Sydney quintet Regionals aren’t your average emo band. Unified by their love and respect of mid-’90s emo, pop-punk and indie tunes, the band formed in 2016 and have spent the last two years writing, rehearsing and recording in preparation for their debut EP, Sentimental Health.
Regionals aren’t your average emo band. Their debut EP Sentimental Health is nostalgic indie-punk at its finest.
Regionals have been through a few lineup changes before finally hitting the mark with their current members. The current lineup sees Aaron Costello on guitar, Brett Islaub on vocals, Adam Millar on bass, Tim Nash on guitar and Lachlan Gray on drums. The band had gone through 4 drummers before convincing their current drummer Lachlan to join.
Sentimental Health was independently released today and has already garnered on airwaves around the country. Triple J and Spotify have been pumping Regionals, and the band were recently listed as the ‘Js Unearthed feature artist.
The EP was recorded over two months in mid-2018 at The Brain Studios with Sydney before being sent off to the UK for mixing and mastering by Lewis Johns. The band sourced out Johns’ skills after they discovered he had produced one of their favourite EP’s by another emo band, based in the UK. They worked in tandem over a few weeks via emails to tweak the final product and garner a similar sound. Johns has also produced albums by Funeral for a Friend and Muncie Girls.
Fears for Spears, the EP’s second track, was written last minute before the band hit the studio to record. By the time the band had started to record the song was still yet to be completed. They finalised the outro mid-studio recording session, not ideal for an unsigned band with limited studio time and a limited budget.
Sentimental Health, a play on words, deals loosely with issues of mental health, something not unfamiliar to members of the band. Regionals have a pool of song titles at the ready, all based on obscure references and inside jokes that the five have with each other.
You can stream the entire EP via Spotify below:
Regionals are launching Sentimental Health at the Botany View Hotel in Newtown on Friday, November 16. For more details, head over to the Facebook event page.
Sentimental Health by Regionals is out now all good streaming services.
