At this point, I shouldn’t have to introduce Violent Soho. The heavy rockers from Queensland sit at the top of the Aussie rock food chain, and with good reason.
With 2016 clocking in at first place for their most destructive year yet, we sat down with drummer Michael Richards to talk beer, WACO and potential supergroups.
Will Violent Soho be dropping new tunes at Groovin The Moo? We spend 5 minutes with Mikey Richards.
HAPPY: By now yourself, DZ Deathrays and Dune Rats have all made your own beer. Who’s the next Aussie act which deserves their name on a tinnie?
MICHAEL: A Smith Street Band brew would rule for sure! Someone get on to the boys about it!
HAPPY: On that note: A supergroup with members from Dune Rats, DZ and Soho, the Aussie rock trinity. What would you call yourselves?
MICHAEL: Violent Death Rats / The Fucken Dicks (can’t decide).
HAPPY: How was the recent tour with The Bronx? That must have been pretty huge for them – any great stories?
MICHAEL: Oh man, it was so amazing for us to be able to bring our good buddies (who just so happen to also be our favourite fuckin band in the world) over to play with us on the biggest dates we have ever done. Words are hard to find when it comes to expressing how much we were (and still are) stoked on that tour. I had this amazing moment while watching The Bronx play Riverstage. I was watching from above the stage and they were totally shredding and the strobe light started pounding on to the mosh pit, which was this massive seething thing that looked like thousands of bodies moving in a wave. It just took my breath away and was completely humbling to think that this act was opening for us!
HAPPY: You really seem to pull sick supports whenever you do tour, what’s the dream lineup if money/location wasn’t an issue?
MICHAEL: Haha! Oh man that is a hard question. I don’t wanna think about it because I honestly feel like our last couple of tours have been perfect lineups. I don’t know if it would be possible to improve.
HAPPY: And by now, you’ve pretty much covered every type of venue under the sun from small clubs to festivals like Groovin, coming up. What’s the perfect venue for a Soho show?
MICHAEL: Man we love to play all size stages. I don’t have a preference. As long as I can hear all the boys fine and the crowd is losing their shit, I’m totally stoked!
HAPPY: Any new music in the works? You’ve got a few big shows coming up, do you prefer to demo new cuts to an audience?
MICHAEL: Yeah we will definitely be working on new material this year. We’re not sure yet if any new tracks will make the set in time for GTM but honestly I’m psyched for new tracks to jam live, so if we do get a chance to demo some new tracks live soon, that will rule!
HAPPY: Over the past decade or so you’ve released so many records, and done so much in Australia. Going forward, what’s the most important aspect of your work for the band?
MICHAEL: Just making good music man. That’s all we want to do.
Catch Violent Soho live at Groovin the Moo this year! Head here for the full lineup, and grab your tickets on their website.
