Parkway Drive are right up our street

1 month ago 18th Nov 11:46

Parkway Drive are five young guys from Byron Bay, Australia who make a living from dropping heavy breakdowns and trashing venues with their hardcore stage antics.

I cought up with the infectious Winston McCall (who was actually infectious due to a horrible cold) to find out how they are enjoying headlining the Altamont Never Say Die! Club Tour, what hapenes when you pack 1,000 kids into a venue with no barrier and what song he would love to cover!

Hey Winston! How are you enjoying the delightful Altamont Never Say Die! Tour?

It’s real good so far. We’ve had four shows and they’ve all been great. Manchester is sold out and this is the biggest room here. There are 900 kids and the room is pretty small so it could equal some interesting times I guess.

Where are you most looking forward to playing?

I don’t know! I always look forward to Manchester because every show we’ve played here has been rad. London will be interesting. Put it this way, there is nowhere I’m not looking forward to playing!

So how did you end up headlining the bill?

We did the tour last year with Comeback Kid, The Warriors and Cancer Bats and then Avocado hit us up to headline this one, made it a bit more metal and here we are… round two!

So do you have a favourite place to play in the whole world?

Australia! London Underworld. That venue is like the epitome of the best venue in the world ever. There is no barrier and every time we play it there is utter chaos and kids are all over the place.

You have toured with a load of great bands, given the chance who would you love to share the stage with?

The Warriors again because they are awesome. Rise And Fall, because we haven’t toured with them, we’ve just played a bunch of shows with them but I love that band so much!

What has been your most memorable gig to date?

A the moment it would have to be the show we played in Belgium a few days ago, just because my memory isn’t that great! It was ridiculous. The thing I really love about Europe is that they will pack 1,000 kids into a venue but won’t put a barrier up which is great! There’s a big stage, 1,000 kids and kids all over the stage… stage diving all the time.

I love the times when you have to worry less about where you stand on the stage and more about getting the hell out of people’s way. It ended up with about 100 people on the stage for the last song and me on top of the PA jumping on top of them all. Absolute Chaos!

Will you be releasing a new album any time soon?

We’re working on it at the moment but it will probably take a little bit longer than the last one because we’re trying to take a little bit longer with it than the last one. We’re putting together a DVD too that will come out beforehand because we have filmed everything and anything for since like the two years before the band started because Ben our drummer used to film surfing videos and stuff as well as any hardcore projects we’ve done in the past and he’s editing that at the moment.

We’re going to release that to tide you all over and give us a bit of breathing space to write something solid because we’ve put out two records already and I like both of them, but we need to back up two great records and I don’t want to blow it!

If you could cover any song, which would it be?

We want to do a Bad Religion cover at some point in time just because I love them!

What was the last album you bought?

Oh damn! I think it was The Gaslight Anthem record a couple of weeks ago. I like to go and buy records even in the age of downloading.

Describe Parkway Drive in five words.

Fast, Heavy, Angry, Smelly, Surfers.

If someone had never heard of Parkway Drive, what song would you play to them to make them a fan?

Oh man, I don’t know, I don’t know what people like these days! I’d say Boneyards just because it’s my favourite song still and I like playing it. It has everything we’re about all rolled into one. It may not have the most extreme parts but it’s a pretty good cross-section of what our songs sound like.

Is that your favourite song to play live then too?

Yeah it is probably. It’s actually the favourite song we’ve got full stop I think so it’s cool.

Who do you look up to within the music industry?

Anyone with integrity to be honest. I don’t have anyone in particular, I just appreciate bands with passion and heart. In the age of making music for the dollar and the buck at the end of it, it’s rare to see bands who are in it for the music and the ideals.

So anyone who makes music just for the honesty of it, I look up to them.

What would you be doing if you weren’t in a band?

Probably still making coffee in a shitty little town in Austrialia!

I love coffee!

Yeah, it’s good but not when you’re 26 and still making it for other people and wondering “Where the hell am I going in life?”

When was the last time you felt truly inspired?

That’s a good question; I’m inspired every day. Every day you wake up and think of something you want to do or change and I guess travelling as much as we do every day is a culture shock for us so I would have to say inspiration comes on a daily basis.

If you could only listen to one CD for the rest of your life which would it be?

That is so hard! I’d have to say Bad Religion’s Suffer just because that’s my all-time favourite record.

We ask everyone we interview to come up with a question for the next person we interview and

Street Dogs want to know what are the weaknesses of your band?

The band’s hygiene. Jeff’s brain, Jia’s looks, Luke’s wart and, well, I’m pretty good!

So finally, could you come up with a question for the next person I interview please?

What is the longest you’ve ever gone without a shower?

FemaleFirst - Ruth Harrison

Check out our review from the show here