comments (12) [post comment]

If you could please introduce yourself and your position in the band?

G'day, Mark Palfreyman here – vocals/bass

Who else is in Alarum, when did you form and what do you currently have out?

Matt Racovalis – Drums

Mark Evans – Guitar

Scott Young – Guitar

The band was started in 1992 by Matt, the four of us came together though in 1996. We have 2 albums out, the first 'Fluid Motion' – 1999 self released in Australia only, and more recently 'Eventuality' – 2004 (MGM – Australia, Willowtip – USA), 2005 (Earache/Willowtip – Europe).

I know this is your 10th anniversary, so congratulations on that achievement. What are your overall feelings on your time with this group, musically and personally? Any particular memories you'd like to share? Did you ever think that when Alarum began, you'd still be at after all these years?

Thanks, the past 10 years has been great fun. There's been ups and down but overall we're all glad we've stuck at it and are still playing. We've all grown as musicians while being in the band, each one of us has something different to offer and we all gain benefit from that. With all the friends made and great times we've had there's so many rewarding things that have come from the past 10 years. There's a heap of memories we'll be sharing as soon as we have our dvd ready. One I can share though is a when we shared the stage with Voivod at Metal For The Brain. To get to play with those guys and talk to them was unbelievable, I grew up highly influenced by them… in fact one the first bands I played in ended up being named Chaos Mongers after their song off Dimension Hatross. Piggy couldn't believe we named our band after his song! Ever since we began playing there's been a feeling that we'd always like to continue, somehow… the fact that we still are…well…that's a bonus.

On the topic of history, I've been asking this question a lot as of late; where was your first practice space and how did your initial rehearsal go?

Early on we spent all our time in garages and bedrooms at our parents house, usually helped along by numerous beers and other party goodies it was all about having fun and releasing the raw energy we had as teenagers. Looking back they really were some of the best times, the early times were all about being noisy and having fun and trying to get a song sound like a song.

Not so much has changed really, other than we now practice in the lounge room at our own house instead of the parents, and there's a little more control of that raw energy we're releasing these days… it's still fun to get in there and jam on tunes.

Some time has passed since your last record "Eventuality." Are you guys working on a follow up or taking a break for a bit?

We're writing the next album now actually and have plans to start recording after we return from overseas tours this year. We've already got 10+ songs ideas and we're gonna make sure that the next album is another step up from Eventuality.

"Eventuality" garnered good reviews, even getting nods from those who weren't particularly huge fans of your style. Do you think that Alarum has a lot something to offer most any fan of metal/extreme music? What are your feelings on that album/those songs since it's release? How about in comparison to your early work, such as "Fluid Motion?"

Our music is varied and may be of interest to those with an open mind. Its not straight ahead thrash, death, speed, grind, prog etc but it does contain elements of all different styles. There's non metal elements such as jazz/fusion and rock amongst the metal also which gives the music another dimension. We really enjoy playing the songs on Eventuality, we put years of work into the album and we're pleased with how it turned out as well as the doors it's helped to open. Eventuality is a more developed album than Fluid Motion and works more as a whole album. Fluid Motion is more thrashy and although you can hear where we were coming from, we definitely found our feet more as a band with Eventuality.

Speaking of "Fluid Motion," any plans to re-record the entire album or perhaps tracks of it for latest releases, or maybe a special edition or bonus disc?

Exactly, we'd love to re-record it one day if possible and intend to.

What is the the writing process like in Alarum?

We all write and contribute and have different ideas that we all put together and see what comes out. We like to give ourselves time to jam on tunes and improvise and really explore different avenues.

Lyrically, Alarum reminds me a lot of Atheist (musically too, of course), and your labelmates Neuraxis. The lyrics really seemed to pensive, pondering, etheral...almost zen like. Is that the mood/atmosphere you try to establish with them?

Yeah, there's an openness to them, and different levels on which they're written. There's a positive theme throughout, and the whole idea is to put ideas out there and have others do what they want with them.

On that note, you guys combine a lot of elements of technical/progressive metal, from the more hard edged material like Carcass, Death and Pestilence, to envelope pushing bands such as the aforementioned Atheist, Watchtower and Cynic. I'm assuming those were all bands that were instrumental in the sound of Alarum. What other groups influenced you and what do you think of active bands in the same vein, like Augury, Necrophagist, Spiral Architect?

The bands we are all fans of are Death, Cynic, Atheist, Watchtower, Pestilence, Carcass, Kreator etc. That's the common thread that the four of us have and which influenced all of our playing. A heap of other thrash/death bands were also influences as were bands/musicians like Dave Weckl, On The Virg, Planet X, King Crimson, Van Halen, Death Angel and Slayer. I'm always checking out active bands and newer bands in a similar style… all those you listed I'm a big fan of actually.

How did the recording process for "Eventuality" go? I noticed in the liner that it was recorded over a six month period. Why so long? Did you just have the freedom/time/finances to really go all out, or was it a lack of such amenities that led to things spreading out so greatly?

The first time we recorded Fluid Motion we rushed it, doing all recording and mixing all together all in a row. This time we decided that we'd take our time, have breathing space in between to really listen to it and to get a feel for the whole album. It was recorded in stages, and as it was self-financed it was spread out over a 6 month period.

Why did you choose the title "Eventuality?"

It was a title we talked about using for years, it was the name of the first garage band that Scott played in and we all liked the title. After years between our 1st and 2nd albums, the title also seemed appropriate to use for that reason.

What is the metal/extreme music scene like in Australia? I've met a few bands over the years and all of them have presented interesting views/stories on their country. Some have said it's really difficult to tour sometimes because of how huge Australia is, others noted that metal/hardcore/extreme stuff isn't as big and so it can be hard to find new venues and to expand their audience. On the positive, they speak highly of their devoted fans, tightknit friendships within the scene and a pretty supportive community base for music. What are your thoughts/impressions? How has the traditional music/culture of Australia influenced the sound of Alarum?

The scene here is pretty good. It's a big country with a relatively small population though there's some great bands, shows and metal scene in the country. The distance between cities can be 8-10 hours drive and there's only 7-8 main cities to play but that's half the fun of getting out on the road away from home and playing elsewhere. It's a diverse scene with all styles and there is a lot of support between bands. Australia is a very multicultural place, and taking that on board also we like a heap of different styles of music. That is something we incorporate into our music and something that may come out even more in the future.

Have you had the opportunity to tour outside of Australia, to Europe/Asia/US/etc? If so, how were those experiences? I know you are heading to the Great White North of Canada soon. Is that a region you've visited before and if not, are you looking forward to the experience?

Alarum have never toured outside Australia, 3 of us did tour the US/Canada in 2001 while doing some session work playing in The Berzerker on the Destroy The Opposition tour with Dying Fetus, Gorguts and Skinless. Although it was a blast, it wasn't playing our music so we're really looking forward to getting Alarum over there and playing what we really want to play.

I personally am an American, and have yet to venture to Australia, but am hoping to in the next year or two. What places (tourist mainstays or less well known areas) would you recommend travelers visit and/or avoid? What is the area like where you live?

It's such a big, varied country I'd recommend seeing as much as possible. Depending on what things you like to do or what your interests are there's a heap of things to see and places to go to.

If its anytime close to when Metal For The Brain festival is on, definitely make it to that… it's when bands from all around Australia gather in Canberra for a huge weekend of metal and partying.

We live in Melbourne, about 35 mins out from city central towards the Dandenong ranges, a really beautiful place with awesome forests and views.

Not to get too political in this interview, but a lot of Americans were really interested (some shocked, some not so much) at the race riots that occurred last year in Australia. My brother went to Sydney and visited other portions of the country last year and he says he thought that while most everyone he met there was really nice and helpful, he could sense some serious racial tension, and was witness to some pretty brazen acts of discrimination against non Australians. Is this a relatively new phenomena in Australia, and is it really at such a high magnitude consistently or do you think the Western media and some international outlets are blowing things out of proprotion? Thoughts/observations?

There is a wide variety of people of many races here in Australia, and in general Australia is a pretty peaceful place when compared to many other places around the world. I don't pay much attention to the media myself but I'm sure what was shown overseas was glorified. There is an acceptable standard of living in Australia which most people adhere to and respect and when people from other countries bring certain ways, problems, social acts to this country that goes against the way this country works then there are bound to be problems. I don't think there's a heap of racism here, considering the multi-cultural society it is, people seem more to embrace other cultures than be against them.

What is the name of the bonus track at the end of "Eventuality" and why did you choose to include it?

It's called "Murala," it was an interlude originally on our 1996 demo tape "Blueprint'. When recording Eventuality, assistant Rick Luke really loved that tune and wanted us to re-record it one night when we had some spare time in the studio. It was a toss up whether to include it, and instead of having it as part of the album, or not having it on at all, we decided to put in on though somewhat removed at the end of the cd after some silence.

How are things going with Willowtip? Will the next album also being release by them?

Everything's going great… and we're really excited to be working with them. Willowtip will be releasing our next album…so it's great have such an awesome label behind us that believe and support what we do.

Is there anything else you'd like to add/shout outs/etc?

Well thanks for your support, we're really looking forward to getting overseas this year and sharing our music live with people outside Australia. For more info on Alarum you can visit:

www.alarum.com.au or www.myspace.com/alarummusic

Hope to see you at a show real soon…