Hey readers of the Brutal Pixie. Your arch nemesis here, The Angry Fijian. Now, let me start things off by saying somewhere along the way, I probably pissed a lot of you off. I can feel the death stares every time I enter the Squatters, everytime I see you all at a death metal show, everytime I see any of you walking out of a Double Dragon show. But I get it. I get the hate. If I were you, in your position, I’d hate Double Dragon too. Not to rub it in, but since 2005 we have managed to rack up support spots like no tomorrow. I know a lot of you could site Segression as doing more, but that’s bullshit. In terms of supports we are way worse than them. But, we are not Segression – we dont rap and we dont wear goggles, and we dont rap. Did I mention we don’t rap? Anyway, what is weird to me, is outside of Adelaide, we don’t cop the same hatred as we do here. It’s really weird. But, I can tell, whenever I go out, or something, that a certain section of the Adelaide metal community absolutely despises my band.
Does it make me sad? Not really. Actually not at all. Maybe I get a little sad being compared to Segression, but really, any public bitterness about us getting “All the Adelaide supports” really I can’t spew at that. How can I really? It’s a cool comment to read when you come from a band that used to jam behind the Wingfield dump. But – I know how you feel. I know you think “whatever you cunt” but seriously, I know how you feel. I started in Double Dragon in 2004, and for a good two years, we applied for every support possible only to lose out to I Killed The Prom Queen. I remember us sitting around the dump in Wingfield thinking “Whatt the Fuck Prom Queen again.. they aren’t even metal! ( sound familiar??)” and instantly I hated them out of pure jealousy. Never in a million years think that we would one day become worse than them in terms of supports. Or Segression. How the fuck did this happen!??? How did my band become worse than Segression in terms of supports?!!! I do remember though years ago, us thinking we deserved a spot, so instead of publicly smashing Prom Queen, we thought… what are they doing that we are not? Obviously they were doing things that we werent, so we investigated IKTPQ. We figured out that they played a lot of shows around the country, got their name in a lot of press. So, being the hungry young Double Dragon’s with the goal to play just one international support, we did what Prom Queen did – which in eye ours was the following:
- play a shitload more shows all around Australia
- Get in the press (send out Press Releases, CDs, radio/magazine interviews nationally)
- and the most important thing – 100% back ourselves and our music
So, we did this, and we got our Holy Grail, an opening spot of the Dark Tranquillity Adelaide show. We were so pumped, especially getting the news in the tour van on the way to Melbourne for a show. We had a clear vision of getting this show, we worked fucking hard and got what we wanted. Seeing the results of working hard, we kept it up. Then came Arch Enemy, The Big Day Out, Slayer (the first time), Black Dahlia in Sydney, the ball kept rolling and rolling. Be pissed off if you will, but Double Dragon have actually played with all these bands and shows, due to our hard work: Dark Tranquillity, Carcass, Kataklysm, Mastodon, Megadeth, Slayer (5 x !!) Black Dahlia Murder, Cephalic Carnage, Unearth, Soilwork, The Haunted, Chimaira, Paul Dianno, The Big Day Out, Soundwave, Arch Enemy and Darkest Hour, with Nevermore around the corner. I think I’ve even forgot some, but it doesn’t matter. Oh yeah Obituary, sorry I was mushroomed out on that show, nearly forgot about it. The proof was in the pudding, hard work, self belief and more hard work. The old saying, dream, believe, create, succeed. Yeah it sounds really gay I know, but if you want the secret that is it. We really believe in what we do, and don’t let the naysayers get in the way of that. I think that’s a huge part of being in a band, just trudging through the criticism and believing in yourself. When people gave us shit about touring with Slayer and Megadeth, I really didn’t care. Tom picked us for that tour, and he let me sing a song with them. Who do I listen too? Some drunk dickhead in the crowd telling me my band sucks, or the legendary metal GOD that chooses us out of a million bands???
The only thing that fucks me off about some people’s comments about the toils of our hardwork, is I feel we dont get the respect we deserve in Adelaide. Sure, we don’t appeal to a lot of people, but at the same time, we do appeal to a lot of people, and sometimes we are a ‘gateway’ metal band that leads punters into more brutal metal styles. So many young Adelaide metal heads started their metal journeys at an All Ages Double Dragon show, only for them to hear something more brutal later on which leads them straight into your shows. Our style of music has changed over the years, yes we started as a metalcore band 5 years ago, but a shitload has changed since then. We now have a drummer that owns you all. We play heavy shit. We try and make our music as intricate as possible. But really, it wouldn’t matter what style of music we played, it would still be the same outcome as we really believe in what we do, and can brainstorm and be imaginative about getting what we want.
Do you know the first time we played with Slayer, it was 100% no bullshit because I had the balls to send the promoter an email saying:
“Dear **** ,
Please give Double Dragon a chance to be bottled by Slayer fans.
Yours Sincerely,
Liggy from Double Dragon”
Within 10 minutes, we scored the show of our lives: Slayer, Mastodon and Double Dragon at Thebarton Theatre. Holy fuckballs. And straight away I knew, we would be hated by the Adelaide metal crew forever (and rightfully so).
To make it really clear why we get what we do, I’ll spell it out. First of all, If you lined up Double Dragon’s shows compared to other Adelaide bands, we would play probably 5 shows to your 1. Maybe even more. We like to play, and promoters like selling beer while we are playing. It’s a no brainer. They say the Adelaide rule is you can’t play within 2 weeks of a show. Says who? Fuck that. Over Christmas we played 4 weeks in a row at home, to 4 different, healthy crowds, because we wanted to prove that statement wrong, and we wanted to spend Christmas rocking the fuck out. And we did. Play at venues constantly around the country like this for over 5 years – you get to know people, really closely. You also play to a shitload of people if you add them all up. Hell, if you’re a nice person you might even make friends with them.
Secondly, we bring a healthy crowd with us, wherever we go, all around the country. Sometimes it’s quiet, sometimes it’s packed, but either way, someone has a good time. We just play because we love to play, and our people know that coming to our show is a good time. We drink with our fans and consider them friends. Everyone of them. We are alcoholic morons who love making noise and drinking free beer.Third, we bring lots of bands to Adelaide. Lots and heaps more. . I have brought Fuck I’m Dead here, Shallow Grave, The Amenta, Psycroptic, The Berzerker, Cuntscrape, Pathogen… I brought all these bands to Adelaide on my own bank balance, at my own personal risk. Fuck – I put on a 15-band festival five years running – in Adelaide. Not bad for a bunch of homo’s that think they are Killswitch Engage!! (I fucking hate KSE, for the record.) You don’t see Segression doing that shit do you? When I look after these bands in Adelaide and they go home and tell their mates how much a good time they had down here and say good shit about Double Dragon when they see us play to our people to their friends – and when you consider the peers of some of these bands, it’s really not that hard to figure out why we are getting good shows – we are a living breathing part of this community that brings (and will continue to) over the most brutal fucking bands in Australia to Adelaide.
If I was in one of your shoes Brutal Pixie people, If you really think about the why, its not hard to figure out given the reasons above. We are the product of 5 years of really hard work. We practise every single week. We save our own money. We have our own crowd, contacts, we have our own festival, and really we just want to get the fuck outta here and go overseas.That is our dream. Sure, I’m very proud of all the great bands we have shared the stage with, but it also makes you really bloody hungry to be the headline band. To play to your people and have supports acts of your own would be the ultimate for me. It’s not as fun as it seems all the time, playing in front of people that hate you. But, it’s made us strong. We have to work harder than other bands, because here in our home you either love us or hate us. There doesnt seem to be an in-between. Every single time I walk on stage in Adelaide, I feel like the enemy. It’s kind of cool, but sometimes it’s a bit shit too.
What I wish bands would do instead of feeling like they are unfairly treated is taking us on in real life. How about playing some shows with us and making us look like fools. How about, following our lead (obviously it works) and get more active. How about something as simple as playing a show with us, hell all the promoters keep an eye on who we play with, how about swallow some pride and have a good time with us? Put some press releases out. Play lots and lots of interstate shows. Believe in your band and ram it down people’s fucking throats. If you want to do what Double Dragon do, youre going to have to believe in yourself and get more pro-active, and… get visible. It’s not gay to promote your own shit. If you don’t love it and want to spread the word about it like a crazy person, then it’s never going to work. These promoters don’t send out talent scouts to Fowlers/Enigma bar or Squatters looking for the support act. They look at Google. They look at MyFace/Twitter. There isn’t much action from other bands on these social networking sites, I mean there is to an extent but I don’t count Facebook as the Holy Grail of the internet. There’s a few bands who work the promo like we do, and they are in the same boats as us in their respective states. Lynchmada for QLD, Daysend for NSW, Five Star Prison Cell in VIC, Dyscord in WA… all of these bands have done nothing more than make that extra effort for themselves. And its no wonder that these bands, are our friends. We are similiar hard working dudes in the same predicament. Include Truth Corroded in that list, and given the pro-activeness of Universum and Se Bon Ki Ra, it’s not going to be long until they are despised as well.
I hate to say this, but what bands really deserve to play these supports? If I had the choice I would pick a band that is hungry. A band that is touring and giving it a real go. A band that without a shadow of a doubt wants to ruin their lives by trying to become a full time muso. A band constantly on the net, playing shows, doing things all the time. Not just local shit. Not just a once of show. You know – a band that is in every states street press about 5 times in a year. A band you can read about, hang with, see in all corners of the country. Serioulsy dudes, DD had played about three national tours before our first support. You think these promoters live in Adelaide? They have no fucking idea about the bands that play Adelaide on the weekends. None at all. The only reason they know us, is that every year, we play in their backyard. Sometimes it’s too easy. The few bands in Adelaide that in my opinion understand this work ethic are Double Dragon, Universum, Se Bon Ki Ra and Truth Corroded. I don’t even need to think about it, I just look at my bloody spam folder lol. Constant barrages of information from the same bands. And it’s the same bands getting all the cool shit. C’mon Adelaide, lift your game or at least be clever enough to understand how all this works. There are no talent scouts listening. It’s about who brings the crowds and thats it, and if you want a crowd you need some kind of battle plan to retain your supporters extremely short attention spans. Feed them information. Be nice to everyone. Accept all different styles and genres of music and understand EVERYONE is in it for themselves.
So, no Double Dragon are not Segression. No disrespect to them either, but as I said, we dont rap and we bring over fucking brutal bands to Adelaide. I personally think, above all, our music speaks for itself. We play tight every show, we get people’s heads banging and I dont feel that is a good enough reason for the home town hate. Its personal jealousy in my opinion because you know your band isnt working as hard as us. If you were, you would be on stage with us, simple as that. If you think we are causing you not to come to shows then you are an idiot. If I went too see a band I love, I dont give two fucks about the support act, probably wouldnt even rock up in time. Im there to see the one band and one band only. Why pay $50 to see a band you can see for $10 any other given weekend? Dont blame us for your laziness and bad energy contrived from pure jealousy over us working hard. We aren’t going away, and we will continue to take this shit as far as humanly possible. Please don’t expect us to ever give up these opportunites, as we created them for ourselves, and please dont blame anyone but Double Dragon for the cool things we get to do, because if me and my band didnt work like motherfuckers, none of this would ever happen. Blame yourself for you the opportunities you are not getting. It is not our fault.
Whilst Im here – Double Dragon have a new album coming out soon called Sons Of Asena. Sometime in the next few months, Double Dragon is going to rack up its 200th show in Australia. Two fucking hundredth show! If your band plays 200 shows, you might get tight and good. Anyway our new album is not thrash as we are not a thrash metal band. It’s not metalcore and i’ts not death. It’s just some stoner metal that is easy to jam too while drunk, with a psychadelic edge because fuck me Ive taken a lot of drugs since the last record!! For the record I think our last album sucked bar a couple of songs, and to think what we achieved with an album I thought sucked, to what we may achieve with our new CD (which i really love and am proud of) the sky’s the limit really. And we got Kate Miller Heidke on our album too, that’s right a POP artist with a number 1 song and album to help us annoy you forever!!!
For more information on what we are up too, visit us at Reverbnation or follow me on Twitter. And lets play some shows goddamit!!
Loads and loads of steamy man love from
Cheers Angry Kiwi! Hope all is well mate
I thought u was just a typical Coconut I love to slay but u r a Gun my friend and Double Dragon are the next Big thing comin out of Australia. If in doubt Knock ya Knockers out with Success! Peace Out
Cheers guys 🙂
Awesome blog. Hard work always pays of and you’ve always known where the puck was going to be, so to speak.. Haters gotta hate
That’s it dude! Just gotta keep on pounding the pavement. If you never ask, you’ll never know. Goes for everything in life!
You raise some great points, man. Success comes from tenacity.
I recall having an argument that was sort of similar with a local band, many years ago. They were whining that nobody goes to their shows. I turned around with, “well, you never go to anybody else’s shows, so what do you expect?”