Interview by Kris Peters
Newcastle punk rockers Trophy Eyes have always - deliberately - blurred the line between punk and hardcore. Their sound has an identifiably Trophy Eyes sting, with enough elements from both of those genres to appeal to a broader cross section of music lovers.
Of course, when you through in sprinklings of rock and an unmistakably Australian DNA line, the end result is fun.
Pure and simple.
But during COVID - as it did for many bands and people the world over - the fun stopped for Trophy Eyes.
Disillusioned by many cancellations and the inability to directly converse and write and bounce ideas off each other the seeds of doubt became a burden too big to prolong and when the band began working on their new album Suicide And Sunshine - which will be released on June 23 - they were all in agreeance that this would be their final record before leaving Trophy Eyes while there was still some positivity to cling to.
Because of that the band decided to take an anything goes attitude throughout the process, deciding that the only rule was that they unanimously wanted this new record to showcase the growth of the band musically while still strongly reflecting on their formative years and direction.
The result is an outstanding collection of songs that continues their original ethos of exploring the very boundaries of hardcore and punk music.
Vocalist John Floreani joined HEAVY to shed more light.
"I'm proud of this one," he smiled. "Probably the first time I've been proud of music that I have written pre-release. I'm really happy. I think it's probably our best and really excited for everyone to hear it."
Picking up on the comment we push him to elaborate.
"Most of the time when I put anything out I am my own worst critic," he measured. "I'm always like, fuck, that could have been better or different and I could have done this better. Especially when you sit on an album for about a year by the time it comes out you're already thinking I'm better at songwriting or whatever than when I was putting this out. You kind of put this thing out and go, this is my best work but really you're already onto the next stuff. But this time, no, I'm really happy. I'm proud of it. I think it's a great depiction of Trophy Eyes' entire career rolled into one sound. In the full interview, John talks more about the musical make up of Suicide And Sunshine, the problems they had leading into it, overcoming those problems, blending punk and hardcore, sharing personal feelings through music, tattoos, the title and where it comes from, their upcoming album tour and if, in fact, this is the end for Trophy Eyes.