PISS BABY - Young, Pissed Off & Fucked Up ! (Hardcore/Punk - Interview with Seán - Bass)
Please introduce yourself and let me know how it all began with the band ?
What's up ? I'm Seán, I play bass in PISS BABY from Wellington, New Zealand. The band consists of Niko our drummer, Ian on guitar and Sabrina on the mic. It's tough to say when we all kinda met up and how. My personal story is I've known Ian since we were teenagers going to all ages hardcore gigs. One day in 2022 I'm having drinks at his place. Couple weeks later I'm getting added to a group chat being told I'm the bassist for a new hardcore band. Turns out I agreed to it and let the alcohol erase my memory but I was real happy I did !
Most of us have been doing music for a long time now being a part of many projects across different genres. Ian's got DEATHTRIPPA currently, a sick af cybergrind project, I'm in an emo band Crying Club, we've all dipped our toes in other things but we formed this band, 1. Because we love hardcore music and 2. We just wanted to have fun with our mates above all else. (Good reasons - Ed.)
Describe your sound and explain why I should listen to YOUR band at all cost ?
I'm not sure you need to listen to us at all costs but it'd be pretty sweet if ya do. I'd say we stand out from the get go on just our name itself. Then we grab our musical influences from many different things. Our sound is a blend of bouncy grooves of Baltimore hardcore drawing from bands like early Turnstile, Trapped Under Ice and END IT mixed in the modern punk leaning hardcore like Spy, GEL and Primitive blast. Every now and then we'll throw in a beatdown for the fun of it and then turn it into a gritty, two step orientated type beat. So if you like that stuff hopefully you'll enjoy us too !
Lyrical and musical inspirations/influences ? How important are the lyrics for you ? Are there any specific messages or thoughts you try to develop and share through your lyrics ?
The lyrics mostly come from Sab's brain, but they and Ian collaborate on writing them and fitting them in with the music. Sabrina mostly writes about their experiences and feelings, dark stuff that's happened to them, or stuff that pisses them off.
About your latest release ?
So far the only available music we got is a demo tape recorded onto cassette, you can find that on our bandcamp and a live session on YouTube that we think is pretty cool. Can also find that one on Spotify, etc. Shout out our homies in Start Today Crew, they set up, recorded, mixed, did everything for the live session and the quality that came out far surpassed anyone's expectations, especially coming out of lil ol' Wellington.
Future plans ?
Hopefully we got some new releases coming out this year. An album may be on the horizon with a bunch of new material and a couple old things recorded well. But ya never know with these things how long it'll all take so just gotta wait around and see.
Your most insane dream with the band would be ?
I dream every day of Ian whipping out a sick as guitar flip then shredding Hotel California instead of our set. That would be huge. But even bigger would be our band being a part of the movement in getting New Zealand hardcore on the map and repping the 04 worldwide. The scene deserves it and we'd be so proud to help that happen. Speaking of which, shout out 04 hardcore! We love this scene and this community. Lucre, Brainwave, ColdxWar. NZ hardcore represent, Shuv it, Brawler, Drop Off Point. So many more, you're all mean as!
Your BEST & WORST concert and why ?
Best concert is difficult, I'd say Full Noise (Hardcore/punk Fest in Auckland) is up there. Such good energy and heaps of fun. We're also very grateful to have opened up for Comeback Kid and Kruelty. Both amazing shows!
Haven't really had too many bad ones to be honest. Some with broken strings and sloppy songs but for the most part we just go out to have fun, the community is so tight here that normally they're all having fun with us and that's all we can ask for!
Next live-appearance(s) & last words ?
If you wanna catch us live we play in Wellington often enough. Honoured to be playing the next start today show for Brainwave's NZ tour at Thistle Hall, Saturday May 4th! If you wanna bring us around the country or internationally then hit us up on Instagram @pissbabyhc.
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