Ahead of their NZ shows, I sat down and had a chat on the phone to HORRORSHOW! We spoke in depth about their album NEW NORMAL and how excited they are about coming here:
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Now you guys have been HORRORSHOW for quite some time now. What do you think has kept it all going?
Adit: Yeah we’ve been making music together for a long time now, since we were in High School. We’ve put out 5 albums and have been touring for around 10 years or so. I guess at the heart of it, what has kept us going is the love and our friendship together. We’ve been really good friends since we were teenagers and discovered music and hip-hop together. We experimented with making music together and have just enjoyed sharing that with people. I think our audience can pick up on that and in turn they’ve given us a lot of love and energy back and that has propelled to keep us going and keep doing our thing for such a long time.
Your tour has already started, how is it all going? The video posted you guys posted looks insane!
Adit: Yeah the first leg of the tour, the shows were incredible. The album’s only been out for just over 3 weeks. So it’s pretty wild to see people singing along to all the songs and have a handle on all the lyrics. It’s just crazy how instant everything is now you know. I was reflecting on how the night that we dropped New Normal, the morning that I woke up, our DMs were flooded with people being like: I’ve already listened to the album twice, this is your best work yet, New Normal really resonated with me, Limitless was unbelievable, I was going through this at the time etc. It’s been very instant and that in turn has been a bit overwhelming at times.The response to the first shows was very cool. How about you?
Solo: Yeah we had a bit of nerves coming into the tour on the weekend. It’s our first proper show in a year. Like Adit said, it’s crazy when you hit the stage and start feeling that energy from people. It’s crazy to see people singing along to new material. It was a successful first weekend of the tour and we’re up and running. We play our hometown of Sydney a couple of days from now and roll around the capital cities of Australia. After that we’re really excited to be making our way over to New Zealand for our first ever headline shows there.
How did it feel finally releasing it to the public?
Solo: It was a mixed bag of emotions you know. We put a lot of ourselves and a lot of emotion into the creation of this record. It’s quite personal and vulnerable at times and I think that kind of gave us some apprehension about releasing it to the public. But at the same time we’re also both so proud of this record. We worked really hard on it and both of us really elevated our game, Adit with the production and stepping up and engineering the record and myself. I really tried to further my songwriting and improve my singing, rap and just more killer verses and stuff. We really tried to push our A game and I think we both feel really proud of how we were be able to successful with that in the record we created. So it’s always a mixed bag of feelings releasing new material and perhaps this time, more so then ever. But we’re really relieved and happy now that it’s out in there in the world and people are reacting to it and finding their own meaning and own journey with it.
What was the recording process like for you guys with this album?
Adit: About 2 years ago I got my own studio which is just a few minutes from where we both live. We had a new space to go too. It’s just on Enmore Rd which is a busy road in the heart of Newtown. So it’s amongst all the hustle and bustle. So this is our home base for the recording of the album and a bit of sanctuary and quiet spot away front he chaos old the world. Even though it’s right in the middle of it. We also like to go on writing trips, get out of the city and put ourselves in different spots to soak up different energies. That’s how songs like ‘Yearn for you’ and ‘Rescue’ came about. But a lot of it is just me coming to the studio everyday turning out beats and Solo will come in for sessions. I’ll send him bits and pieces to write to. He’ll catch a trading from one part of the city to the other to get some ideas and things like that down. So it’s kind of pulling together pieces of ideas and things over a period of time in that way.
Where did the idea for the album cover come from?
Solo: The album cover is kind of a dramatised version of a building that’s part of the hospital complex in the suburbs where we live, called Royal Prince Albert Hospital. Both Adit and I, during the making of this album, had people very close to us who were very unwell and were spending time in the hospital complex. So both of us wound up spending a lot of time around the hospital, myself especially. I spent a lot of time, late nights, coming to and from the hospital. Just looking at some of those buildings gave me the idea that it would make a good album cover to accompany this record. I think it’s partly the feeling of the building, being after hours and everything in the album cover. In the other buildings the lights are off and everybody’s kind of asleep but you’re up in the middle of the night going through an experience that’s a bit different to what everyone else is going through. But also with the hospital building itself, there’s so many windows inside that building and each one sort of represents what whoever in that room is going through at that point of time as well. I think one of the key realisations for us making this album is that everyone’s going through something and being tested by life in some sort of way. I think for me the album cover really represents coming to terms with that and getting your head around that. But yeah that’s essentially where the cover comes from, that physical environment of being around the hospital and all the feelings that go along with that.
What is your favourite track (or tracks) on the album at this stage?
Solo: That’s a good question. It changes a lot because you are so proud of them. I think probably one song that I’m especially proud of would be ‘Yearn for you’ which is Track 9. I really pushed myself on the singing and did some stuff that I’ve never really done before and people seem to be connecting with that one. And also Track 2 ‘Rescue’ probably in a similar way. I’m getting my sing on but also there’s kind of an atmosphere/mood that we’ve never really made anything like that before. What about you Adit.
Adit: I’m loving ‘Eye’s Closed’ at the moment. We’ve been playing it in our set as part of the encore. It kind of goes off. It’s a really feel-good track and it comes at the end of the album. It’s a reminder of looking back on your life…
Solo: of Moments Passed if you will…
Adit: Yeah of moments passed but also that moment that you’re in in that particular time and being thankful for it as well. It’s a bit more positive and comes at a bit more cathartic time on the record. Also ‘Limitless’ which is kind of inspired by my brother and his passing. Which is a bit part of what I went through over the last couple of years. ‘Limitless’ is the English translation of his name Aseem which is like a Sanskrit name. So that track in particular is very close to my heart. We’ve had people hitting us up from the release of the album talking about how they’ve connected with that . There’s a lot of emotion in this record basically. So it’s such a new experience for us to go through it in the live context as well and we can’t wait to bring it to New Zealand.
Do you guys find that hard when fans come up to you and discuss their problems and how your music helped?
Solo: It can be sometimes. It’s also really inspiring thing or sort of comfort in that what you’re doing is having an affect on people and meaning so much to them. But yeah sometimes it can be intense to have those conversations over and over again in that kind of environment. Yeah it’s a tricky one. You want to feel connection and come face to face with the real-life effects of what you’re doing. But sometimes it can be quite demanding on you, so we just kind of try to be there for people and have those conversations but also make sure that we’re looking after ourselves at the same time.
You guys did a couple of pop-up events which looked so fun! What made you want to do that as part of your release?
Solo: We just wanted to do something a bit different and have the chance to celebrate, with people who love the music, on release day. It was a really cool experience to spend that time with people who are so excited about the music, rather than just sitting at home and trying to get a feel of it through social media. Actually being in the same space as people and sharing that day with them was a really special thing to do. So we did one in Melbourne and one in Sydney. We only announced them a week or so beforehand but a lot of fans and supporters came through. We played intimate sets at them, which is cool. Because nowadays we’re often trying to play bigger venues, especially in those capital cities. So it was really nice to be up close & personal with people. Just feel the love on release day from the people who are out there. It definitely resonated a lot more than reading comments on social media.
Adit: Yeah I think people really appreciated it as well. I don’t think that has dawned on me until we were in the moment. Yeah you’re not sure how it’s gonna be. But on the day people were like “oh this is a crazy experience”. Because we were just hanging out. We played 4 or 5 songs and then just hung out with people, sign stuff and chat to them about that their up to, about the record and all sorts of stuff. We just did Melbourne over the weekend and I remember seeing a bunch of people from the pop-up in the front couple of rows at the show and it was cool just to have those friendly faces up there you know.
Yeah it just seems so much more personal I guess.
Yeah that’s definitely it. And I think that’s something we’ve kind of fostered over the years. In the early days when we were doing heaps of support slots and stuff, we would finish the show and then come out and do signings & hang out at the merch desk. There are a lot of fans who we remember from those days and have been on this 10/11 year journey with us.
What can NZ fans expect from your headline shows?
Solo: We’ve played one show in New Zealand before and got a really warm reaction from the crowd. But these are our first headline shows and I think we’ll just be trying to bring our A game. We’ll be dipping into our catalogue of 5 albums and playing some older tracks for people who have maybe listening for a number of years. And we’ll be playing a bunch of stuff off the new record. This time around the live show is me and Adit. But we have definitely found lots of ways to put lots dynamics in the show and incorporating a couple of instruments in there.
Adit: It’s gonna be a real journey. Lots of ups, a few downs and there’s going to be lots of dancing & jumping around. Lots of sing-a-longs. It’s going to be packed with lots of energy and lots of different emotions. So yeah it’s going to be an experience for sure.
So I feel like I’m pumping all these serious questions at you guys so I thought I would end it on a more random question: If you could start a rumour about yourself what would it be?
Solo: Hectic. That’s a fun question. I don’t know. Maybe that we’re massive in New Zealand. Just get that word-of-mouth volume on the street. Get people to feel like they gotta be there. I spent some time in NZ earlier this year, the people are so lovely and it’s just a beautiful place. I think both Adit and I would really like to build more of a connection and be able to come back year after year.
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So the call sadly ended before we could finish (time limits!). But the guys were awesome to chat to and the new album NEW NORMAL is out now! Go listen to it. I personally think it’s incredible and I’m really not just saying that. It is SO good.
Tickets are still available for their shows in Wellington and Auckland. GET YOUR TICKETS! From what I’ve seen from the Australian shows, it’s going to be epic!
