Updates Part II

So as mentioned previously, we are once again in the studio recording new material.

Over the past weekend we laid down drums and guitars for two new songs going onto a split release and one new song that will be going onto The Flood comp 12″ LP.

We’ve been working with Dave Williams (davemakesnoise.wordpress.com) who has been fantastic. It’s all sounding great so far and we’re excited to get it finished this weekend coming.

We’ve got a few more shows to announce as well. Here’s where we’ll be playing over the next couple of months:

July 2nd

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=225903260762032

July 15th

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=151707258235005

July 29th
Fat Louie’s (18+) – 124 Albert St, Brisbane City
w/ Lo! (NSW), At Dark (NSW), Marathon, Mr Painful Memory
Free entry, bands from 8pm

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=175879439135188

August 13th

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=191260914253289

If you need any further information on any of these shows, please send us an email to marathon.ruin@gmail.com, or a message/wallpost/whatever on Facebook.

We’ll keep everyone updated on the recording process as it continues.

Matt.

Updates.

I’m currently on night two of staying overnight at uni to get my final assessments for this semester done, and I’ve had enough free jazz for the moment so here are a couple of updates:

1. By the end of June, we will have recorded 3 new songs with Dave Williams of best-dude-in-the-world fame. Two of these songs will be going toward a split release, and more news on that will come as we get to it.
The third song will be going onto the compilation LP that will be produced from the profits of The Flood show in August.

2. We are currently writing. This will probably continue for the rest of the year, so we may be a little quiet on the live front for a bit. Keeping that in mind, we’ve recently introduced a couple of new songs into the set, so if you wanna get an idea of what we’re working towards, we’ll see you over the next couple of months.

Here’s what we have booked for the next couple of months (more info for each is on the facebook page):

June 17 – Sun Distortion Studios
Cruel Hand (USA)
Phantoms
Marathon
Milestones!
Thick Skin

July 29 – Fat Louie’s
Lo!
At Dark
Marathon
The Matador

August 13 – Morningside School of Arts Hall
THE FLOOD feat. us, 7 other bands, and the most fun you’ll have on August 13, 2011.

See you in hell.

Matt.

This is Brisbane.

Al from Fires of Waco has put together a sampler of bands from in and around Brisbane City. We were lucky enough to be included with some of the best bands in the country. Download it free here:

http://www.mediafire.com/?q3ew9nb5o7qrdb8

Tracklisting:

MARATHON – TREMBLES
CAPEWEATHER – DINGS
ACID SNAKE – MANIFEST
FIRES OF WACO – AMBULANCE
DICK NASTY – A TUPPERWARE PARTY IN THE KILLING FIELDS
…TO THE NORTH – DOUBT THE SHADOW NOT THE SON
IRONHIDE – DAYDREAMS OF CHAOS from CREATE/COLLAPSE/REPEAT
OPEN SEA – OLD ROAD BLUES
VASSALS – THE ASCENDANT
WAITING ROOM – TILL ALL ARE GONE
NUCLEAR SUMMER – PERFECT AGENT
DONE FOR – OVER THE HILLS
HOLD THE FORT – SPOT ON
HEADACHES – SINKER

It’s free, check it out.

Matt.

Hey

Okay, just a quick update to let you all know about a couple of new shows:

Feb 6 – The Fort, Brisbane w/ Word Up!, Connections, Spray and Waiting Room

Feb 10 – X and Y, Brisbane w/ The Quickening (This is the same night as I Exist/Phantoms at Step Inn, but it’s a late set so we can go see them first).

Also this week we’re in Melbourne, playing with our friends La Dispute and To The North at the Arthouse on the 20th, and in Canberra with Vera, Jerkstore and Eye Gouge at the Commonwealth Park Amphitheatre on the 22nd.

Both of these cities are going to involve visits to establishments that serve dumplings/laksa soooo, you know….

2010.

A pretty big year.
An EP. Another lineup change. More shows than we’ve played before. Friends made. Friendships strengthened. Friendships lost. New cities. Old cities. An exciting future. A longer past.

It’s been immensely fun. Thanks for being a part of it.

We’re having a bit of a break over the New Year period, you’ll see us back again late January.

Dates:
20th Jan – Arthouse Hotel, Melbourne w/ La Dispute (USA), To The North, The Gatherer
22nd Jan – Venue TBA, Canberra (We’re still working on getting this finalised. Whether or not it goes ahead, we’ll be in Canberra, so let’s at least eat dumplings!)
26th Jan – Burst City, South Brisbane w/ La Dispute (USA), To The North, Quiet Steps, Ironhide

We’ll keep you all updated on these as they approach.

Keep each other safe. See you in 2011.

-Matt.

Happenings

So since returning from launching our EP a couple of months back, a lot has happened.

First, and most importantly, we have a new vocalist. Nick Lucas (ex Swandive, Total Fuckout) has taken the responsibility of getting in everyone’s faces and things are going well.

Second, we have four new songs written (a couple of which we have been playing live for a while), that are the first of a bunch of new songs destined for a release sometime in the future.

Third, we have two shows left to round out the year. The first is a mental health benefit show being held at Burst City, Brisbane on December 18th. It is all ages, it features the absolute best of Brisbane’s past and present hardcore/punk music scene and ALL proceeds are being given to Roma House. There will be no bands taking any money. It’s quite easy to go about our lives without ever giving any thought to the health or mental state of those around us, and the truth is, most people who battle with depression will never come forward about it. This is an amazing opportunity to raise awareness of these issues, so please come and support the bands.

Our final show for the year is on Boxing Day (December 26 for the uninitiated) at Rosie’s with our friends Headaches, and Wish for Wings. It’s a pretty sweet mixed bill, and the following Monday is a public holiday, so come party!

We’re going to hopefully have some new shirt designs ready for these shows. They’re good, trust me.

We are busy right through the first half of next year as well, more information on that soon.

Question Everything. Be good to each other.

- Matt

Update.

So we’re back from tour. Three songs have been written since the EP tracks. One is still without a title, one is called “Myself And The Others” and the other is “Hirudin”. We’re unsure where these songs will end up. We want to do a split 7 inch with Jerkstore where we both contribute a cover by the same band and one original, but we feel none of these three songs will make it to that seven inch, so maybe there will be another release before that?

We only have 6 more shows booked for the rest of this year, and we probably won’t play anymore. They are as follows…

September 4th – Rockhampton with Amity and Downpour!
September 25th – Fat Louies with Between The Devil And The Deep (NSW) & Others
October 8th & 9th – Queensland 4Dead(ACT) shows
October 29th – Burst City with Coerce(SA) & Others
December 18th – Burst City with 8 other bands.

The December 18th show is going to be really great. Our friend Stevie has organised it with the intention of trying to bring the issue of mental health/depression to the forefront in our scene. His band, Fires Of Waco (Ryan’s other band) will hopefully be putting out a one track CDR with a song relating to this topic, and a booklet of anonymous submissions by people in Brisbane’s scene, that will include their thoughts/feelings and experiences regarding these issues. All proceeds from the show will be donated to Roma House, which helps the homeless and mentally ill.

Punk and Hardcore tends to lose it’s way a bit here and there in 2010, so when something like this pops up, we should all support it as much as we can. Issues like these shouldn’t be taboo. We’re all in this together, and punk and hardcore is our outlet so hopefully this show can prove that people still care, and still want to be part of an open minded/forward thinking “community”.

Here’s the flyer. Yes, the date is wrong, it will be fixed!

Take care.

Never Safe.

So we recently just got back from completing the tour for our EP “Never Safe”, we played a couple of hometown shows, Rockhampton, Sydney, Canberra, Newcastle and two Melbourne shows. We had a really great time and we were able to play with some awesome and inspiring bands, and hang with people of the same nature. If you came out to a show, we really thank you. We won’t be interstate again until January when we’ll be playing one or two shows in Melbourne with La Dispute and To The North.

These people in particular need to be thanked: Sean Dawson and Jackson Oberle, Lee Bennett, The Haddow Family, our boys in I Exist, the Downpour dudes, John and Mary Oberle, Uda, Jim, Sean Points, the Crisp Cct household in Canberra, Morgan, Pat, Ollie, Tom, Coops, Carl, the residents of Catfood Press and if we forgot someone, we’re sorry.

Some of us might post some stuff about the tour on our personal blogs, we’ll post links if we do. For now, here’s a video of two of our songs from the Catfood Press show…

15 days.

Marathon were recently interviewed by Uda, one of the guys helping promote our Rockhampton show on the Never Safe Tour. The interview was basically just to help us out and to help promote the All Ages show we’re playing up there. Uda runs a little shows/promotion company there called Everest, he’s doing a really cool job of helping build a decent AA scene and making Rockhampton a viable touring stop for bands.

Here’s the interview. We have a few interviews lying around here and there, and a few EP reviews should come up soon so we might start a section for those soon.

Brisbane based hardcore band Marathon are set to go on tour in the coming two weeks promoting their first EP “Never Safe”. Recorded in January by Sam Saljooghi (Ghost Town), mastered by John Naclerio (Shai Hulud, Polar Bear Club, My Chemical Romance), and some art work done by Seldon Hunt (ISIS, Pelican), Never Safe seems to be the first steps in Marathon’s rising status in the Australian hardcore scene. I had a chance to catch up with Luke today and ask him a few questions about Marathon, the EP, and the upcoming tour.

www.myspace.com/marathonruins

Uda :Sup pal, state your name, what you do in Marathon, and what’s for dinner?

Luke : Hi Uda. My name’s Luke, and I provide the majority of the vocals for Marathon. Dinner is going to be Spaghetti Bolognaise.

Uda : Could you please write us a Haiku describing what Marathon listeners would hear on any of your tour stops?

Luke :I do not fully understand how a Haiku works as they’ve never interested me. So no, I can’t. Sorry.

Uda.: Fuck me, Smithy, give us some of Marathon’s influences then and what they would expect from a show?

Luke :I think the key musical influences we would agree on are bands like Converge, The Hope Conspiracy, Trap Them, Poison The Well, Breach etc. We are a band who really focus on how we play live, and as individuals we will all beat ourselves up if we feel we weren’t at our best during a show. So having said all that, we try to keep our shows as energetic, honest and real as possible. We’re all dudes who believe in punk/hardcore/diy so we are fond of shows with no stages and have more of an intimate feel and less of that performer/audience kind of bullshit going on.

Uda :Ruling, so it seems to me that there is a running joke about Smithy’s bands don’t last 2 weeks. Marathon had a tricky start and you joined them halfway I believe. You’ve had a strong run since you’ve been in the band. How do you feel about your position in the band, and where as a band do you think you will be going in the next couple of years?

Luke :Yep, technically I’m the third vocalist for Marathon. But you could say I’m the the second “real” vocalist the band has had. I joined after helping them out on a demo when they were without a vocalist then that just kind of lead me to taking over. Marathon as whole has to be probably one of the most positive things i’ve been a part for quite a long time now. I’ve played in bands with Ryan and Matt before and Craig is someone I’ve know for a while now. We all work really well together and understand where we fit into the writing process. In regards to organisation of band matters, It’s awesome because I’ve found myself in the situation again where I’m in a band with people who are a) willing to get thing sorted and b) Know how to get things sorted. I’ve also spent a bunch of years booking shows for myself and others, so I was able to bring a whole heap more to the band in regards to resources i think. Right now we’re just content with touring for the EP. We’re playing about 4 shows with La Dispute when they’re over in January and our next plan release wise is hopefully a split 7 inch with an awesome band that we’re friends with.

Uda :How does the writing process of songs usually occur in Marathon? It’s usually a downfall for many bands that the way the band members contribute to a band is unequal and misleaded, what advice can you offer to aspiring heavier bands, and bands in general about writing music structurally?

Luke :I don’t think I can offer any real advice. Young bands will fail and fuck up and think it’s because of some secret that they don’t know and they have to keep searching for it. Sooner or later you’re just gonna find yourself in a position/writing process that works for you and those around you. I’ve only had it in two of the bands I’ve been in. As far as Marathon goes, Ryan will bring a riff/idea to practice and we go from there. Usually Matt and Ryan are the key contributors to the shape the song will take with Craig and I offering opinions where can and Craig learning notes and nutting out his basslines as the other guys piece it together. Lyrics and vocal structuring is pretty much all me for the most part.

Uda :I probably should have asked this before, but please name the members of marathon, what they do, and put an adjective beginning with the same character before their name that describes them?

Luke : Careful Craig. He plays the fixed gear bike, straight edge and bass. Ruthless Ryan, he plays the guitar, nice apartment and 4 day a week job. Marvellous Matt, he plays the good looks, punishing drunk and drums. I am Luke.

Uda :That’s just Lushful. Australian Hardcore, every other chump seems to talk about it. And you guys seem to be rising in the national scene. What’s your opinion on the Australian Hardcore music scene? Is it divided, is it broad?

Luke :Fuck, that is an incredibly hard question to answer. Far too broad. I’m 23 years old and I’ve been listening to punk rock and it’s associated genres for about 11 years now, but I’ve only been a part of a “scene” in a major city for around 4 and a half years… So I’ll tell you what I think I know – Hardcore and punk rock, in an image sense and how it’s portrayed to outsiders/most younger kids is fucked from here on out. People will argue there’s too many bands, not enough venues, they bands are shit, nothing’s like it used to be, kids will not be clued into what hardcore or punk rock really are after listening to Prom Queen and wearing some make up. The list of problems go on. But… For those who create music for the right (subjective) reasons and choose to be exempt of image/rockstar bullshit that too many kids get caught up in there’s a wonderful and vibrant scene in this country that is so endearing and full of great people. With “punk” nightclubs around and hardcore/metal/punk being accessible enough for just about anyone in a certain age bracket these days you’re going to have to wade through a ton of haircuts, attitudes, sexual motives, arrogance, sycophants and just bad fucking bands with a head full of illusions and no fucking clue to really find the good stuff.

Uda :Luke Smith on the wise eye. Thank you for your insight. Now Marathon has played with some cool bands like La Dispute, Break Even, Ruiner, Carpathian, Dangers, and Graf Orlock. What do you think was probably the most influential show you played, where you learnt a tonne of shit from the other bands that played and just killed the night?

Luke : Dangers. Not exactly the show we played with Dangers, but the shows we were here for. We played the 18+ show with them and I had to leave straight after our set to see The Loved Ones. I really love Dangers so I was excited to watch them at the All Ages on show two days later. I can honestly say that the show lit something up inside of me that had been out for a while. Just that real appreciation of how important punk rock/hardcore is to me and how it’s helped me learn to to deal with who am I what is around me. Dangers are a band that I feel smash all the best parts of aggressive/passionate and DIY music right into people’s faces and they don’t apologise for it. Al is such an open dude about his emotions and why he writes the way he does and being a dude who is so hung up on words and lyrics myself I respect and admire that so much. They are just such a fantastic and real band. It’s confronting in the best possible way. The Carpathian and Ruiner shows were both sick, but the Dangers weekend sticks out for me.

Uda :What albums will be smacked on the most whilst on tour?

Luke : Converge – Axe To Fall, Crime In Stereo – I Was Trying To Describe You To Someone, Arcade Fire – The Suburbs, Lucero – Tennesee and a whole bunch of other shit.

Uda : So your EP, Never Safe, got released maybe 2 months ago? Are there any specific themes or genres you were intending you wanted to address in the EP as a whole, or was it really a collection of songs?

Luke :Really it’s just a collection of songs. I mean, Ryan wrote the lyrics to Providence and I wrote the lyrics to the other five. In saying that, the five songs I wrote the lyrics for were all written in a 3 month period at the end of last year that was really bad for me, and they all kind of relate to how I treat the people I care about and what has helped to shape all the insecurities and flaws that. I have at this point in my life… So there is kind of a theme in that sense.

Uda : What are you most looking forward to on tour?

Luke : Seeing friends. Particularly Canberra/Rockhampton and Melbourne friends. Eating heaps of awesome food. Getting into “tour” mode where I feel comfortable wearing sunglasses and clothing combinations I wouldn’t usually dream of. “Tour” mode also means that everyone (Male and female) just seems to be a little bit more attractive than they really are. And highways man, highways fucking kill it.

Uda: What fully sique deeds will be occuring at the Rockhampton show excluding pissing off William Girdlers balcony?

Luke :I will be getting drunk. As the night goes on I will get drunker and drunker and thus, more arrogant until I am found naked in a gutter screaming about how I “built Rockhampton’s scene” and how you’re all “posers” and those kind of things. Probably won’t have any friends left after that weekend.

Uda :On the topic of Rockhampton’s scene, why the fuck are you playing here when you played with cArpAThIAn?

Luke :Well, I grew up in Rockhampton a bunch of my friends know that playing in bands is the only thing I really like to do so they back me and come out to the shows. Plus, there’s more people going to shows now and I think it’s important that I do what I can to help try and turn a pretty backwards town into a place that has a cool thing going on with the music it has.

Uda: Punishing. I’m slipping here. So you guys have been signed to Arrest Records, why’d you make this decision and how will it benefit Marathon?

Luke :We were kind of at a point where he had a recorded EP but none of us could really afford to pay our share of the pressing cost very quickly. Greg offered to do that for us. It means we’re a part of a big group of cool bands and we have a really awesome positive and productive dude helping us out with getting our cd places. Takes some stuff of our hands and into the hands of someone we are downwith

Uda : Who are some other bands Marathon are pals with and reckon everyone should check out?

Luke :You should all listen to Fires of Waco and Hesperus , because Ryan plays in Fires and Matt in Hesperus. There’s also Jerkstore, I Exist, Phantoms, Ghost Town, Headaches, Arrows, To The North, Vassals, Thick Skin. Way too many to mention.

Uda :What are you expecting most to gain out of this tour?

Luke : Hopefully to meet some more people, see some cool bands, play some cool venues and have some people appreciate what we’re doing.

Uda : Thank you for the interview Luke, would you like to thank anyone before we finish?

Luke : Thankyou Uda, we really appreciate it. I must add that my dinner was delicious. Take care.

Uda : No probs man. That interview was shit.

TOUR DATES:
Brisbane – August 19th @ Snitch w/Extortion, I Exist & Sex Wizard.
Brisbane – August 20th @ Burst City w/Thick Skin, Lo, Vassals & People Rain (All Ages)
Rockhampton – August 21st @ The Cave Bar w/The Plague & Downpour (All Ages)
Newcastle – August 25th @ Hamilton Station Hotel w/Safe Hands and Lost Croutons
Canberra – August 26th TBC
Sydney – August 27th @ Synergy Youth Centre w/ Coma Lies, Fixtures, Legions and The Driftwood Theory (All Ages)
Melbourne – August 28th @ Fitzroy Bowls Club w/ The Broderick, Vultures, Face Eater and Bowels (All Ages)
Melbourne – August 29th @ Catfood Press w/The Omen, Ivens and Delta Reds (All Ages)

24 days.

So we have no more shows until the “Never Safe” tour. It’ll be our first tour off the back of the ep. Everything is pretty much 100% except Canberra, which we’re having some trouble with but we have a good friend looking after it so it will all come into place. We’ll have two new songs that we’ve written since the EP, hopefully a fun cover also.

The shows are like this so far…

August 19th @ Snitch Nightclub. We’re the local support for the Extortion/I Exist/Sex Wizard show. Gnarly.

August 20th @ Burst City with Thick Skin, Vassals, People Rain and Lo! (NSW). Lo sound sick. Spray pulled out so someone will replace.

August 21st @ The Cave Bar in Rockhampton with Downpour and The Plague.

August 25th @ The Hamilton Station Hotel in Newcastle with Safe Hands and Lost Croutons.

August 26th in Canberra. Somewhere, with some bands. Sean Points will be involved in some way.

August 27th @ Synergy Youth Centre in Sydney with Come Lies NC, Fixtures, Legions and The Driftwood Theory. A guy called Ollie had a lot of trouble organising this show for us, so we’re thankful that it’s come together.

August 28th @ The Fitzroy Bowls Club in Melbourne with The Broderick, Vultures, Face Eater and Bowels. We are going to be made to look like pussies at this show.

August 29th @ Catfood Press in Melbourne with The Omen, Delta Reds, Milford Academy and Ivens.

Our friends Jackson and Allan are probably gonna come with us to all the shows, so that is gnarly.

We will also hopefully have this in shirt form…

Here are some of the show flyers so far. Take care.