Young Lions Mr Spaceman Interview

Young Lions Mr Spaceman Interview

Having already teased the taste buds with -Burn The Money' and -Destroy Me' in March and third single -Superhuman', Brisbane rockers Young Lions have released their brand new album, their first since January 2015, titled -Mr Spaceman'. Released on a peak time on the Lunar Calendar – Tuesday August 8th 2017 – the day Australians witnessed a partial lunar eclipse; which is quite fitting for an album that follows a character on a journey into space.

The release of the band's third album has been a long time coming but alas the time is near for this energetic and reputable three-piece that hail from Brisbane's western suburbs. They are a band that is fast building momentum with two highly acclaimed albums already under their belt in the form of 2013's -Burn' and 2015's -Blue Isla' – an album that likened the band to 30 Seconds To Mars.

-Mr Spaceman' is about to change that. 'For this album we decided to take a bit of a different approach as it follows a character on a journey into space to deal with all sorts of inter-dimensional learning curbs," says singer Zach Britt. 'Writing a concept album, in retrospect, was a way for us to push the boundaries and open our minds, lyrically and musically, so that we felt we could push the limits of what Young Lions is. Using space as a landscape for such a journey seemed a logical way for us to go".

The journey on this album, from start to finish, is an experience. 'All of our releases have been a little different but this one really came together as a whole. We have tried to mold the angst and passion of 'Burn' with the sensitivity and heart of 'Blue Isla' and I can proudly say we had a lot of success on this mission. It's so exciting to think about people hearing this album because it really is just another progression on the Young Lions journey and anyone who has been with us from the start will NOT be disappointed".

The band have earnt a very loyal legion of fans across the country not only from their own headlining shows across the country but also supporting the likes of Bayside, Hands Like Houses, Silverstein, Dream On Dreamer, Short Stack and more recently Red Jumpsuit Apparatus – to name a few.

Young Lions are not one to shy away from their performances having earnt a solid reputation for their live sets with Kill Your Stereo calling their recent performance supporting US rockers Bayside as 'a stellar performance" and 'a catchy and fervent set".

Having formed in the early months of 2013, Zach Britt (Vocals), Morgan Castle (Bass) and Matt Gibson (Drums) created a band whose alternative edge has rapidly positioned them in the forefront of the rock genre. The release of -Burn' in October 2013 was named 'alternative Rock at its finest" and the title track earning them a spot on Triple J's Short Fast Loud top 40 listener poll. The sophomore album -Blue Isla' was released in January 2015 and was praised by Rolling Stone Magazine for the band's 'undeniable charm to the songwriting" and describing the fan-favourite track 'You Are II" as a 'a sonic adrenaline rush that rivals the best of 30 Seconds To Mars".

How ecstatic are the band to finally release this album that's been two years in the making? Putting it bluntly… 'SO FRIGGGGGGEN SIKED!," says Britt. 'Honestly it has been a test to all our patience waiting for the right pieces of the puzzle to fall into place for the release of this project. So many highs and lows over the last year have definitely had us up against the wall at some points but it makes the final moments all the more sweeter. All I want to do is share this with people. I want everyone that has ears to hear this thing. I can't explain how much I mean that."

www.younglionsaus.com

Mr Spaceman National Tour Dates

Friday September 22: The Evelyn Hotel, Melbourne, VIC (18+)
With The Comfort & Spectral Fires
www.oztix.com.au

Saturday September 23: Fowlers Live, Adelaide, SA (Lic. AA)

With The Comfort & Stansbury
www.moshtix.com.au

 

Sunday September 24: Amplifier Bar, Perth (18+) – Queens Birthday Long Weekend
With The Comfort & Cellophane
www.oztix.com.au

 

Saturday September 30: Foundry Records, Brisbane, QLD (All Ages) – 1PM SHOW
With The Comfort & Wolver
www.oztix.com.au 

 

Saturday September 30: The Foundry, Brisbane, QLD (18+) – EVENING SHOW
With The Comfort & Wolver

www.oztix.com.au 

Friday October 6: Factory Theatre Floor, Sydney, NSW (18+)

With The Comfort & Into The Wild
www.factorytheatre.com.au

Interview with Zach Britt

Question: How would you describe your music?

Zach Britt: Somewhere between Coldplay and Thirty Seconds to Mars. I think Rolling Stone said it best though: 'Muse-lite, if you will, or Coldplay if they possessed any stones."


Question: Was the release of Mr. Spaceman intentionally set to coincide with the Australian partial lunar eclipse?

Zach Britt: Absolutely! We planned all aspects of the album journey to align with the closest celestial body the earth:
May 26th - New Moon / -Destroy Me'
June 9th - Full Moon / -Out of the Dark'

July 9th - Full Moon / -Superhuman'
August 8th - Partial Lunar Eclipse / -Mr. Spaceman' Album Release


Question: Why did you choose to release, Burn The Money first?

Zach Britt: -Burn the Money' was the obvious choice to us as the first single as it typifies Mr. Spaceman as a whole; not only in sound but also in theme – the need to for change and the importance of pursing more than just monetary fulfillment.


Question: What inspires you when creating music videos?

Zach Britt: All our music videos were created to tell the story of our protagonist, whom Zach personifies. You can see the story form in our very first music video -Before the Storm' from our debut album Burn. Zach and his lover are trying to outrun a group of mysterious men. They are after a portal that can manipulate space and time. There is a confrontation as the mysterious men close in on Britt and his lover. Allies rush to his aid but his lover appears wounded, maybe dead. In the end you see him alone, using the device to open a portal to a new dimension.

From there, the next part of the story is from our second album 'Blue Isla" which is about letting love in while still inspiring and pushing people to fight back against corruption and the horrible realities we face when looking at our surroundings in this day and age. It has similar themes to Burn with a lot less hate and angst, which was pretty similar to our attitudes progression between both.

The plot only thickens with our new album, Mr Spaceman. After everything the protagonist has gone through, he is still shrouded in disillusion. You see his disillusion manifest in our video for Burn the Money. Our protagonist believes he can start anew, that he can rid the world of hate and corruption by -burning the money'. However, our protagonist was misguided and finds himself dying at the end of the video for Destroy Me. However, this is not his true death as in the clip for -Out of the Dark' his consciousness is alive and slowly waking up as it drifts through space.

Throughout Mr Spaceman he finds himself confronted with seven trials, completing these trials unblocks the portal that allows him to return home, to return with his new-found knowledge to help change Earth's fate.


Question: Why do you believe original Young Lions fans 'will NOT be disappointed" by Mr. Spaceman?

Zach Britt: We changed our sound A LOT between our first two albums -Burn' and -Blue Isla' – which found us a lot of new fans but also alienated older ones. Where Burn was focused primarily on negative emotions, Blue Isla pursued a deeper understanding of positive ones, which greatly affected the tone of the album as a whole. This new album however is a blend of both worlds – a much more mature album sonically, visually and emotionally that will appeal to a wide audience and encapsulate both fans of the old and new Young Lions sound.


Question: The cover for Mr. Spaceman is intriguing; where did this idea come from?

Zach Britt: Morgan Castle - That is all I have to say to that question; he's our bass player and art director and holy shit. He is a genius. The main idea stems from our protagonists journey through space, but I don't want to say too much as we are working on a bit of a secret to do with it…


Question: What should we expect from the upcoming tour?

Zach Britt: Amazing visuals and incredible audio. We've been working like crazy to make this thing go off and we wholeheartedly believe that it will with the team that we have assembled to pull it off.


Question: If you could have anyone, in the world, attend these shows, who would it be?

Zach Britt: Probably our parents… which they often do.


Question: Which is your favourite song to perform live and why?

Zach Britt: It's hard to pick a favourite song when you have so many one that are really fun to play, but all of us really love the song 'Breathe" off of our second album Blue Isla. The new single -Burn the Money' has been taking the cake lately though and it has fast become a crowd favourite.


Question: Do you prefer performing live or recording?

Zach Britt: Performing live for sure (for me specifically anyway). In the studio, you really need to absolutely nail each take whereas on stage you can really just have fun with it and run with the mistakes you make. It's a lot more real but also a lot sweatier which is a bit of a draw back.


Question: What is the story behind the name, Young Lions?

Zach Britt: When it came to the name of the band, there is no huge meaning behind it. It's actually a very simple story, but it makes it all the better. Basically we all came up with a list of ideas, Zach had the name -Young Lions' on his list and we all liked it, and the rest is history!


Question: How did the band come together?

Zach Britt: Young Lions came together much like those dinners that your mum used to make on Sunday night where she would just open the door of the fridge and throw things together on a plate and hope you didn't realize that they were from a bunch of other meals. Morgan played bass for a band called Amberain that became Young Lions after a few member changes, Zach joined after his previous band, The Dream The Chase, broke up and last of all I joined after my own band, Avery Hill, called it quits when we lost our vocalist.


Question: What motivates you most when writing music?

Zach Britt: I think our experiences and emotions that flow from them is our main influence – especially for Zach who writes all the lyrics. I think that kind of a muse is why a lot of people resonate with our music as well, as if you have similar experiences to the ones being sung about you can really feel the emotions through the music.


Question: Which music/artists are you currently listening to?

Zach Britt: I'm really digging a lot of new Australian album from people that we have played with over the years. There are a fair few but standouts at the moment are Belle Haven, Deadlights and Hands Like Houses.


Question: What or who was your inspiration to go into the music industry?

Zach Britt: My main inspiration was probably my first drum teacher Ross Moule. He was an incredibly patient and learned teacher without whose influence I really don't think I'd be doing this for a career.


Question: If you could collaborate with another artist, who would it be?

Zach Britt: Ooooo that's a tough one. I think we could do some crazy stuff with Bring me the Horizon or Linkin Park on the electronic/production side of things which is something we pushed a lot more for Mr. Spaceman but on the other hand, it would be crazy to work on more rocky stuff with someone like Nothing But Thieves or Royal Blood.


Interview by Brooke Hunter