Forest Hall Takes On 2024
- laurenren904
- Jan 5, 2024
- 3 min read
Coming in fresh, Sydney’s indie lads, Forest Hall, are releasing their long awaited full length album, ‘You’ll Take On The World.’ We chat with lead singer/guitarist, Mis, about the album and whats in store for Forest Hall in 2024!
RM: Hey Mis, congratulations on the new album release! We’ve heard a few singles from the album so far, ‘Sea Song,’ ‘Sun Drenched Dread’ and ‘Summer’s Comin.’ They’ve been a great taster leading to the main event. Tell us about what the new album is like?
Mis: The new album, apart from being the accumulation of the singles we've released over the last year, could be said to be a more fanned out representation of where those songs start off as a take off point.
All the songs were initially conceived as a whole so it's very exciting that it's out soon! The album has some nice eclectic left turns I'm pretty happy about including a cover, some ballady style tracks, some electronic elements and some instrumentals, one of which includes a family member on it, that he doesn't even know about, ha!
RM: I’ve been lucky enough to preview the album and I feel a lot of 90’s vibes coming through, it’s new but it has a warm familiarity to it. Which styles and bands do you guys draw on while writing the album?
Mis: We went into the process quite open minded but I suppose those 90's elements definitely shone through, personally I'd say particularly on the production side of things. Some bands that come to mind are QOTSA, Smashing Pumpkins, and Nirvana, although some other more modern Indie vibes were definitely on our minds as well, Mac Demacro, Unknown Mortal Orchestra to name a few. Some of the instrumental tracks sound like straight up ZZ Top as well as Sly and the Family Stone as well, at least to me, ha.
RM: You guys went through a fairly rough 2023. You lost a close friend, band member, and driving force in the band, Millsy, who sadly passed away. What do you think he would make of the new record? Do you think he’d be stoked that you guys kept the band together?
Mis: It was a very, very tough experience losing Millsy as anyone could imagine... firstly and foremost as one of my closest friends, but yeah, also for the band. We consoled and spoke with close friends as well as Millsy's family to see how they felt about us continuing and they were all very supportive. I'm 100% Millsy, if he were here with us today, would have wanted us to continue what we started those many years ago, so yeah, I think he'd have kicked my arse if we'd stopped! Luckily he heard the finished product before he passed away so it's a very heartwarming feeling remembering how much he loved it and was Psyched for the album. The album is dedicated to him in the liner notes and a big part of me wants it out there for him as much as for us.
RM: You guys are playing a show with the Psyched As crew this January with a stack of great band including C.O.F.F.I.N and Dartz from NZ. Tell us what we can expect from Psyched As show?
Mis: The best, funnest, most down to earth and rolickingly wild day of bands, beers and partying that one could ever imagine I'd say. The last one was the best show we've ever been lucky enough to be a part of with so many epic local Aussie bands and this one is gunna be even better! Also, again, Psyched As was a project that Millsy and dear mate of the band's, Brad also started together many years ago, so it really feels like Millsy's there with us the whole day. It is a great excuse to celebrate his achievements and his life with some of the best people in his community and some of the best bands in the country (maybe excluding us, ha) if I may say so. Get on down, you won't regret it!
RM: Now that the album is coming out, whats next for Forest Hall in 2024?
Mix: 9th of Feb the album is out, and we're going on tour! We have Psyched As. then the official Psyched As. after party at La La La's in Woolongong with Dartz, Step Panther, and Misso. We also will be playing Melbourne and Newcastle further down the road, hopefully around Feburary promoting the album. Other than that we havn't been wasting time on Album number two. We've been trying some new recording styles that have somewhat increased our output so you can expect new more new Forest Hall material in 2024 too. YEW!
Click here to Presave 'You'll Take On The World - Distrokid
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