Continuing on with our Saturday Spotlight series, this week’s artist is 23/19. Hailing from Adelaide, South Australia and possessing the sickest band name of all time, the hardcore four piece is made up of Nathan Stuckey (vocals), Matthew Faulks (guitar), Jai Page (bass), and Sam Maloney (drums). As another of the bands that graced the stage at Melbourne’s Takedown Fest (along with Vatic), 23/19 took a hold of that room and inspired a ruthless moshfest. Being the only time I’ve seen them, I can only assume the same happened at other recent shows they’ve played, involving bands like Wraith, Gravemind, Iconoclast, Stray From The Path, and Counterparts.
Friends since high school, the band came out of a simple desire to make a fun mosh band so they could open shows and get drunk with their friends. Influence-wise all of 23/19’s members came into the scene listening to bands like Acacia Strain, Gideon, and Shino Katana. But also in their words, 23/19 are “influenced by anything with a phat groove and heavy breakdowns haha.” This statement is also an apt description of their sound: Brutally groovy riffs, mixed with dark overtones of bass, combines with the head-bang inducing drums to make music that is impossible to sit still to. Whether you’re up and moving or sitting on the couch at home, at least one part of your body is going to want to move to this band.
Also worth mentioning is their new song “Thousand Eyes (Restrict)”. Filled with violent vocals and inhumanely harsh guitar and drums, the manically heavy track reeks of fury and frustration. A product of their own song-writing process, they come to this conclusion of sound after a strong collaboration; involving everyone writing their own ideas and all bringing them to the table. Lyrically, 23/19 songs are written by Nathan, with contributions from Matthew.
But what’s next for 23/19? Pumped up exclamations from the band of “tour tour tour tour,” have them promising to “bring tha ruckus” to all of Australia. With what was just a small fun mosh group turning into a touring, room-shattering band, all of their expectations have already been shattered, and an upcoming Australian headline tour is just the beginning for 23/19.
Excitedly speaking of highlights of their time as a band, they seem to have already made some of their musical dreams come true. They are immensely proud of what they have been able to achieve so far, speaking of playing with bands like Stray From The Path, and Acacia Strain. They also loved getting to tour with their good friends in Gravemind, and say that having their song premiered on Triple J was surreal. “We feel so lucky to have been given so many opportunities over the past year and a bit and can’t wait to see how 2019 treats us!”
Check out 23/19’s music right now, if you haven’t already! And if you can get to one of their shows on their upcoming headline tour, make sure to get there and catch them before they explode.
https://www.facebook.com/2319music/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC95mrogJEq8da2CMaOKnmaQ
