FUTURE BREED MACHINE

BRISBANE ART-METAL DUO AXXONN DELIVERED TWO EPS AND A EUROPEAN TOUR IN THEIR FIRST TWELVE MONTHS OF EXISTENCE. MATT O’NEILL SPEAKS TO TOM HALL ABOUT THE ENSEMBLE’S AMBITIONS TO SURPASS SUCH ACHIEVEMENTS IN 2010.

AXXONN are the kind of band that effortlessly illustrate the relative laziness of their peers. While much has been made in recent years of the music industry’s evolution into a more brutal and less forgiving artistic arena, few acts have genuinely attempted to engage with such an environment on its own terms – preferring rather to meander away into their self-contained fortresses of independence and obscurity. AXXONN, by contrast, forming as recently as late 2008, have been viciously assaulting the music industry from the outset of their career.
A relatively spontaneous collaboration between local musicians Tom Hall (Secret Birds) and Ian Rogers (No Anchor, ex-Iron On), AXXONN delivered their debut EP, Should You Fear Hell?, within months of their formation and, a mere handful of shows later, released a second EP, Masters Of The Epic Day, and embarked upon a tour of Europe. The coming months, meanwhile, will see the group release two full-length albums to the public – a cassette-only album, Below The Dead Ones, on local label Bedroom Suck Records and an as-yet-untitled release on an independent UK label.
“I can’t really talk too much about how and when and who because those are details I’m not really allowed to disclose yet,” band main-man Tom Hall announces cryptically – glee still evident in his tone. “It’s on a UK label and it’s pretty bloody exciting and, to be honest, I can’t believe it’s even happening. The album itself is kind of a meld between our most distorted side and our most pop side. It’s going to be pretty well distributed over there and over here and it looks like the last six months of this year is just going to be touring in support of that release.”
The immediacy of the outfit’s achievements is emphatically underscored by the fact that, while surprisingly accessible, AXXONN’s cerebral blend of shoegaze, post-metal, ambience and electronica is far from the sound one would typically associate with such ambition and success. The band’s forthcoming album, Below The Dead Ones, was recorded under the supervision of avant-noise kingpin Scott Arford in San Francisco late last year and, according to Hall, was most influenced by the underground noise concerts he was attending while in the city.
“I think people will be kind of surprised by what they hear – it’s kind of embracing our more drone-orientated side and minimising the beats a bit,” Hall considers. “It’s predominantly influenced by what I was engaging with in America. I mean, living with Scott Arford, he’s been a pretty predominant figure in noise and experimental music for the past 20 years, and the other warehouses around where I was staying were all rehearsal spaces for bands like Neurosis and Shellac.”
The unfortunate offshoot to AXXONN’s intensive regimen is that others occasionally find it difficult to maintain the pace – namely Hall’s initial partner-in-crime Ian Rogers. A founding member of the AXXONN legacy, Rogers nevertheless discovered over the past four months that he couldn’t compete with Hall’s workaholic schedule and gracefully opted to resign from full-time membership within the band. Hall maintains that his former collaborator will occasionally contribute to the band but, unfortunately, is unlikely to return to full-time membership.
“I think he realised touring wasn’t for him while we were in the UK so he’s cutting back,” Hall explains. “It unfolded while I was over on the other side of the world. I actually thought he was a fucking arsehole at first and was never going to speak to him again but eventually I began to understand. I mean, I’m a bit of a workaholic and I only know one pace – with solo albums, I actually have four albums coming out in the next six months.”
WHO: AXXONN
WHAT: Below The Dead Ones (Bedroom Suck)
WHERE & WHEN: The Step Inn, Saturday Feb 13