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Interview with
STEAD
from
PUNK ROCK FACTORY
(2nd November 2025)

Interview by Dave Bruce

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How did the band come together back in South Wales in 2014? Where did it all begin?
It all began with Benj just busting out a few demos of some covers just for something to pass the time and for a bit of fun. He got together with our previous drummer then and then with Peej and lastly I joined in about 2016.

Briefly describe your journey to date.
We released a few songs here and there and then kind of did nothing for a couple of years for a number of reasons, then we got back in to the swing of it in 2019 and released our first album “The Wurst Is Yet To Come”, just a mixed bag of some bangers that we liked, this so included our cover of “I Just Can’t Wait To Be King”. It wasn’t until Covid when we were all in lockdown and we put that song up on TikTok and it just went mental and our feet haven’t touched the ground since.

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How would you describe your approach to reworking a song? Why do you think fans resonate with the versions you produce?
It all starts with a drum beat, is it going to be bouncey, is it flat out punk beat or is it a straight up rock song vibe, as soon as we get a feel for it we start layering up with guitars and that’s when we can pretty much determine if its going to be a keeper or not. After that Peej will lay down an insane amount of vocals and harmonies and it just becomes a full wall of sound.
I think the reason this resonates so well is because it’s the guilty pleasures that we have made it OK to bop your head to. Those songs that you always loved the melody to but didn’t really feel comfortable singing Let It Go in your car but with a few guitars and a punk beat, well then the cold never bothered any of us.

Which artist’s music and/or performance, past or present, inspires you today? 
We take inspiration from everywhere, we are all still avid music fans and check out new releases from all the new stuff coming out as well as the old stuff that moulded our creative juices, it really can be anything from the Eagles to Metallica, Justin Bieber to Ice Nine Kills as long as it rips then were listening.

Your latest music release, an EP, ‘Round Two, Fright’ has just been released! What prompted you to do a Halloween release? 
We actually demoed out near enough an entire album before this release and scrapped it all at the last minute when we came up with the idea of doing a split Halloween / Christmas release. We kind of thought that people aren’t really going to be putting on How Far I’ll Go just before they go Trick or Treating and possibly not when they are trimming up the Christmas decorations so why not give the people what they don’t even know they wanted, a Halloween / Christmas album, because why the hell not.

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What is the focus track on the EP?
I think This Is Halloween has to be one of our most outrageous tracks we’ve released, it’s an audible onslaught for two and a minutes and there is no let up at all. We’re really pleased of how it turned out. For the Christmas side, it has to be our first ever original track “Slay The Bells”, we’ve been asked for years to release an original and we’ve finally done and couldn’t be happier with it.

Can we expect another album in 2026?
Absolutely!! We can’t sit still for long so 100% we’ll have something to sink your teeth into don’t worry!

You are in Australia for four dates in late November? What are you looking forward to this time around, and what can the fans expect?
Australian shows are really similar to UK shows which makes it so comfortable to hit the stage when we are over there, the crowds are great, the weather is awesome, as long as the spiders keep out of our way, were gonna love every second of it. Just cant wait to have some nice weather and play some tunes for everyone.

If you could perform with any music artist, Alive or Dead, who would you choose? And why? 
For me it would have to be Nirvana or Metallica just as they were the biggest impact on my life, just completely changed my entire world and led me to where I am today.
I think for Peej it would definitely be either Foo Fighters or Blink 182 and for Benj I would probably go with Coheed and Cambria, that boys knows everything about them.

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What are your long-term aspirations as a music artist and how are you progressing towards them?
Just to keep on doing what we are doing, I love this life so much and never want it to end, it truly is a gift to be able to do it and long may it continue. I’m travelling the world with my friends and meeting new people all over the globe so if this can continue for years to come then I’ll be a happy man.

With over ten+ years of experience now, what piece of advice would you give to an artist starting out? 
I mean this is a hard one, you always here never give and if you want it bad enough it will come to you, I wanted this since I was 11 years old and it didn’t happen until I was 36 and that was purely by chance because someone else turned the gig down haha, so my advice would be to get good at your instrument but also get good at what’s happening around you, we are in a fast evolving world with short attention spans, crack the social media code and find a your niche and you’ll stand out among the vast crowd.

What is the best thing about performing to a live audience? What’s been the career highlight so far?
You can’t explain it, think about being seven years old, you’ve just got the action man you wanted for your birthday and your entire class is coming to your birthday party, that king shit energy you feel, bottle that, shake it up and then give it some steroids and that’s what it feels like to play in front of a sold out crowd. Theres nothing like it, it’s the best feeling. Career highlights are so hard to pick, there is so many and as I said earlier, it’s a daily gift but if I had to pick having Jacoby from Papa Roach bust out on stage to sing Last Resort with you is pretty next level or being able to call Jaret and the Bowling For Soup boys your mates is equally mind boggling.

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Now for some quickfire questions to get a little personal:
What is the craziest thing you’ve ever done? Playing the very first PRF show in one of the heaviest festivals you could ever imagine in front of 8000+ people and them loving every second of it was a pretty wild experience.
What is the one topic you can talk about for hours? Music Gear, I’m no guru in any of it but love hearing what tech is out there.
What is the thing you like most about yourself? My Job

Finally, let’s find out what your current (or all time) favourites are –
Album – Currently – You Are We – While She Sleeps
Artist – Currently – Glasgow Coma Scale
Movie – Good Will Hunting
Place to visit – Alaska (I haven’t been but that’s the plan)
Venue to play – Red Rocks in Denver or Nimes in France
Food – Indian
Drink – Vodka Orange Juice
Person in History – Kurt Cobain, does that count?
Tattoo – I have many but always want more, my next one will hopefully be a PRF one. 

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PUNK ROCK FACTORY
2025 Australian Tour Dates

Friday 21st November – BRISBANE, Crowbar
Saturday 22nd November – SYDNEY, Crowbar
Sunday 23rd November – MELBOURNE, Max Watts
Tuesday 25th November – ADELAIDE, Lion Arts Factory

Tickets

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AMNPLIFY – DB