zach: I really want to see Ocean Grove play again. They just started out when we were finishing up. They’re really wild now, really chaotic and cool.

Mitchell: I just want to see Imprisoned, that’s more my jam [laughs].

Good picks. I think that it ends really well, with yourselves playing and then Hellions on the other stage, that’s what I’m looking forward to the most. Finally, what are you looking forward to the most when it comes time for you to take the stage?

Mitchell: I’m just looking forward to the mosh, honestly.

Zach: I’m really looking forward to it as being our last show.

So having it as a proper send off to Hallower?

Zach: The last show we played with Mitch was our second last show, and we posted a bunch about it, but no one really seemed to give a shit.

Mitchell: [Laughs]

Zach: For real, we felt really bad, like no one really cared about us. It’ll be nice to play again and have people be excited for us.

It’s weird, isn’t it? Ending it the first time and now a lot more people care for the second and final time.

Zach: Maybe they just missed the post, or they just forgot about us…

Mitchell: It was just me leaving, it wasn’t that important [laughs].

Zach: Hmm I guess, but we kind of bombed out there at the end.

[Laughs], but it’ll be good for it to have Hallower’s last ever show happen. Well with that, thanks for your time today guys, it’s been good to talk to you both.

Mitchell: No worries man, it’s a pleasure.

Zach: Yeah, cheers man.

Catch Hallower performing at Invasion Fest, which takes place in Melbourne this December. You can purchase tickets via Oztix.

Join the official Facebook event here.