5th July, 2023

Trinity is an absolute masterpiece of modern music. With so many layers to Trinity, literally and figuratively, how did you stay sane while putting all this together?

That’s kinda the thing; we really didn’t. We recorded the album during lockdown where we only had the choice to do it ourselves, which meant that I engineered and edited everything, except for the bass that Paul tracked at home himself. Everything else, including the arrangements for songs I did myself, with our good friend and mentor, Steven Canatelli, helping with vocal production. So the main takeaway being that we didn’t stay sane. It was a lot of work creating, and we definitely lost our minds in the process. That being said, I would 100% do it again!

Is the story a collaborative effort, or are you the mastermind behind it all?

From the music side of things, I write 90-95% of it, and 100% of the story. I do go to the guys and let them know what the story of the concept is. I used to have a back and forth with our old guitarist, Matt, about certain topics or themes, or where the story would go, but between everything else going on it’s easier for me to (at the least) write everything lore-wise. That being said, if the guys wanted to pitch ideas or throw random bits of lore in, then I’m more than happy to add that in. Nic’s probably done this the most with the character he’s based off [Yuri]. A lot of what gets thrown in though is jokey or memey stuff that we all think
would be funny to add in to connect with people and it doesn’t deter too much from the main plot lines; that they leave to me.

Where did it all begin? Was it a concept that you had for awhile prior to getting the band together?

The original characters (Fear Me-era) came from stories that I had written in high-school(some of them I was younger), and when I started Gloom I originally wanted to tell the story through EDM/Electronic means, but it shifted into heavy music when I brought Matt (and later Nic) into the project. The story has always been the main thing from the beginning, and when we transitioned into heavy music I really wanted to maintain that. I knew I had to do something different to what a lot of bands were doing when everyone started doing the Sworn In/Darke Complex/Villains Chicago-Metalcore sound, and while I wanted to tread on similar themes those bands covered, I wanted to do it in a conceptually driven way that hadn’t been done before; through characters and immense world-building, but in a way that people could still connect. I know there are a lot of concept bands out there (shoutout to Defeater for being the primary influence), but I hadn’t really seen it be done in the genre that we started off in.

Surely there is an animated series based on the story arc in the back of your mind?

Oh 100%! Thankfully I have that thing where I can visualise almost perfectly what’s going on in the story in my mind (like how people can picture a green apple) and it really helps, even with things like planning out music videos or artwork or merch designs. That way I can plan out (almost) everything entirely, and make it as close to my vision as I can.

What is the next step for releases? More albums, or an audio/visual release perhaps…?

We’re currently working on LP 3 and doing our due diligence with that while we have some time off between shows. As for an actual audio/ visual release, we can only try our best and see what we can do. I’d love to have more content based in that world. I did, however, use to run a TikTok over lockdown that covered the shenanigans our two main characters from the Fear Me Arc got up to in the time between albums. Maybe I should get back into that again…

How has it been received by the metal community?

We couldn’t have expected a better response; it’s gotten us our team, and made us a lot of friends in the community, both from a band side of things and in the behind the scenes. It’s been really awesome to see. If there’s been anything negative it’s been from the aspect of ‘this record is too overbearing, there’s too much going on for me to digest’, which I think is a very fair standpoint to have, but that was kinda the point when writing the album; we wanted to make sure that we had EVERYTHING we wanted in the album and put in as much content as we could. That being said, moving forward we want to rein in that dark horse. Part of it came from me having too much time on my hands during lockdown and my ADHD brain wanting to pack in as much as possible, another part was that we had been sitting and working on these songs for a very long time (Red Clouds has been around since before Gloom was a thing), and so now we need to rein it in both from a digestibility stand point, but also from a time standpoint.

What are some of your favourite moments on Trinity?

Ooft, that’s a hard one. I think I have to say ‘Hail To The King’ (particularly the chorus), just because Hail is my favourite on the record in general. It was a lot of work to write, but it’s also the one that was the most gratifying to me once it was completed. It was everything I wanted to do for Sherlock’s character rolled into one song; like if I never wrote a song from his perspective again and ‘Hail’ was the last one he had, I could live with that. As for other moments, I do love Jay’s ‘maestro’ verse in ‘Gatekeeper’, the build and ending to ‘Gravity’. I think also ‘Clutch’, just as a whole. I love Clara as a character, so I gotta have one of her parts in the list.

How would you personally describe TGITC’s sound?

We were throwing around the joke (which eventually became the staple buzzword) of “Deranged Cinemacore” when we were organising the PR for the record. We take a lot of inspiration from a whole heap of movie and video game soundtracks, to composers like Hans Zimmer, to (my personal favourite) Ennio Morricone, but even inspiration from Tyler Bates and Ramin Djawadi (who did The Punisher and Westworld respectively), as well as Steve Jablonski, Martin O’Donnell and Michael Salvatori (Halo 3). So I take a lot of inspiration from them and many more, then kind of morph and mold it into Gloom’s heavy metalcore sound!

How much input do the other band members have in writing the music to support the story?

A lot of the time when I write a cadaver (what we call our skeleton songs), a lot of it is already thought and fleshed out, and pack as many ideas as I can into a song, then we all go through together and nit-pick at it until it’s at a point that we’re happy with. They do all understand and respect that I do have certain ideas I’m unwavering on from a story perspective, and so we try to find a way to make that work amongst the chaos of trying to make the song the best it can be, or if they have any changes, try and make it work to what works with the story.

Why heavymusic? What is it about this style and sound that attracts you to it?

When writing the era of Gloom we’re in now, classical music, or OST’s, go very much hand-in-hand with each other when it comes from a writing standpoint, so that’s what makes it easier for me. If I tried writing it from a different genre that didn’t have that heavy influence I’d find it more difficult, and on top of that it doesn’t really interest me. Heavy music has the ability to cover so many different emotions and emphasis on so
manythings, especially in a story as violent and chaotic as ours, so that’s why we lean towards it. Maybe once all the characters settle down and retire in the story I can make a lounge jazz record.

How did you first discover and get into metal?

I always grew up with heavy music around; my favourite all time band is My Chemical Romance, and I know that they’re not necessarily a ‘heavy’ band, but they (and Avenged Sevenfold) were the gateway for me into a lot of other heavy music. I loved their way of being able to tell a story as well; not many people besides the die-hard fans know that MCR are also a concept-based band. I also got into a lot of heavier bands too from Guitar Hero 3, with bands like Metallica, Slipknot and Dragonforce, as well as Avenged Sevenfold when I went back and played GH2!

Who were/ are your music heroes? Who inspired you to want to be a vocalist?

I think they’re still Gerard Way and Frank Iero (MCR); when I first started out being in bands I was fascinated by Iero’s energy in his live shows and it very heavily inspired me to keep playing guitar at a young age. Going into vocals in Gloom, I think now I recognise just how much of an influence Way had on me too. From a more recent-ish standpoint, probably Greg Puciato (The Dillinger Escape Plan, Better Lovers) and Mike Hranica (The Devil Wears Prada) from a screaming standpoint, as well as Storm Strope (ex-The Last Ten Seconds of Life) for that very guttural and heavy low sound.

Do you play any instruments?

I predominantly play guitar, I can play bass too but I mainly leave that to Paul and just program in what I think sounds cool when composing. And I tinker a bit with the piano/keyboard. I can’t play Rachmaninoff or anything but I know my way around it, and can compose/orchestrate parts just from what I’ve learnt/listened to and what realistically both hands are doing (it’s not too dissimilar from guitar in that way). Same thing when it comes to writing the orchestral side of Gloom; you have to understand and know what each instrument is physically capable of in a live setting, even if it’s programmed, so while I don’t technically play those instruments, I do have(somewhat) of an understanding of what they can do.

How did you learn to growl/ scream/ yell/ sing?

Singing I (kinda) have a cheat code for; I have perfect pitch so I can identify when something is/isn’t in key, so that helps a lot when singing and helped tremendously when developing my voice. For screams, when I started out I just kinda screamed without any proper technique to do it and tried to copy other vocalists I heard, before I reworked myself and taught myself how to do it properly, which is why there’s such a drastic difference between Fear Me and Homecoming. I’m still learning to this day, and I want to go back and relearn a whole heap of different things. There’s a course I’ve been using called Extreme Vocal Institute by David Benites, and he was tremendously helpful, especially after coming back from lockdown after a time when I hadn’t really screamed all that much.

Were your parents supportive of your choice to be in a band?

My parents are incredibly supportive (which is interesting ‘cause I didn’t think they would be), and I get a lot of inspiration from my dad too as he was the one that grew me up on soundtracks and all the violent movies that inspired Gloom. I get the theatrics from my mum though, she used to do theatre when she was my age!

How often do you get to practice with TGITC?

We don’t get to practice all that often as we all have full time jobs and Paul lives about 3 hours away from Nic and I, so it makes things a little difficult. Before we go out on tour or on a run we always make sure to get a couple of practices in and make sure we’re all up to scratch.

How do you go about selecting your setlist for shows? Do you try to stick to the story timeline, or just play tracks that you know will translate well live?

For show setlists we base it off the songs instead of the story, otherwise it becomes too difficult. In an ideal world where we have a bajillion dollars and all the time in the world to prep, we’d love to run it as a stage performance/musical. But realistically in a live setting we have to think about what the audience wants and what will translate live well.

What have been some of your most memorable shows with TGITC?

I still think the most memorable (so far) for us is the Unify 2020 Pre-Show we played, which for anyone who knows, knows it was a complete f***ing trainwreck; basically, the main mixing desk went down and we were stuck on stage for about 30 minutes before we got to play, and with all that tension and build from the audience, it just went off. We figured out later we were on stage longer than Architects (headlining the Friday night). There’s been some really cool shows we’ve had since then though; our headline show back after COVID was insane, we had a huge LED backdrop for it where we could play segments of the story in comical form, and played songs we hadn’t necessarily played in years… it was a lot of fun.

Best and worst touring experiences?
The best one we’ve had in recent memory was the In Hearts Wake run with Stray From The Path; all of those guys were lovely and very accommodating, and on top of that everyone was incredibly organised and on it, which made things run so smoothly! As far as worst, we’ve been lucky enough that a lot of our experiences have been positive and nothing’s really gone wrong (knock on wood), but we’ve definitely had some punishing overnight drives or mornings to make shows in time. I guess the worst experience we had was doing this one off show in Adelaide back in(I want to say) 2017/2018, where we rocked up to the venue and nothing was right; one of the other band’s amp heads caught fire midset, and then when we went on we discovered that the electricity in the venue wasn’t grounded properly, and we pulled out on the spot; we didn’t want to hurt ourselves or anyone else just for the sake of playing this show. An hour or so later the show moved to the venue’s beer garden, but at that stage ourselves and another band had to pull out to either drive or fly home. We made some great friends at that show though (shoutout APATE from Brisbane), so I guess it wasn’t for nothing!

Who is your bucket list artist to tour with?

My bucket list band is definitely My Chemical Romance, and I think Paul’s is either The Acacia Strain or Nickelback (definitely Nickelback), but I guess more than anything for me I just want to tour with my friends. We have a lot of friends in so many sick bands that we want to take on the road, I just want us to get to that point that we can just take them and have fun.

How do you warm up your voice before performing?

In the words of MCR, “I’m a bad-bad-bad-bad man” and smoke/vape, so my warm ups generally include not having a smoke at least 1-2 hours before a show to clear out my throat and make sure my voice is okay. I then have a heap of warm-ups I have saved to my phone from EVI that I do before I go on stage, and make sure to drink plenty of water. Most importantly though, I make sure to go to the bathroom (I have no appendix so everything goes through me like a tube).

Who are some of your favourite vocalists in the Australian metal scene, and the international metal scene?

Ooft, that’s a hard one. Of the really big ones in the Australian scene, I’d probably say Jamie from Polaris; every time I’ve seen them he’s always been bang on and he never falters, even if he’s having a bad day. Internationally, probably Vessel from Sleep Token. For the heavies, probably Marc Zelli from Paleface. He reminds me a lot of early Corey Taylor; just so raw and angry in a way that hasn’t been captured in a long time. Oh and JT Cavey from Erra/ Texas In July!

From the rest of the Aus scene, a lot of them are actually my mates so it’s hard to pick and choose favourites, I love them all. One would be Nathaniel Smith from Lune; he’s one of my best mates and a POWERHOUSE of a vocalist, with such a huge range and versatility, and he takes his craft very seriously. I also love Monique Pym from Reliqa, she has a very unique and awesome voice, which was part of the reason we got her on Trinity’s ‘Obliteration Imminent’. There’s so many more and they’re all so talented and incredible at what they do!

What artists, old or new, are you listening to currently?

Off Road Minivan (our manager Tuck’s other band), Black Sheep Wall, Texas In July, and this new band, Soma Plume, from Mt. Gambier. I’ve also recently gotten back into one of the bands that heavily inspired Gloom; The Woman You Saw Is The Great City That Ruled Over The Kings Of The Earth.

Do you have any pre-show rituals?

We have a couple actually! We firstly go through a song or two from our set acoustically when we can, it helps get rid of any pre-show jitters. Then, for anyone who’s seen us in the last year, will know that before we go on stage, we ALWAYS play ‘San Quinton’ by Nickelback over the PA to hype ourselves up back/side stage. I’m sure there’s footage of it somewhere, most people can see us doing it though. In New Zealand, we also went through almost all of Avenged Sevenfold’s ‘A Little Piece of Heaven’.

What’s the last show you saw that you weren’t playing at?

The last show Paul and I went to was END at Stay Gold, and it was ridiculously heavy. I’ve never heard Drop C tuning be so heavy in ages, and it was very cool to witness!

What do you do for work when you aren’t playing with TGITC?

I work at a bottle shop and do event staff waiting, Nic holds down a restaurant job in the kitchen, and Paul (who has the most exciting job) works on planes for a living at an airforce base. He works on the Roulettes and other planes and makes sure things don’t drop out of the sky!

Is it hard juggling being in TGITC and having a day job?

Thankfully, my job is pretty relaxed with me taking time off as I give them a heap of notice and take unpaid leave. Same thing if I need to shoot out emails or do other things quickly if we’re not too busy! Paul has it a little trickier as it’s harder to find mechanics to replace him while he’s away, but we make it work!

Which song are you most proud of, and why?

Probably ‘Hail To The King’, as said I put a lot of time and effort into making it right, so that’s the one I hold closest to my heart. However, I am also very proud of ‘Requiem’ and ‘War’; both songs had topics that took me a long time to find the right words/melody for, and I’ll forever be proud of those songs. Also, ‘Requiem’ gave us the opportunity to delve into the animated area of music videos, which was a really cool and awesome thing to showcase!

Which song is your favourite to play live?
I still think it’s ‘Bleed You Out’. Maybe one day we’ll play ‘Hail To The King’ so it can be my favourite, but for current circumstances, we’ll say ‘Bleed’!

What do you do in your free time? Is there time for any hobbies outside of music?

I’m a huge nerd and play video games. I’ve always been an FPS man, and have been smashing Rainbow 6: Siege (despite some of the changes they’ve made that have cooked it). It’s like an addiction I can’t crack. Recently though I’ve been getting back into COD Zombies on Black Ops III and looking at all the community made/custom maps. I never knew they released the mod tools for that game and that people were doing it and it’s really cool what some people have come up with. It almost makes me want to try and make a Gloom-based map…

What bands should people check out that deserve some recognition?

Elision, Weeping Wound, Reliqa, Future Static, Terminal Sleep, Starve, Soma Plume, and Nickelback.

Thoughts on U18 venues/gigs?

As someone who started going to shows when I was 13ish, I love AA shows, and they were a staple point of the scene here in Melbourne when I was growing up. I do however understand it’s a lot harder to organise/ cater to now, with numbers dwindling and the venues being a lot more scarce than when I first started going, but I’d love it if the government put some money back into the community to bring them back. It’s definitely a tricky balance.

Cats – lovable family members or Satan’s spawn?

Por que no les dos?
I have a cat and she’s awful. I love her. Absolute psycho. Would protect her with my life.

What does 2023 have in store for TGITC, and Mikey Arthur?

Writing LP3, memes, and being the worst Siege player there is on Australian servers!

Mikey Arthur : @mikey.gloom

The Gloom In The Corner : @thegloominthecornvr