JOSH O’DONNELL of BANKS ARCADE: Future Loves and Metal Breakfasts
An interview by Bridie Chetwin-Kelly.
Josh O’Donnell the lead singer of Banks Arcade speaks to me from Melbourne where the band is part way through a tour of Australia with Thorn Hill and only weeks ago returned from a very successful Download Festival in the UK. Their album FUTURE LOVERS has just dropped and the band is very excited to be heading back to their home country of New Zealand for several headline dates throughout August.
So Josh, for those who don’t know who you are how would you describe Banks Arcade?
Banks Arcade is a band that’s making modern heavy music. We are influenced by metal and hip hop and that is all reflected in our sound. Often we call ourselves the boy band of heavy metal. The band is made up of Joshua O’Donnell on Vocals, Jason Meadows on Guitars, Harlan Allen-Jones on Bass and James Feekes on Drums.
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How are you feeling post-Download Festival? That’s a huge deal having a New Zealand band grace the stage.
Yeah, I think we are one of the very few NZ bands to ever play, or at least in the first five to ever do so. The sheer size of the festival is overwhelming, and making everything go to plan and work is a massive job. We are a band that is growing rapidly but a lot of the elements of being there we had to make work on the fly, we have a great team and community over there which helps. We played two sets at Download, one for the VIP campers and one on the main festival stage.
We were actually told the first performance would be the big one and we played to about 1000 people. So following that we headed out each morning with a handful of cards with QR codes on them that gave info on the band and info on our set at the festival, we talked to people, we got engaged and by the time our main stage performance was on it was packed.
Josh says that it is important to them as a band that they can actually reach people and get people along who want to hear their music. Like his campsite buddies who they woke up to by the smell of them cooking bacon one morning. It turned out that these guys had been going to Download since its inception, they were in their 60s and made their meals every day just like a proper metal head community. On the day of their big main stage performance, they all rocked up wearing Banks Arcade merch and were given a shout-out from the stage, “Make some noise for the guys who made us breakfast!”
So the FUTURE LOVERS album is almost out but has been in fruition for a couple of years, how do you feel about having it soon to be released into the world?
This album has been done for two years now so happy to be getting it out. We went home to New Zealand during COVID and we wrote the album at our family homes, as soon as we got a gap in the lockdown we drove straight to Auckland, banged the album out in 8 days, then we thought let’s go back to Melbourne, and went straight back to lock down. We also managed to make the most of our second record too while we were in the UK. Lockdowns really helped with writing the album, applying too many expectations on creativity stifles it and the uncertainty of COVID actually created a space where we could just write and make music and we didn’t have to try.
FUTURE LOVERS goes in so many directions because we had no expectations. We formed and honed our sound. It’s done its job for us too, how it has been received and how the industry accepted it has really made it all worth it. We bankrupted ourselves with his album and went all in and hoped someone takes to it. And we got a lot of interest, Ryan Richards (Funeral For A Friend), our manager in the UK put us on and he knows everyone and it really solidified our relationships. And now, signed to UNFD.
You must be chomping at the bit to get the album out and toured?
Yes! I remember one of our last shows in New Zealand was one of the first moments a crowd sang our songs back to us. I really froze up at that moment and it inspired us and I am hoping this album is the same, that is my favourite thing in the world.
Where were you guys at when this album was made?
The most unique influence on this album is Saint Jhn, its a new wave of rappers, he’s a symbol of this world of hip hop that is less about lyricism and all about vibing and the vocalist just sitting in the pocket of the tracks. I think the same way about how I write, pulling back vocally and I am inspired by hip-hop. What’s happening at these rap shows now, is like old-school metal shows.
The band have actually added their own spin on the hit by Saint Jhn, ‘Roses’
The latest single ‘Used’ absolutely slaps, and the video was shot on Dominion Road? How did that come about?
We were in the studio recording and one night maybe after we wrapped the album we were having drinks, Reuben (a close friend of the band) and we were like should we shoot some things we ended up shooting the video all over Dominion Road and up Mount Eden.
The video for Used really shows the band’s personality, their music is hard, the lyrics hit heavy and they want to be taken seriously – but at the end of the day, they have a lot of personalities and are a lot of fun, just what you will expect from their live shows this coming August.
Banks Arcade’s new album FUTURE LOVES is out now via UNFD / Unified Music Group. Banks Arcade are also hitting New Zealand to tour the new album, kicking off this week in Wellington before travelling around the country before finishing up in Auckland on the 13th August. For more information about the tour including dates and ticket availability check out the details below!
THURSDAY 04 AUGUST @ MEOW, WELLINGTON
w/ The Gloom In The Corner + Crooked Royals + All I Seek
Tickets on sale via Moshtix
FRIDAY 05 AUGUST @ FRANK BAR + EATERY, WHANGANUI
w/ The Gloom In The Corner + Crooked Royals + Pull Down The Sun
Tickets on sale via UnderTheRadar
THURSDAY 11 AUGUST @ THE CABANA, NAPIER
w/ The Gloom In The Corner + Crooked Royals + Pull Down The Sun
Tickets on sale via UnderTheRadar
FRIDAY 12 AUGUST @ NIVARA LOUNGE, HAMILTON
w/ The Gloom In The Corner + Crooked Royals + Amanaki
Tickets on sale via UnderTheRadar
SATURDAY 13 AUGUST @ THE TUNING FORK, AUCKLAND
w/ The Gloom In The Corner + Crooked Royals + Full Bloom
Tickets on sale via Moshtix
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