Interviews: The Stranger

On this new occasion, we have had the opportunity to interview the Progressive Metal band, The Stranger from Australia. Check out the interview and follow the band on their FACEBOOK PAGE.

1.Where did you get the idea for the band name, you planned it or came out just like that?

Originally we were going to call ourselves "The Unexpected Guest" after the name of a threadless.com T-Shirt design that we all really loved that Tom still owns. (https://www.threadless.com/designs/the_unexpected_guest) We streamlined this down into "The Stranger". We liked the idea that it could be read as a noun (the titular "stranger" was the star of a short concept idea that runs through our first release) as well as a collective adjective. We're all just a little bit Stranger than real life.

2.Why did you want to play this genre?

Progressive metal celebrates our collective love for heavier music while also giving us the ultimate freedom to creatively explore the wide variety of music we listen to outside of metal. There are no limits to what we can do creatively.

3. . Each band member's favourite band?

Linc - Coheed & Cambria

Kalen - The Dear Hunter

Tom - TOOL

Drew - Fleet Foxes

Dan - Periphery 

4. Who or what inspires you to write songs?

Current events, politics, popular culture, film, video games, our pets, personal struggles and emotional catharsis. Basically everything inspires us in some capacity, no matter how trivial or small.

5. Where was your last gig?

We were lucky enough to play two shows in the waning months of 2020 both at The Brightside in Brisbane. A Headline show on September 11th, where we played a double show - the same exhausting hour long set twice to two different crowds. The other was a Halloween themed show on October 30th with our good friends in Torizon and Valhalore. Check 'em out.

6. Where would you like to act?

Everywhere and anywhere really. At the moment everything is pretty limited, even within Australia but the fact that we can still plan and look at the possibility of even playing shows right now is pretty unique in the current global climate.

7. Whom would you like to feature with?

We haven't really done the feature thing in our original music yet, with the exception of guest vocals by Nadia Vanek on Divine Intervention from our first album. We also had some guest vocals on one of our annual Halloween covers which was really great. There's some really great talent around Australia that we'd love to work with. 

8. Whom not?

All those other bands called The Stranger or The Strangers 😅

9. Any of you ever suffered from stage fright? Any tips for beginners on how to beat that?

Pretty sure all of us do at varying levels, Kalen is by far the worst though. Playing in the prog metal crowd, people tend to be quite nerdy and introverted so getting up on stage in front of people is one of the most harrowing experiences - but it's always worth it. We find a stiff drink or shot before the set warms us up and cools our nerves. If breathing exercises and a shot or two don’t seem to do the trick, talk to your doctor about Beta Blockers!

10. What bands have inspired you the most?

There is a lot. We don't really limit ourselves to metal or rock when we enjoy music. More recently we've been super inspired by musicians and bands that we know or are friends with - hard working, super talented acts like Caligula's Horse and Voyager to name a few.

11. What's the weirdest thing a fan has ever asked you for?

Honestly, we are super surprised when anyone wants a photo with us. That in itself isn't really weird but that shock that someone would want to take a photo with us, this little prog band from Brisbane is so surprising.

12. What do you think of your fans?

We have fans?

13. What do you think of our site?

It’s great! We have very little in the way of similar sites in Australia and its really great to see you guys promoting and supporting local scenes from all over the globe.

14. Something add?

Online support is super important these days and even more so at present so if you like a band, show them some love online. Follow their pages, follow their Spotify and subscribe to everything you can. It means more than you know.