Premiere: Surf Trash unveil a high-octane new anthem, Insane

Header photo by Andrew Brassington.

It's no secret that Australia are frothing for the more energetic side of rock music at the moment, with acts within the Dune Rats/West Thebarton realm of high-energy, gut-punching rock quickly becoming festival - and radio - favourites. In turn, it's influencing a wide array of emerging, promising acts to rise up and do their own thing, many of which bringing unique and refreshing sounds to the table - whether it be STUMPS' charming brit-rock or Verge Collection's well-recognised, WA-styled take on thrashing punk-rock. Newcomers Surf Trash are well and truly within this realm, with the Newcastle teenage three-piece taking nods from the surf-rock sounds of Skegss and Dune Rats for their own music which has been whipping up quite a storm in recent months - they've copped a couple of plays on triple j, supported names including The Delta Riggs and The Bennies, and even toured with fellow rising star Ruby Fields on a headline Australian tour.

Today, they kick-start their 2019 in fine form, unleashing a high-energy, high-flavour new thrasher - Insane - while also announcing their debut EP Busy Doing Nothing, which looks set to arrive on March 22nd. Proving a sure-fire set highlight, Insane sees Surf Trash up the energy in what's easily their liveliest single yet, mixing bright, soaring hooks with swirling guitars and rapid percussion for a single that sees them really burst out the gates. There's a lot to love in the band and a lot to love in the single, so take a dive into it head-first below, stay tuned for more deets on Busy Doing Nothing soon, and better get to know the group before they further explode:

Tell us about yourself?

G'day, my names Andy, I’m 19 and from Newcastle NSW and play in a local Newcastle surf rock/punk called Surf Trash with my younger brother Nick on bass and our best buddy Lach on guitar. We formed in late 2017 and released our first ever single in November 2017 and started playing live in April 2018.

What’s the vibe music-wise?

We’ll all listen to a lot of different stuff, but we take a lot influence from early Aussie rock and punk. Lachie is really into his Drunk Mums and DZ Deathrays, Nick loves his Iggy Pop and the Stooges, and I love The Hives and Jet.

What are your production and writing processes like?

In terms of writing new songs, we all try to jam stuff together live in our home studio. Our rule is that if it doesn’t feel right after like 30 minutes or so we tend to move on. It needs to feel right from the start and then the songs naturally kinda right themselves. Our ideas normally start with a chord progression or riff that Lach brings to us then we all add our own parts.

Can you tell us about your new single, Insane?

Insane started off with the chorus with the “woo hoo’s” and “yeah’s” as a joke kinda thing. Then we thought it would be a really fun one to play live that the crowd could learn and sing along too really easily because of our simple and fun it was. Once we had the chorus we wrote the rest of the song around it. The song is about a person going crazy/insane over another person they really like or want to be with, then learning that they just need to be happy with everyday life.

Any shows coming up?

Certainly. We’ve got some really exciting things in the pipeline for this year. It feels strange having to keep it under wraps, but we promise it’ll be worth the wait. Having toured and supported a bunch of this country's most exciting names last year i.e Ruby Fields, Delta Riggs, Drunk Mums + many more; we think we’re slowly gaining some credibility with bands now wanting to have us join them to play. Being still relatively young, seeing how a lot of these bands handle touring + shows etc, it’s been tremendous in helping us see what’s involved in playing live. A lot of the people, artists, musicians we have played alongside have really taken us under their wing, sort of like mentors. In particular, those two shows we played alongside Ruby Fields late in the year were some of the best we have ever played and Ruby was just dynamite to support. It was really special. Anyhow, we’ve gone off track here haha, but yes, watch this space!

What does 2019 have in store for you?

Well, we’re keen to keep writing some new tunes (we’ve got a bunch of solid demos we’re working through!) and to hit the road a bit more + to keep playing shows where everyone wants us. We have our fingers crossed, but hopefully, we start playing some festivals soon, that’s a goal we’ve set for this year and we're really wanting to work towards it. 2018 was great, but we’re genuinely excited about what 2019 could bring!

Where can we find more of your music?

Best place to go find our tunes is triple j unearthed, Spotify, Apple Music etc.

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