Such is the wealth of talent currently in Australian music that you don't even have to win a battle of the bands style competition to be a winner.
When Melbourne melodic metal outfit Primitive failed to win their place on the local Good Things line-up last week their disappointment was only shortlived.
Not long afterwards the band got the nod to support Soulfly at both of their Melbourne and Sydney side shows, going a long way to numbing the pain of missing out on the full festival.
It has been a massive year already for Primitive, who released their well received EP With The Rats And Snakes in August and have been making waves ever since. They close this year out by supporting Exenobiotic in Melbourne and see in the New Year playing alongside King Parrot and Unearth.
Not bad for a band who are less than half a decade old.
Frontman Tim Gauci sat down with HEAVY to discuss a whirlwind last half of 2022.
"Honestly, it was probably one of the most fun shows we have had," he enthused of the Good Things battle. "We had the two shows, the first heat and the final, and because it was done during the middle of the week it was a little bit of a nervous thing figuring out if we were gonna get people there or not but because there was an effort to go there and support our friends and support us during the week - it was free entry - it ended up just being a really good, fun vibe. The shows were great. We played as best as we could. I won't give us any less credit for not winning, but I think we did a great job and had a great time. I can't say anything bad about it. All of the other bands were great and we met a lot of new people and made some friends along the way so there's really nothing more you could ask for. Other than getting a festival slot of course (laughs). In saying that, it eventuated into some good things, so we can't complain."
In the full interview, Tim talks more about how Primitive approached the shows, finding the balance between enjoying yourself and competing, choosing the set list, what Primitive learned as a band from the experience, scoring the Soulfly support, the reception to With The Rats And Snakes, upcoming shows, new music and more.