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Interview with
JAMES FEEKES
(Drummer)
from
BANKS ARCADE

(4th July 2022)

Interview by Dave Bruce

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Photo – Neal Walters

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How did the band come together? Is there someone who is a “driving force”, or do you all make decisions together?
There’s been a few line up changes over the years but Josh has been the heart of the band from the beginning. Over the last 5/6 years the rest of us joined Josh on his righteous journey at different points and we’ve developed into the unstoppable musical Exodia that now makes up the mighty Banks Arcade.

How would you describe your sound? Why do you think people resonate with your music?
Our sound is a melting pot of the diverse array of influences present amongst all four of us (e.g. hip hop, pop, electronic) expressed through a core sound of heavy, downtuned rock/ metal.

Which artist’s music and/or performance, past or present, inspires you today?
As a band we take a lot of inspiration from the work of modern bands such as Bring Me the Horizon, Northlane and Architects while also drawing from excellent artists from other genres like Saint Jhn, Ye and Health. Personally I (James) have been inspired recently by the UK band Idles and DJ/producers in the Dirtybird universe like Walker & Royce, Claude von Stroke and Nikki Nair.

Your new album ‘Future Lovers” is coming out in July! Describe its origin and evolution.
Future Lovers was put together throughout the initial lockdown period in NZ. All four of us were in different parts of the country but we managed to finish the songs off mostly remotely and as soon as we were allowed to we went straight into the studio in Auckland to track everything over one week.

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Which are the signature tracks, and what track is your favorite? Is there one track particularly that converts well to a live performance?
The singles are a great representation of the album (Don’t Start, Be Someone, Smile and one more that is yet to be released), however the tracks you might consider ‘deep cuts’ delve further into other sounds that we want to express to the world. Personally I love Ether due to how different it is to a lot of the rest of the album and Medicine because we had some help from one of my extremely talented friends Leonardo Coghini on that track. Smile is usually the track that kills live.

Any tours or events coming up soon? What are you looking forward to, and what can the fans expect?
We are just about to start an Australian run supporting the illustrious Thornhill along with Dayseeker & Gravemind. Then we pop back home to NZ for our own headline tour with The Gloom in the Corner, Crooked Royals and other friends before we head back in Australia for a huge regional run supporting In Hearts Wake with Redhook and Pridelands. We’re pumped for all the upcoming shows, its going to tonnes of fun playing with some many fantastic bands and to return home for a tour after being unable to go there due to covid for over year will be incredible. Fans can look forward to an explosive set including old favourites alongside our new bangers, and an otherworldly experience from our headliner in NZ with some special treats…

How has COVID affected you to date? What have you introduced to balance the losses from missed events?
Initially the main effect was that it prevented us from playing live as it has done worldwide with the rest of the music and entertainment industry, but throughout the whole time we haven’t allowed the pressures to effect our momentum and we’ve just kept our heads down and continued to plow ahead in any way we could.

If you could perform with any music artist, Alive or Dead, who would you choose? And why?
Nickelback because they’re dope.

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Do you have any long-term aspirations as a music artist?
Remain poor and homeless. Laugh. Cry. Love.

What is the best thing about performing to a live audience? What’s been the career highlight so far?
Playing live is always a treat because how we manifest our music and our relationship with listeners into reality. Playing at Unify Gathering was incredible experience as well as performing at Download in the UK last month.

Finally, a few questions for some quick answers –
FAVOURITE:
Album – Lost Forever // Lost Together by Architects
Artist – Metallica
Movie – Minions: Rise of Gru
Place to visit – Summoner’s Rift
Venue to play – The Royal – Palmerston North, NZ
Food – Cheesecake
Drink – Hazy Pale Ale
Person in History – the minions from Minions: Rise of Gru
Tattoo – (If you don’t have one, what would you get?) I don’t have any yet but I plan to get my own face tattooed on the back of my head :)

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Follow BANKS ARCADE
Facebook – Twitter – Instagram – Spotify

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Press Release 5th August 2022 (below) HERE

BANKS ARCADE
announce debut album
FUTURE LOVERS
Out July 29

+ release new single + video
BE SOMEONE

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“I always wanted to make history”; so goes the first lyric that Melbourne-via-New-Zealand modern heavy mavericks Banks Arcade penned together, setting the bar for their ambitions about as high as it gets. Fortunately, the future looks bright as can be for the quartet as they fiercely barrel towards the release of their debut full-length, with the announcement today of Future Lovers due out on Friday 29 July via UNFD.

Starting out in Auckland a short number of years ago, Banks Arcade have always been a group hell bent on innovation and ambition, welding elements of hard rock, electro and metalcore into their creative DNA. And while the group’s impending full-length album was born in the midst of a global pandemic, the end result is one completely lacking constraint, reflecting the band’s own personal journey of self discovery while defying expectations; a fact fans will be able to witness with gusto live in action, with a sea of shows and tours imminent for the group, including an appearance at Download Festival in the UK this June, capital city supports alongside Thornhill in July, and 27 regional dates supporting In Hearts Wake starting in August.

With two earlier singles Don’t Start and Smile hinting at what lies in wait this July from Banks Arcade, the group’s latest single Be Someone charms with ambient instrumentals, hip hop hues and intimate soundscapes while vocalist Joshua O’Donnell emphatically pours his heart out. Showcasing a softer yet still hard-hitting side of Banks Arcade, the accompanying music video for Be Someone is a perfectly wintry affair, with O’Donnell alone in a one-take, blue-soaked setting.

Originally conceived as a concept album before morphing into a dedicated capsule of introspection, Future Lovers was ultimately shaped by its own surrounding hurdles and unique opportunities. “The pandemic definitely allowed the space to have no expectations,” says O’Donnell of the album’s conception. “For me, I’ve been so busy over the past five years, grinding to try and make this music thing work, and this finally freed up the time to not have to go to work and to focus. I basically went back to New Zealand to my family home where everything is cosy and nice, I was in nature in New Zealand and was just able to wake up every day and write.”

And while escaping into nature and familiar surroundings, O’Donnell was also offered the opportunity to explore new sounds alongside uninterrupted introspection, expanding upon the unique array of genres that both he and the broader Banks Arcade band have been immersed in over the years. “It wasn’t even just heavy music,” O’Donnell explains. “Our whole musical journeys came to a head, and there was the space there for the creation to happen.”

Crafted in New Zealand in the throes of an ongoing lockdown, cancelled shows and ever-changing plans, Banks Arcade teamed up with former bandmate Kenny Kersley to collaborate on sound design and engineer Rich Brian, leaping at a rare moment to travel to Auckland and smash out recording Future Lovers in a mere seven days. Bunking up in a “shitty Airbnb” for the duration, the band persevered through various hurdles, including a revolving door of illness with each member falling prey to strep throat throughout the entire recording process. But despite the unique complications, there was undeniably something special brewing in that Auckland studio that was felt across the board for the band.

“Everything just felt right,” says O’Donnell looking back at the fast and furious recording of Future Lovers. “It all was very smooth, and we had so much fun doing it. I think when we all look back to that time, we felt like we were making something that was going to change it all for us, and we felt that we were making songs that were going to resonate with the industry and the people. And obviously you’re not sure, because at that point we hadn’t had any validation. But we all felt the same; I’m pretty sure that people are going to like this.”

With a sea of genre-bending delights lying in wait, Future Lovers ain’t your average heavy album: from the stirring hues and thematics of Be Someone, to the oscillating additions of metal, electronic and beyond of Wine, Don’t Start, and the hip hop-soaked Fake Your Death, there’s a permeating freshness poised to capture the imaginations and ears of new and old fans alike throughout the album.

Ending with an ambiguous question mark lyrically on closing track Wine, Future Lovers leaves the door wide open for boundless innovation and exploration from Banks Arcade, and will unquestionably cultivate future lovers of the band alongside current fans. They always wanted to make history, and with this debut album Banks Arcade bring heart, passion and potent execution to springboard them to even greater heights: “The kind of releases that will follow Future Lovers is where we’ll really be able to expand and make this into something even bigger,” O’Donnell concludes. “This is just the opening act”.

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~ TRACKLIST ~

1. Future Lovers
2. Freaks
3. Fake Your Death
4. Smile
5. Ether
6. Spark
7. Be Someone
8. Used
9. System Failed
10. Trip
11. Don’t Start
12. Medicine
13. Wine

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BANKS ARCADE
Tour Dates

THORNHILL
‘HEROINE LIVE ACROSS AUSTRALIA’
TOUR – TICKETS

Supporting THORNHILL with special guests
DAYSEEKER (USA)
GRAVEMIND

Thursday 7 July – Factory Theatre, Sydney (Lic AA)
Friday 8 July – Newcastle Hotel, Newcastle (18+)
Saturday 9 July – Eleven Dive Bar, Sunshine Coast (18+)
Sunday 10 July – The Triffid, Brisbane (18+)
Tuesday 12 July – UC Hub, Canberra (18+)
Thursday 14 July – Altar, Hobart (18+)
Friday 15 July – 170 Russell, Melbourne (18+)
Saturday 16 July – Lion Arts Factory, Adelaide (Lic AA)
Sunday 17 July – Amplifier Bar, Perth (18+)

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IN HEARTS WAKE
‘GREEN IS THE NEW BLACK’
AUSTRALIAN TOUR – TICKETS

Supporting IN HEARTS WAKE with special guests
REDHOOK
PRIDELANDS

Thursday 18 August – Prince of Wales Hotel, Bunbury WA
Friday 19 August – Magnet House, Perth WA
Saturday 20 August – Freo.Social, Fremantle WA
Sunday 21 August – Indian Ocean Hotel, Scarborough WA
Saturday 27 August – Landmark, Darwin NT
Wednesday 31 August – Harvey Road Tavern, Gladstone QLD
Thursday 1 September – Seabreeze Hotel, Mackay QLD
Friday 2 September – Otherwise, Townsville QLD
Saturday 3 September – Gilligans, Cairns QLD
Thursday 8 September – Coolangatta Hotel, Coolangatta QLD
Friday 9 September – Eleven Dive Bar, Maroochydore QLD
Saturday 10 September – Blanks Space, Toowoomba QLD
Thursday 22 September – Drifters Wharf, Central Coast NSW
Friday 23 September – Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle NSW
Saturday 24 September– Manning Bar, Sydney NSW (Early Show)
Saturday 24 September – Manning Bar, Sydney NSW (Late Show)
Thursday 29 September – Uni Bar, Wollongong NSW
Friday 30 September – UC Hub, Canberra ACT
Saturday 1 October – Beer Deluxe, Albury NSW
Wednesday 5 October – Volta, Ballarat VIC
Thursday 6 October – Sooki Lounge, Belgrave VIC
Friday 7 October – The Wool Exchange, Geelong VIC
Saturday 8 October – Pier Bandroom, Frankston VIC
Friday 14 October – Altar, Hobart TAS
Saturday 15 October – Lion Arts Factory, Adelaide SA
Sunday 16 October – Northern Sound System, Elizabeth SA (Lic AA)
Friday 21 October – Vinnie’s Dive, Gold Coast QLD
Saturday 22 October – The Northern, Byron Bay NSW

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AMNPLIFY – DB