Matt Hunter chats to Jen about their new single “Sand and “Wind”

Australia does progressive and heavy well. REALLY WELL. Like, punching well above our weight well. Circles are one of Australia’s finest progressive heavy music assets/exports and now they return to the fray to present their latest offering, a new track entitled “SAND & WIND” which is the first morsel of their new record, due in 2016.

The band will come out of hibernation to give ravenous fans a taste of their new material on April 1st at The Worker’s Club in Fitzroy, when they launch the brand new song. “SAND & WIND” will be available for a free download from the band’s Soundcloud.

Hi Matt, it is always nice to chat to a band from my own hometown. It has been a little over 2 years since your last album Infinitas that was described as ‘Technical, full of hooks and soaring. A touch of djent here, a pinch of Australian prog there, rushes of clean and screaming vocals and overtones of flat out rock throughout. ‘ You made an agreement that this new album would not be Infinitas 2.0 can you gave us some descriptive words about this yet to be titled album?

We didn’t want to work to any boundaries with this release. If we felt it was a good piece of music, it made it across the line no questions asked. We didn’t find ourselves asking, “is it heavy enough?” or “does it fit into a particular scene?”. Honestly we just didn’t care. This album has come together very organically and our uncalculated approach has been the sole reason for this.

Not that you rested during those two years, what was the highlight of that time for you with all those tours and Euroblast Festival?

Euroblast was definitely a highlight. I think being lucky enough to tour Europe twice in this time as an Australian band is a highlight in itself. It was a massive eye opening experience for us to see how things tick on the other side. We got to share the stage with some of our favourite bands which is always something you never think is possible when you’re first starting out.

Any funny stories that you can tell us about your tours over the last few years?

We were traveling on our bus across the English Channel. It was about 3am when we had suddenly pulled over and were woken up by our crazy but wonderful German bus driver. He came upstairs and was yelling at the top of his lungs “Everyone off ze fucking bus!”. We dragged ourselves out of the bus to find that our trailer lock had been snipped and there were some rustling noises coming from inside. After further inspection, it had come to light these noises were coming from people inside the trailer. As we were unsure what we were dealing with, our driver called the police and we waited patiently for them to arrive. When the police arrived they approached the trailer door with sniffer dogs ready in full attack mode. As they approached the trailer the double doors swung open and two illegal immigrants launched out onto the road. They got all of about 5 meters down the road until they were detained and taken away. It was pretty surreal to think we had been travelling for who knows how many hours with these two strange dudes in the back!

Holy Crap that is a scary story!     You have had a few changes lately: How easy was the transition of Ben Rechter into Circles?

Ben has transitioned really well into the band. It’s been great to work with someone who is not only on the same page as the rest of us, but can also challenge our ideas and put his own stamp on the songs.

How did the signing to Bear Parts Music come about?

We have always been self managed which can definitely take its toll on the band. It can be a hard mix to juggle being so involved in the business side of a band and then trying to get excited about the creative process. When we knuckled down to start work on album no.2 we knew that we wanted to give it all the attention it deserved. We’d known Roy (Bear Parts Music) for years and have always been quite close. He approached us about the idea and when we saw what he was doing it just made sense to get him involved with the band.

You have offered your new single Sand and Wind as a free download to your fans, which is always appreciated. What was the inspiration behind this song in particular?

The song itself musically and lyrically was a group effort and as usual, recorded and mixed by our guitarist Ted Furuhashi. The song was mastered by well known Australian based producer Forrester Savell. We wanted to express our frustration in terms of our own personal limitations. Every so often, most people feel the weight of self doubt. Sand and Wind is our little way of shaking off the self criticism and overcoming these frustrations in a positive way. We believe that everybody has the power inside themselves to overcome the difficult times and push forward to be the best they can be.

You have a single Launch on April’s Fools Day, what can fans expect from your set list? Many of the songs off the new album? Old time favourites?

We will be playing a couple of new tracks but also understand our fans haven’t seen us in over 12 months, so of course we’ll be smashing some old favourites.

I noticed on facebook that tickets are selling fast, have they sold out yet or very close?

Very close.

Are you close to naming your album? I have often thought that the actual naming of the album is harder than some of the song writing. Is this the case or is it also that the band can’t all agree on a name?

There are a few ideas floating around but none that feel right just yet.

How does your writing process usually go? For this album you seemed to have a clear direction of where not to go, the sound of Infinitas, but did you have a direction that you planned on going? Is the whole band involved in the writing of your songs?

Most songs start with myself (Dave Drums) and Ted (Guitars). We seem to write the bulk of the music together but a song won’t be complete until all members have had input. We didn’t have a perfect plan layed out of how the album was going to sound. We just had a rule that we wouldn’t pigeon hole the material to be a certain sound.

Do you feel that when you are writing that you are inspired by other bands or songs?

Usually yes. This time around it was strange because once we had a couple of demos we found ourselves drawing inspiration from those. There is one song in particular that we felt captured everything we wanted from this album. We kept coming back to this for inspiration throughout the process.

After this show what is next for Circles. Deciding the release date of the album and of course the title but is there anything else up your sleeve?

We’ve always got something up our sleeve…you’ll just have to wait and see.

Thanks for your time guys and I hope your Launch show goes well. Jen

“SAND & WIND” marks their first new music since the epic debut album of 2013 – Infinitas. Sand & Wind is as the name suggests, a force of nature – a decimatingly speedy and unexpected snap-kick to the face. Technical, full of hooks and soaring. A touch of djent here, a pinch of Australian prog there, rushes of clean and screaming vocals and overtones of flat out rock throughout. 

Circles haven’t been lounging around since 2013 however – tours with the likes of The Dillinger Escape Plan, Monuments and After the Burial and a slot at Euroblast Festival have been taking up their time. There has also been a roster change – they are now welcoming new guitar player Ben Rechter (Glass Empire, New Travellers) to the fold and to top things off, Circles also recently signed to the roster of boutique Australian management company Bear Parts Music.

The new album is a raw and dynamic journey across intense progressive soundscapes, and a real departure from Infinitas.

The band’s drummer Dave Hunter was positive and excited about the future for the band. “We’ve been bunkered down for just over 12 months writing and recording our second (yet to be titled) full length album. One thing we all agreed on was that we didn’t want to write “Infinitas 2.0″. Without giving too much away, this will be a side of Circles that people wouldn’t have heard before and we’re really excited about it!”