Onvoy is a new deathcore band part of the growing wave of homegrown heavy acts on the Sunshine Coast. Playing their first-ever gig alongside Sydney mosh metal heavyweights Volatile Ways on their recent Australian tour was no doubt a humbling experience, and one that has lit a fire under the band to keep up the momentum.

We spoke to Eli, Bella, Brodie and Lucius to get their take on getting into music, reclaiming the deathcore sound, and what punters can expect at their upcoming gig at the Namba Black Market Day Show on Sunday 5 October.

BAD HABIT: You guys had a pretty explosive debut opening for Volatile Ways – the Sepultura cover was a boss move. However, I've heard Onvoy was formed only a few weeks prior to that debut. How do you write and polish a set that quickly? What was that process like for you?

ELI: Thank you! Yeah, we technically only started working under ONVOY a few weeks before the show.

BELLA: I got the DM from Cherry asking if we wanted to be on the lineup for the Volatile Ways gig while Lucius, Brodie, Eli and I were hanging out.

ELI: We were all really keen, but we needed a bassist, so I hit up Will, who I'd previously worked with in the past for some university projects, and we had the band sorted.

BRODIE: The two original songs were born out of some old instrumental demos that I had written a few years before, and together we refined them to fit the identity of what we wanted the band to be. After that, we picked a couple of covers that aligned with our sound, rehearsed heaps, and then we had our set! We all have great chemistry as a band, so it was heaps of fun putting everything together.

BH: I feel like the Sunshine Coast is a pretty distinct place of contrast and contradiction. The kind of place where rampant homelessness sits right beside cookie-cutter mansions. There's pervasive poverty operating in the same realm as LNP lobbyists and Eumundi Market-core gentrifiers. What relationship does Onvoy have with the area? Does the setting influence your approach as a band?

ELI: Yeah, it's complex. Growing up on the Coast, there is a lot to love and a lot to hate. It's always been difficult seeing the people in poverty live right next to the wealthy mansion owners, and I wish there was a lot more being done to bridge that gap. One thing I love about our local scene is that everyone, no matter their background, can meet under a mutual love of the music and culture. I also appreciate the amount of effort everyone puts in to spread awareness and aid people in need when they are going through tough times. It really does feel like a community.

BRODIE: For me personally, what's inspiring is less about what the Coast is now and more about what it could become. That's something I hope we can contribute to – breaking down some of that divide.

LUCIUS: To be honest, growing up where we have has definitely had an impact on our approach as a band, and we are very grateful to have access to the resources we do with such ease. I think it makes us put in a conscious effort to try and support any other local acts and young kids who are just like us, just wanting to break into making music.

BH: Contrasting to that Volatile Ways gig, you've got an upcoming show opening for Orc. Do you feel that a refined and technical style like deathcore naturally opposes the raw meat-and-potatos approach? Do you see them as separate or intertwined, and how do you see these different schools of thought interact?

ELI: I personally feel like there is a lot of overlap between both styles of music, especially in a live setting. I think in terms of sound, we really try to mould what we love about deathcore and hardcore into something that can feel at home within both scenes, so I definitely do see it as intertwined.

LUCIUS: Especially for the drums, learning a completely new style of playing after being in an alt-rock band was challenging. But after getting my first double-kick, learning to play death metal songs and hardcore grooves has been so fun and motivates me to write more.

BRODIE: One thing we love about hardcore is the energy and the atmosphere. There's no energy like a hardcore crowd. However, we also love the technicality of earlier deathcore stuff. So, we really try to harness that energy of hardcore and fuse it with the stylistic choices of deathcore, without compromising either.

WILL: Bro, in the end it’s the moshing that brings everyone together.

BH: Deathcore has a pretty rancid reputation of attracting some real scummy people. Has it affected your direction and ethos as Onvoy? Do you think you can still find inspiration in bands while acknowledging their disgusting behaviour? Is a Chelsea Grin cover out of the question? Should Michael Crafter get his filthy skull caved in?

BRODIE: Yeah, that was one of the first things we discussed early on when we wanted to implement deathcore elements to our sound. Deathcore music is amazing sonically, but there is a lot about the genre that we do not identify with, especially lyrically. So much of that early stuff is rampant with misogyny and hateful content that we do not align ourselves with.

LUCIUS: We associate a lot more with other bands in the MySpace deathcore revival, especially the ones that actively push against that type of content.

ELI: In terms of covering music, much of our instrumental influence comes from bands such as Chelsea Grin and even very early Bring Me The Horizon, which was absolutely littered in awful lyrical content. When covering these songs, I choose not to sing the actual lyrics, seeing as they're already so hard to understand anyways.

BELLA: The main side of the genre I heavily dislike is the misogynistic and hateful side towards women. It’s tough because the instrumentals are insanely good, but the lyrics are awful. We as a band want to transform the music into something meaningful.

ELI: Yeah, I think we'd all like the genre more if it wasn't filled with so many disgusting people and so much vulgar content. We don't wish to be associated at all with many of the awful figures that have become commonly associated with the genre. It's almost become one of our goals to attempt to reclaim the sound with better values embedded in the music.

BH: Thank you for the interview. Do you have any final remarks? Anything we can look forward to seeing or hearing?

ELI: Thanks for the questions! I guess all I'd want to add is how appreciative we are of the overwhelmingly positive support from everyone after our first show. I never expected to make so many friends in the local scene and am so thankful to all the people I have met over the last few months.

BRODIE: We were so lucky to have Volatile Ways put us on the show with all of the other awesome bands on the lineup.

BELLA: Everyone in the hardcore scene has been so welcoming to us as a deathcore band.

WILL: Yeah everyone has been really nice.

LUCIUS: We're working on our first EP, which we're also excited about, so everyone can expect new music soon.

Catch Onvoy at the upcoming Namba Black Market Day on Sunday 5 October with Orc, Slowcut, Cerebral Erosion, John Lee Spider, Raw Impact and Scream Out.

Tickets $25 (or $30 on the door)

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