Welcome to In Conversation, a special interview column on the site where we sit down with artists and dive deep into everything music. This week, Sean sat down with Pridelands vocalist Mason Bunt to discuss the band’s new album, signing to Sharptone, and the Aussie metal scene. Pridelands new album, Light Bends, is due for release on Friday, January 14th, and you can find pre-orders here.
Sean: The album has a wide array of sounds within the tracklist. Did that come out organically, or was the goal to have that type of variety?
Mason: I feel as though the contrasts of varying emotions and topics we covered on the record allowed those sounds to come organically. We did set the intention to challenge ourselves in the way we approached the writing and recording, the whole process was unlike anything we had done before. There was a much clearer idea for what particular songs meant to us, so we wrote on those emotions thematically and I feel that is where the array of different elements came from.
Sean: What type of challenges did the band encounter in putting together your first full length album?
The biggest challenges were personal ones. We were all dealing with our own inner turmoil at the time we started creating the record, this inevitably created tension within the band but allowed us to open up to each other in ways we had not before. The whole experience felt like much needed therapy, and I think that attempt at catharsis is a part of why the record sounds the way it does.
Sean: How collaborative was the process for ‘Light Bends’? I understand that it was quite collaborative for ‘Any Colour You Desire.’ Did that trend continue?
Light Bends is our most collaborative work to date. It was the first time Joe (drummer) was really at the forefront of songwriting for multiple tracks on the album, a bunch of them started with ideas he presented to the rest of us. He has a great talent for melody and density of sounds. We also had Jamie Marinos there for the writing and recording like we did with Any Colour You Desire. Jamie and Liam have this amazing chemistry with songwriting, they spent and insane amount of time working on the guitars and song structures. He really felt like a part of the band rather than a producer.
Sean: What does the title ‘Light Bends’ mean to you and where did that come from? Any other working title that almost made it instead?
Mason: The title Light Bends is kind of like a metaphor of what the record means to us. It came from us discussing the themes we were covering and our experiences within the band and our lives since the inception of the band. I think, if I remember correctly, Liam read something about the science behind light bending. Light travels in its own angle until it is met with a more dense substance, in which case it changes speed and bends. This also happens with sound. Something about that resonated with us on a personal level, once he said “Light Bends” to me I knew we had our album title right there.
Sean: The artwork for ‘Light Bends’ is great, though more subdued than ‘Any Colour You Desire.’ What was the motivation behind this colour palette and overall design?
Mason: We wanted a piece that was darker in colour, something that represents the often void like realm of existential thoughts. We have often found ourselves down those rabbit holes time and time again, and sometimes you can never find the answer to your longing to understand why or how something has come to be. We touched on a lot of those thoughts on the album.
The artwork itself came from a picture of a candle Liam took on this iPhone. He was playing around with photo editing for fun and stumbled upon and image that resonated with the album. From there he took it to Pat Fox to flesh out the themes we had, it all came together quite naturally.
Sean: Are there any overarching experiences or mindsets that permeated the writing of the album?
Mason: In a whole this album feels like a story board of our shared experiences over many years, some recent and some well in the past. There has been personal loss, conflict, addictions, self-realisation. All those things that come to be as you grow through life in your own way. Collectively we all struggle with the state of certain aspects of life and humanity, many of those things are much bigger than us and leave you feeling powerless, so there is as much anger and frustration as there is acceptance and growth. We just tried our best to cover a vast range of those emotions we have all felt in recent times.
Sean: Was having no features a conscious, preemptive decision, or was there just not a song that begged for someone else’s voice?
Mason: Yes I’d say it was a conscious decision to not have any features. I suppose in the way it all came together it was obvious that it was just going to be us, we just didn’t really give it any thought during the process. When it comes to features I feel as though we would rather collaborate with another artist rather than get them to sing something we have already written for ourselves. We certainly aren’t opposed to the idea of doing that in the future.
Sean: Australia has a thriving metal scene, do you feel the need to separate yourselves from the pack? If so, how do you do that?
Mason: You are right, it is a thriving thing here. It’s so nice to see many new and exciting bands getting recognition for what they are doing, that goes for the rest of the world to. Heavy music seems to have become more popular in recent years.
I don’t think we feel a need to separate ourselves, we very much just do what we do in the most honest way we can and not worry too much about what is happening around us. Sticking to your own path will ultimately separate you from everything else naturally.
Sean: In 2021, you all signed with Resist/Sharptone Records. How excited are you all for that, and how do you think they’ll help the band?
Mason: We are immensely excited for it. We’ve been an independent band for a long time now, so having a much larger team backing us in that department has made things a lot easier for us. In a sense they have taken certain loads off of us which will ultimately allow us to focus on the music more. We feel very lucky to have the team we do. Everyone seems invested in nurturing the band in the same sense that we always have, at the bottom line it’s all about the art.
Sean: What’s next for the band?
Mason: Working to perform in many new places, Europe and America in particular. Our team is working in our best interest to make that happen at the most realistic opportunity. We’ve been starved of playing live for the last 2 years so we honestly can’t wait to be touring Light Bends. Amongst those plans we are already working towards album 2, right now we see no reason to slow things down.
Many thanks to Mason Bunt for chatting with us, and you can read our review of Light Bends, here! For all things Pridelands, metalcore and music in general, keep it locked on Boolin Tunes.