Eri Reviews Things

“The next big thing? Undoubtedly so! 5 Stars” – Heavy Mag
“Between Rage and Serenity is a spectacular album that should not be slept on” – Sound Fiction
“An album that takes on an identity of it’s own, and has the potential to be considered one of the best within the genre” – Rouge Inc

5 Years ago, 5 boys from various areas from Western Sydney, all with different music experiences, had dreams on becoming a band and writing their own music. Ever since their humble beginning in 2012, with the release of their two EP’s ‘Behind the Bookcase’ (2012) and Atlantis (2014), touring both in Australia and in multiple countries such as USA and Canada, indie alternative band Far Away Stables has finally released their debut album ‘Between Rage and Serenity’, featuring 10 new songs, including their recent singles ‘Caldera’ and ‘Phantasm’. According to the band, this album represents who they are as a band and how they’ve grown over the years.

“We put a lot more into it because we’ve been through time and being in the band” Brendan Sheargold said. “We’ve grown and developed more so we have more to give”.

Since the album’s release, the band did 2 release shows in Sydney and Melbourne. I was lucky enough to not only see them perform live on stage during the Sydney show but also hang out with them beforehand.

The band arrived at the Red Rattler Theatre at 2:40PM to set up not only their instruments but also the stage and the merchandise stall. I was surprised on the amount of work they have to do beforehand. They have no huge staff, no big crew, they all have to manage everything on their own, including booking the location and the crew members that they could get their hands on.

“This is actual band life, folding up t-shirts” Mitchell Grace and Nicholas Palmer joked as they organise the t-shirts that was going to be on sale.

“Luckily for us, there is 5 of us instead of just 1. So a lot of delegating of jobs and everyone can do what they’re better at” Cameron Bury said. “Some of us are good with computers, some of us are good with other stuff. So it all gets delegated and everyone has a job or two in the band”

“It tough since you do everything yourself. But it’s fun because it’s rewarding” Timothy Byles said.

 I sat down with Brendan, Cameron and Timothy and asked them about the production and the concepts behind their newest album. According to them, it was harder than before and so much pressure occurred when creating these songs.

“We had to write 10 songs and we had to have them the best we could possibly do” Brendan said.

“We for a while want to explore certain feelings that certain music gives us. We feel like rage and serenity are such contrasting feelings that you can encapsulate in any sound and this album is dedicated to showing of feelings in between” Cameron said.

When asked about their musical influences, they answered by saying its’ through the bands and music that they listen to and that inspired them to become musicians.

“After hearing Circa Survive’s first album, they inspired me to become a singer in the first place” Brendan said. “I listen to heavier music I guess and try to do a bit of screaming as it’s passionate and displays emotion”

“Any band that has picked up a guitar like Nirvana, Muse, Fall Out Boy, they inspire me when creating music” Timothy said.

There were a few reviews and comments saying that some of the songs in this album may incorporate themes of depression and anxiety. The boys somewhat agreed but it’s more drawn to what was occurring to each of them during the time of writing and hopefully others could relate.

“We all draw from experience on what we’re having in life and we feel like that the best way to write. It’s something to connect  more and share with” Cameron commented. “Different parts of our lives go towards the song and all the emotions that we’ve felt are now felt in the song”.

“We’re not gonna be those bands that say ‘we write songs about depression because we think we can say anything about depression’. We’re no psychologist. We know nothing about depression” Timothy said.

Brendan, Cameron and Timothy explained that the idea of the album was to explore the concept of ‘duality’ and the different mental states of a person. They also shared the concepts that were behind a few of their songs. For example, Caldera is about using rage in the right ways, Phantasm is about that thing on your shoulder that’s always there, your ego, and Ambulphobia is about how we get our priorities wrong but we learn from our mistakes and one day learn to stop making them.

Seeing them preform that night showed how much they’ve grown together as a band. And the crowd dancing and singing through their performance, it’s clearly seen how far they’ve become. They truly deserve the success they’ve achieved.

The band told me a few exclusive information about their future plans in regard to their music career that I was told not to share. But the one thing that’s made clear, they want to continue doing what they’re doing and hopefully releasing a new record in the future.

“We want to have something that, I guess, intertwines, interlinks with all the songs Something that could tell a story” Brendan said. “We’re currently discussion on ideas on what story to tell [for the next record]. That is the plan”.

Between Rage and Serenity is now available on iTunes, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Play, and Bandcamp.