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WAAX
return with huge
new single & video
‘MOST HATED GIRL’

Announce
Queensland shows

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WAXX // Photo Credit: James Hornsby

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“You would be hard-pressed to find a live act in Australia right now that’s more feverish than WAAX.” – Pilerats

“Takes the punk rock verve that characterised the outfit’s early years and sprinkles it with a broader alternative flavour.” – The Sun Herald

“WAAX have redefined what it means to be punk in the 21st century.” – The Music

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It only takes hearing a tiny burst of searing guitars at the start of their brand-new single ‘Most Hated Girl’ for you to know… WAAX are back in a big, big way.

The first new music from the Brisbane five-piece juggernaut in over 18 months needed to be a hell of a statement to blow off the cobwebs, and suffice it to say the band’s legion of fans aren’t going to be disappointed one iota.

“‘Most Hated Girl’ was definitely a COVID song that came out of the first lockdown in April of 2020,” says WAAX singer/songwriter Maz DeVita of writing the blistering new cut. “I was feeling pretty low and pretty hysterical and not very good about myself and I felt that I really needed to write because I hadn’t been writing much at that time because COVID got in the way of my motivation.

“A week before that I was staying with my parents through the first lockdown and we were going through the garage and I found a diary from when I was 16. I went through and read it and I was like, ‘Oh, I haven’t really changed that much. I’m pretty much the same fucking person,’ and it was just kind of a potent thing. I hadn’t read anything I’d written as a teenager in so long, so I didn’t even know what to expect. It was just an interesting thing to know that I’m still kind of the same person at the core of it.

“Fast forward to a week later when I was having this emotional moment and wanting to write a song, that memory popped through and I started writing about that experience and how it doesn’t matter how many years go by you can still be the same person and at the end of the day the way that you see yourself doesn’t actually change too much. When I was younger I felt so socially isolated and I felt that I had this idea that everyone hates me. I guess the one wisdom I’ve taken away over the years is that usually that’s all to do with the way you see yourself and I’m the most hated girl according to me and it’s not to do with anyone else.”

It’s a typically introspective assessment from DeVita who has forged her reputation as a songsmith that can take internalised emotional torment and transform it into something you want to blast out of a speaker or dive headfirst into a sweaty pit about.

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The single is accompanied by yet another standout video. Directed by Julian D’arcy at Onyx productions the clip captures DeVita playing a radio DJ leading an “on-air competition” to help WAAX find a new lead singer, before eventually realising she was the right fit all along. The lead up to the video’s release featured a social media campaign where DeVita jokingly announced she’d actually left WAAX and that they’d be auditioning her replacement.

“I always fantasised what it would be like if I wasn’t in the band,” laughs DeVita. “If I fake quit the band what would happen? Kind of like faking my own funeral. It’s cool to have actually done that because it’s nice to know that some people care. But then some people legitimately did audition because they sent through a bunch of really well done press packages and all this shit and I was like, ‘I was just looking for funny content, mate.’ We wanted to take that idea into the video – the posters, the social campaign all come together in the video. I knew I wanted to make a big splash because it was our first song in so long and so yeah, it was a really big collaboration.”

‘Most Hated Girl’ is the first single from a new, longer release scheduled for 2022, that once again saw WAAX pair with the dynamic and legendary team of Bernard Fanning and Nick DiDia, who also produced their debut album, Big Grief.

“It’s been really nice and homely feeling returning to the studio with them because we worked with them on the last record obviously, so it’s kind of like just getting back in the shed with Dad. We have a really good bond with them and they understand us and I’m not as nervous. Bernie and Nick have just watched us kind of graduate into the next level of making this record and it’s been really nice.”

A big addition to that confidence has been new songwriting partner and WAAX member James Gatling who, to outsiders, is probably still considered “the new guy,” despite the fact he’s been in the band for two years now. On ‘Most Hated Girl’ though, he finally gets to flex his songwriting muscle alongside DeVita.

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“We work together a lot and we have a really great creative relationship and it’s very free and we both really support each other in what we do and he’s a great guitarist and songwriter in his own right, so yeah we’ve just kind of boosting each other up to be better at what we do.”

Along with new music, WAAX are set to return to the road this year, with a string of Queensland shows just announced, with plans for more national touring once COVID restrictions ease. The idea of playing shows again has DeVita and the band hyped, as they can’t wait to be reconnected with fans and what they see as the most important achievement of their career to date.

“They’re very passionate which I love, because I’m passionate about them. Being in a band is not exactly the best financial choice you can make in your late 20s but the reason why we do it is for the community. If they didn’t exist I don’t even know what I’d be doing. We built this thing up and it’s our job to cultivate and grow it and nurture it and I hope people see our community as a safe space for them to be who they are and express themselves. That’s the space that I hope we’ve created and it’s all really about the community.”

‘MOST HATED GIRL’ is AVAILABLE NOW
via DEW PROCESS / UMA

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WAAX QUEENSLAND 2021
TOUR DATES

Tickets available here

THU 23 SEP | BURLEIGH BAZAAR, BURLEIGH HEADS
SAT 25 SEP | THE TIVOLI, BRISBANE
THU 28 OCT | GILLIGAN’S, CAIRNS
FRI 29 OCT | JCU UNI BAR, TOWNSVILLE
SAT 30 OCT | SEABREEZE, MACKAY
SUN 31 OCT | LEICHHARDT HOTEL, ROCKHAMPTON

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AMNPLIFY – JC