We Got Sydney Punks Down For Tomorrow & Newcastle Punks Split Feed To Interview Each Other And The Results Were Pure Gold

The spirit of Aussie punk is alive and well and, apparently, a minefield of wholesome LOLs.

Two of the brightest sparks amid the next generation of shooting star guitar bands are Down For Tomorrow from Sydney’s Northern Beaches and Split Feed out of Newcastle.

Both are currently riding high on the steam of some ripper new releases, with Down For Tomorrow recently loosing their powerful, anthemic new single ‘Show Me That You Care’, Split Feed pulling the pin on their triumphant sophomore EP Second Skin, and both bands embarking on a fistful of headlining tour dates about town to celebrate.

With this in mind, we decided for shits n’ giggles (anddddd to give ourselves a well-deserved break because c’mon) we’d let them do the heavy lifting for us and interview each other about all the happenings in each others’ respective camps.

Spoiler Alert: hilarity ensued.

Read Down For Tomorrow and Split Feed’s head-to-head Q&A — covering everything from Silverchair comparisons to 80’s hair metal wigs and controversial moments in the 1997 NRL Grand Final — and catch both bands’ Aussie tour dates, below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwh2qrHAKgg

DOWN FOR TOMORROW ON SPLIT FEED

Down For Tomorrow: So how many times have old codgers in Newcastle compared you to Silverchair?

Split Feed: Well, this may sound sarcastic, but probably 75% of the time we are seen together with our gear in Newy, we get this old heckle. Then people hear the songs and instantly – BOOM, there’s the comparison. Do people not know of The Screaming Jets or something?

All in all, we’d take a Silverchair comparison any day, @DanielJohns come play at the Cambo, we’ll support.

DFT: Are we right in guessing that ‘Dwell’ is a band favourite off the new EP? How did that song in particular come around and what was the writing process like?

SF: You are certainly correct there lads, all round favourite for us four. We’ve been playing ‘Dwell’ live for over a year now. The bulk of the song has remained the same, with a few lyrical changes. We went into the studio with Fletcher Matthews (shout out – legend) and he suggested some structural changes and some real rock and roll guitar parts that we loved and there we had it – Dwell was complete.

DFT: How many beers went down between you guys and Luca Brasi when you supported them at Crowbar? Did you manage to outdrink them?

SF: Being the support band gives you a lot of leeway in the drinking department, doesn’t it? Busby from Luca Brasi actually bought a guitar off this random lady who lives around the corner from Joe, so we brought that to the show for him and shared a few beers post-our set and pre-their set. They are absolute legends who we look up to so much musically, so being able to play with them again was so sick. After the show we went our separate ways – a fair amount of beers deep as previously referred too. We ordered Oporto back to where we stayed (Sydney is great for that) and ended the night on a high.

DFT: We all collectively dig your video for ‘Trinkets’ and the influences behind it. What’s an 80’s glam/hair metal band you listen to on the regular?

SF: A lot of people who have watched that video think that we deadest dress like that for shows and that it is our image now. Kinda nice? As far as listening to hair metal regularly goes for us, it’s a no on that front. However, for inspo for the vid, Van Halen’s ‘Jump’ was a big one, and of course the mother of all hair metal bands – Bon Jovi, and their truly epic music videos. You lads should consider it for the next video, the wigs were a hoot!

DFT: What are your thoughts on drummers being allowed microphones?

SF: A controversial topic – at one of our first gigs back in 2015 we gave Brad (our drummer – shout out Brad) a mic, he was meant to sing a couple of chorus harmonies but didn’t sing a thing all gig. From there Will’s guitar amp broke mid-set and it was too this day the worst gig we have ever played. So, it’s kind of cursed for us. We might give him a chance this upcoming tour though to go for those full PUP vibezzzzz.

SPLIT FEED ON DOWN FOR TOMORROW

Split Feed: The Green Day influences really shine through when listening to your latest EP, tell us how they have affected your song writing and how long will it be until you start wearing red ties and black shirts?

Down For Tomorrow: Well, Henry and Cody’s friendship began by fanboying over Green Day back in primary school. There’s no doubt that listening to their music for over a decade on repeat has led to us taking perhaps a bit too much inspiration from them. Cody had to hold back on the slurring so that he didn’t go full Billie Joe too early on. And Henry was actually the one wearing shirts and ties in our first few years playing live.

SF: When you were filming the video for ‘Thanks to You’, how many people passing by heckled you and thought you were YouTube famous?

DFT: We got MANY deceiving looks, that’s for sure! Some laughs here and there too. We can’t recall a particular “heckling” moment, but we had a few people pass by angrily, acting as if we were an inconvenience (we probably were), and some people who wanted their own cameo moment, like that shaka dude in the intro and the guy in the red shirt who walked alongside Cody for a few seconds. Big ups to our mate Robbie Walcott for his enthusiasm in filming that music video!

YouTube famous? In our dreams.

SF: You had a new single come out on November 8th (real original release date boys) – what’s this one like? A Banger? Smooth & soulful? Angsty? Tell us about it.

DFT: You never get an original release date these days, but hey, we’re privileged to clash with you guys! This song has all the angst, with hints of insensitivity and greed in it too. It’s about being unable to accept that some people are better off without you, a very hard pill to swallow. Hopefully there’s enough Brasi-esque riffage alongside the pain-induced lyrics to get a sweat-soaked pit moving and doing the big yells. Speaking of, a scream-off between Joe and Cody would be interesting to watch unfold!

SF: Why haven’t we played a show together yet and how long until that happens?

DFT: Sorry we missed your set guys. We were having dinner down the road. Did you do good? When’s your next show? We’ll be there for sure. Oh, and is it free?

SF: Coming from the Northern Beaches you must have faced a lot of adversity growing up – living with the fact that Andrew Johns went down the blindside with 10 seconds on the clock, and found Darren Albert on the inside for the Newcastle Knights to defeat the raging favourites Manly Sea Eagles in the 1997 Grand Final – how has this moment shaped your life and your musical journeys?

DFT: Wow. It would’ve cost you zero cents not to bring that up, yet you did. Maybe we might fuck around and write a song about it, kinda like that Picket Palace song about that AFL dude from Essendon, and only play it in Newcastle since that’s probably the only thing you lads have had to celebrate in the last two decades. Reckon you could sort Andrew Johns out with a door spot?

Down For Tomorrow ‘Show Me That You Care’ 2019 Tour Dates

Thursday, 28th November

Crows Nest Hotel, Sydney

Saturday, 30th November

The Gasometer Upstairs, Melbourne

Split Feed ‘Second Skin’ 2019 Tour Dates

Saturday, 30th November

Sly Fox, Sydney

Wednesday, 4th December

The Gasometer, Melbourne

Friday, 6th December

Transit Bar, Canberra

Friday, 13th December

The Cambridge, Newcastle

Sunday, 15th December

North Gong Hotel, Wollongong

Thursday, 19th December

Greaser Bar, Brisbane

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