OATH // Welcome To The Scene // Newcastle NSW

Hey guys, thanks for talking to me today. Could you tell me the backstory behind Oath?

Steven - Oath is basically the child of a lot of failed projects. The lot of us have made a ridiculous amount of attempts at music and other bands, and it’s just never really worked out for us. I’ve always wanted to be in a band with all these boys, so when the opportunity presented itself, it kind of just came together and it worked really well.

Brad - It’s more or less just 4 brothers with a deep passion for music and doing what we love.

Adam - Plus, who wouldn’t want to be in a band with your best mates?

We all know naming a band is hard, so can you tell more more about the origin of the name Oath and a brief history of the band?

Adam - Steven came up with the sick name, I just play drums.

Steven - We toyed around with a LOT of ideas for names. Someone would suggest one, and 3/4 people would be happy with it, or only the suggester would like it, and it just kind of went around and around. One of the big things with this band, is everyone is on the same level, no one member’s opinion is more important than the others so step 1 was coming up with a name that was 100% perfect for us, and funnily enough it just came from an everyday conversation where my mate responded to something with “aw yeah, oath bro!” Something in my head just clicked at that point, so I sent it to the boys, and here we are

I know it's very early on in the piece but I've gotta ask, who inspires you to make music now?

Steven - It’s mostly just a usual story of seeing my favourite bands and just thinking “I want to be there. I want to be that.” We’ve basically all got that drive that is based off this being all our dreams, and we’ll stop at nothing to make that a reality. My biggest influences lately are Knocked Loose and Justice for the Damned. My two absolute favourite heavy bands.

Adam - There’s so many people that inspire me man.

Benny - My inspiration to create music comes from a variety of bands. Knocked Loose, Alpha Wolf and The Acacia Strain for example. I don't like to keep my writing to a certain style so I try to vary our style to keep it interesting and fresh.

In the past year how much have you grown as a band, what could you work on?

Brad - Well, we’ve definitely gotten closer.

Steven - Definitely. As it is, we’re very young in terms of the band, but we’re always going to be working on ourselves and our music. There’s always room for improvement. That being said, I personally think I’ve grown ridiculous amounts not only as a musician, but also as a person just from being in this band with these guys. It just feels right. Adam - We haven’t been together a year yet, but we’ve grown as a band heaps. I guess it just helps when you’re family.

Benny - We have grown a lot, considering we only formed last year. The bond between us all is pretty solid though. We’re all either best friends and or related.

So you've got a sick riff in your head, how do you turn that into a song? Can you outline your processes?

Adam - Well I’m a drummer so I don’t riff, but the boys will usually show me what they’ve got and I’ll smash something out to it, and so on.

Brad - The best part about Oath is that we all have different influences and all of them play a part in how we write. We feed off each others ideas and each member is an equal. Which is a great band dynamic and makes every part of the process so much better.

Benny - When I have a riff in my head, I usually grab my phone out, record it and then keep messing around with it or show Steve. I also like to develop songs with the band as we have a certain spin we put on songs when we are all together.

Steven - I feel like every song has been written differently so far in a way. Like, I wrote one of our songs on my laptop without even touching a guitar, and others have been based on just an idea in my head, and then a lot of noodling on a guitar. Others have been written in a practice space based off one cool thing one of the boys did. It changes. And like Benny said, we really have a certain spin on things when we all jam together. Some of the initial demos of songs sound nothing like what they are now, after everyone’s little changes.

What does "Reap What You Sow" mean to you?

Benny - This single is our way of showing the scene a sample of who we are, and what we’re about.

Brad - It means everything. I can’t wait to get it out there for everyone to hear.

Steven - It means finally the coming together of something that has been in the works for way too long before being giving the chance to actually exist. It’s a lot of stress, and worry, and anger all coming out and coming together in one big swoop.

Adam - A fair bit. Can’t really pick the words, but it means a lot.

What does the scene mean to you? If you could change one thing what would it be?

Adam - I would change people being diggity dogs, and more supporting local music.

Brad - The scene can be whatever we want it to be if all of us pull together and make it so. There are a few hardworking groups that are constantly pushing for more shows and more venues, LostLight Bookings, for example.

Benny - To me, the scene is almost like a second family. When I played or attended shows all the time, I would constantly be welcomed by mates who would always have my back. I would like to see more people supporting the scene and providing the younger generations with the chance to express themselves through music.

Steven - It’s everything. It’s a family, and it’s a safe haven. The kids who weren’t popular, weren’t hot enough, weren’t cool enough, weren’t enough for everyone else. The scene gives them the chance to be something, anything they want to be. I don’t even know at all where I would be now had it not been for my local scene, and the people I’ve met through it. 90% of my friends in their entirety have been through the music scene. I would love nothing more than to see Newcastle get the scene it used to have back, kids need it more than anyone knows, and the council is too interested in their own pockets than the creativity and happiness of the youth. We need more people like Mitch Whaley (Hombre Records), Buddy Edwards (LostLight Bookings) and the Behind The Scene movement is something we need now more than ever. The more support and active action we have to grow the Australian scene, the bigger and better our music gets for the youth and adults alike.