Interview with Balmain: Musician takes the melody and organizes chaos for a joy ride on new release
Born in Sydney, Australia and raised in Canada, alternative metal/post-hardcore/post-grunge project Balmain has release of the new single, “Reach The Unreachable”.
The track is now available on all streaming platforms. With a post hardcore and modern metal, heavy and with good melodies, the song can be heard in the following link: https://open.spotify.com/album/02p3UQpEbsV33TppxQkYX4
Balmain’s “Reach the Unreachable” takes the melody and organizes chaos for a joy ride. The single has influences from Deftones, The Cure, Death from Above 1979, The Bravery, Architects, Depeche Mode.
“Reach the Unreachable” is Balmain’s second song from an upcoming album, which will be mixed and mastered by Scott Middleton (Cancer Bats). It’s a solid, heavy jam, have a listen on any streaming platform.
In this new interview, we talk with the musician about his new release, inspiration, music influences and future plans. Check it out bellow:
What can you say about your lastest release? what was your inspiration behind the track ‘Reach the Unreachable’? Reach the Unreachable and the releases in 2022 have all been inspired by the mentors that I’ve worked with. I was able to dig into my influences and play tribute without feeling horribly guilty about it. We released our last album in 2015 and it’s always haunted us that we didn’t feel musically confident on that record. When our album is finally released, we’re going to be able to play it back and think that we’re really proud of the blood, sweat and tears that went into it.
What is the meaning of the ‘Reach the Unreachable’ track? “Reach the Unreachable” is an attempt to reach into areas of my life situations that have always been unreachable. It’s about triumph in getting in touch with the uncomfortable areas in your life that need to be addressed. For me, overcoming a few health challenges and coming clean to myself about what will keep me alive for another 30 years has been reaching that unreachable area.
Where did you get the idea for the name Balmain? In Sydney, Australia; there’s a neighbourhood called ‘Balmain’. It dates back to the early days of Australia’s first connections. I found a sense of love with my family and friends and life in Balmain. So it seemed appropriate that I play tribute to one of my favourite places in the world.
What are your biggest musical influences? I tend to incorporate a heavy ‘tonesy’ style riff, bundled with thick, lovely electronics. I grew up listening to ‘Deftones’ and then fell in love with the electronics of ‘The Faint’ and modern day dance rock. I have really been finding love from ‘Bring Me The Horizon’ the last few years as well. I always play tribute to Robert Smith from ‘The Cure’, David Gahan from ‘Depeche Mode’ and Matthew Bellamy from ‘Muse’. For as long as I can remember, I also take influence from a Canadian hardcore band from the 90’s named ‘Grade’.
Who or what inspires you to write songs? I like lyrics that let a listener create their own vision of what the words mean so I tend to write secretive, almost vague and haunting words that can be interpreted a million different ways. Inspiration generally comes from the situations I’m involved with personally. Love, Hate, Death, Loneliness, Happiness, Triumphing over Tragedy. I love hearing someone tell me what they interpret from the words I put on paper.
What would be the feat of your dreams? With which band or musician? If I never have to put on a tie or a pair of cufflinks to impress the corporate world again, I will have succeeded in my dream. I would love to say that music is what I support my family with. That’s the dream!
Do you have plans to release new material soon? We’re all based around the world right now (Sydney, Ottawa/Toronto, Los Angeles, Helsinki) so it tends to be a slower process. Our plan is to release our record this December on our own record label (TOZ Records) based our of Sydney, Australia. I’ll have a new track for you in the next few days! There’s a chance the record might get pushed to early 2023, but the goal is December 2022.
