Interviews

Marcus Bridge - Northlane ‘Regional Crowds Have Some of the Most Energy Ever Seen’

Georgia Haskins

Jul 23, 2025

8 min read

Few bands traverse through as many sound identities as Northlane. Yet, beyond every daunting turn, the Sydney heavyweights further assert their unwavering presence, and better yet, iron-strong fanbase, time and time again. It is this fanbase that Northlane has in their sights, soon embarking on a regional tour that sees their exceptional stage presence and frightening flair creep into the furthest corners of the country. On the brink of new music, this tour is set to be a celebration of everything the band was, is, and is still flourishing to become.

We had the privilege of sitting down with vocalist, Marcus Bridge, about the stellar festival run that has consumed much of the band’s year, how to enlighten your creative flair after so many dazzling projects, and of course, the dynamics of returning to grassroots touring!

‍Thank you for your time today! I've loved Northlane for as long as I can remember, so it's great to finally pick your brain! We're here to talk about the regional tour, first and foremost. Now, regional tours are not something Northlane is new to. I think you've come around this Penrith area maybe three or four times that I can remember. However, for the rest of the scene, it's definitely something that's becoming a bit of a trend this year. For you, though, what is the importance of hitting these regional towns?‍

Well, for us in particular, I feel like it's where, as a band, you start, really. It's outside of playing the few venues that are around the cities. The way you get your experience is by going and playing the local, the smaller spots, the more... I mean, Penrith is not exactly regional, but those regional spots. For us as well, particularly the other guys, Northlane grew up in that area in Western Sydney. For us, coming back to a place like Penrith is always like coming home and taking it back to the old days.

It's important for us to keep on going back to that as well because it is where we started, and I think it's important not to forget about that. It's always a good time going back.‍

‍In terms of what you've been doing in recent times, festivals have been where you're at at the moment. How does this way of touring shift your dynamic? Is it a time to grow and connect as a band, more being crammed in vans and airports? Is it a time to maybe reconnect with how you were when you started?‍

Yeah, absolutely! It is taking it back to the old days, like I said, and in that sense of, we'll all be travelling in the van, we'll be eating the pub schnitties and stuff. I feel like it's always fun coming back home and doing that stuff because it It feels like a bit of a break and a bit of a relaxing form of touring in a way just because you're not maybe getting on a plane early in the morning, you're not stressing out about the production of your show as much. You're just there to play the music and have a good show. I think that's also part of it, where in these smaller places, the music really does the talking. It's not so much about us putting on the spectacle of having all the crazy lights and stuff. We will bring some stuff like that, but it's obviously going to be a lot more intimate. That's always just so much fun! It really does bring it back and remind you why you started doing this thing, and hopefully, the people at these places really enjoy it as well for that reason.

I think it is really touching in these intimate settings. Of course, you get to see how your music has affected people on a much smaller scale. As you mentioned before, you've been at Download on the other side of the world, and of course, back here at Good Things. Your crowds are getting bigger and bigger, and the voices are echoing louder. Are there moments like this where, on your days off, you start to replay them, and it really assures your legacy a bit? Are there any ‘made-it’ moments coming up for you?‍

I mean, for me, it just feels like being able to still be doing this and for it to be constantly growing still is such an exciting thing to think about. I feel like not every band gets the chance to keep on doing their thing, and for people to keep on coming and for that community to grow. Pretty much any time I stop, I'm like, “It's pretty nuts that we're able to do this stuff, and we haven't fallen off at this point yet”! No, it's always just a bit of a pinch-me thing to be able to do this for a living.

All those festivals over in Europe were a pinch-me moment. I feel like any time we do that thing, it's like, “Wow, we're able to do this and perform alongside bands that we've all grown up looking up to or listening to” or whatever it might be.

To be somewhere in that mix is always a bit of a mind-blowing thing for me. I'm just stoked to be constantly able to do this and that we're still able to do this 10 years later in my career with Northlane.

‍I think when this interview came up, it was probably the biggest honour to speak to you because I love what you've done for Northlane and how you encapsulate and influence the sound. Northlane has become a band you can purely describe as being a chameleon. No two projects ever sound the same. I guess from a fan perspective, what is it that keeps your mind churning and filtering through new sounds? What keeps you personally engaged with creativity?‍

Well, I feel like we're never completely satisfied, or even if we are, it's not something where we want to dwell on it.

We're not the band that wants to realise something worked and then just keep on beating that dead horse.

For us, creating music is just as important as performing the music and creating something that feels new to us and that we're able to keep on exploring our sounds or exploring new sounds. I think it's been good that we've set our path in that direction in the sense of constantly mixing things up, and the next thing not exactly sounding the same as the last, because people expect that almost now. They're not shocked when we're releasing something new that sounds completely different to the last thing. I think if we were to stay in one place and then we change so drastically, people would be like, “Oh, I want the old thing”. But I think we're in a pretty unique position where we can keep changing and keep on exploring what we're doing and people aren't thrown off by it.

For me, it's so exciting to just be constantly trying to do new things and blend new sounds with what we've already done or blending something new with something we haven't done before. That, for me, is really exciting.‍

‍I think it does reflect at the shows. You will have people giving the same energy to projects from 10 years back to the EP released just a year ago. I think you're in a very special position, like you said, where you get to explore this creativity. I think especially at a time where there's so much pressure in this music industry! Just this year alone, you see Australian Brothers Void of Vision call their band quits, and you see bands like Oasis coming back. I think there's so much stagnancy, but also change in the music industry. Do you ever take in what's going on and realise that maybe there could be fluctuations in your band? Say, if you were to call it quits, you could come back. Do you ever think about that prospect?

‍Honestly, I feel like none of us have really thought about calling it quits, so I guess we've never had to stop and think about that! But with that being said, I do feel like with the following we've built up, I feel like we're a band that's constantly just been growing. It's not been the thing where maybe we had one breakout thing and then we've had to then try and keep up with that or keep trying to live up to that expectation, which for me, I really like. I like the idea of really just building upon what we've done before, and that just constantly growing as opposed to having this big blowup… I mean, obviously, it would be great to just blow up or whatever, but I think just having that really shows dedication from the people who listen to our music.

I feel like that hopefully means that if we ever were to take some time away, that when we come back, people would be like, “Oh, we want to hear that again”. But for us, I feel like we'll be doing this for a long time, and it's not something that feels like we're slowing down anytime soon. Even as we get older, maybe touring becomes a little bit more selective, but we'll never be just gone, I guess. We'll be constantly doing stuff.‍

That's excellent to hear. Very good news. We've had a lot of topic talk about new sounds and new music. I know the rumour mill is spreading that post this tour new music is in the works. Has anything commenced yet, even writing?

Well, we've been writing stuff pretty much maybe a couple of months after we released Mirror's Edge. We started getting into it again, particularly Jon, our guitarist and main songwriter. He's always looking on to the next thing.

We've got a few songs floating around at the moment, but touring has been pretty busy in this part of the year. We're thinking once we're finished touring in the US in a couple of months, we'll take a bit of time to really lock in and try and finalise some songs.

I think it's looking like we'll have something out, hopefully early next year or something like that. But we're also not putting any time constraint on it. As long as it's right and it feels finished, then we'll put it out. But we're trying to take our time with it a little bit as well. I'm excited, though. Everything we've been working on at the moment, as I was saying before, feels like building on something we've done before, but also stepping in new directions and trying to step outside of our comfort zone. I think people would be excited when they hear it!

I'm going to go back to the topic of these regional tours. If you look at them, they're absolutely stacked with local guests and some of the best new music that our scene has to offer. What are your personal thoughts on the emerging artistry within the Australian music scene at the moment?

I think there's so much good stuff coming out of Australia. I think that we also notice that as well when we go overseas, people seem to be really catching on to our bands and especially newer bands. It's a saying that goes around overseas of just “What's in the water over in Australia?” because we're producing so much good music. Yeah, that's also another reason why we wanted to bring some of these different bands on the tour.

For each state, there's a local support, so to speak. But it's also important to us to help lift those bands up and give them an opportunity to play on a stacked lineup with Ocean Grove, and hopefully put them in front of more ears and eyes.

I think we're in a really good place in terms of heavy music in Australia. I think it's just exciting to see where we all go from here.

‍Whether it's touring with Australian artists or collaborating with them you share a connection! You have collaborated with the likes of Winston McCall and Ian Kenny, of course. Do you have a personal inspiration in terms of an Australian musician?‍

Obviously, those two in particular, for sure. Winston and Parkway, we wouldn't be able to do heavy music on this scale if it weren't for Parkway. I speak for most Australian heavy bands in that sense that I feel like they really put heavy Aussie music on a worldwide scale. For them, they're crucial to us. I mean, there are a lot of other artists that I really look up to, including Karnivool and Ian!

To me, also, The Living End comes to mind. I love The Living End. I grew up with them. I feel like they're another band that also, from another angle, put Australian music on the map. There's a lot! Now that I'm thinking about it, I can't really think. Nothing is popping to mind immediately. But those three in particular are very inspiring to me.

‍I think it's very telling when you can get together as well and, in some of these cases, put out tracks with your inspirations, and you can see the passion flourish. Now, going back to the tour again, Northlane has such a stacked discography, and I think this tour is a little bit of a celebration of that. What mind frame are you going into to create this setlist? Is it a setlist for the fans? Is it a concoction that you know goes crazy in small rooms? Or is it a chance for you guys to play your own personal favourite tracks?‍

It is getting harder to put together a setlist as we put more music out. I feel like this set will probably be the hits, so to speak, as well as some newer stuff as well. But that being said, it's getting really hard to figure out what everyone wants to hear and what we want to be playing as well and what feels like it fits into the show. I feel like regional crowds have some of the most energy ever seen anywhere. Compared to capital cities, I feel like they're so hungry for a show, especially in their area, that you could play anything and they'll be so excited for it. But we're trying to figure out what to do with it at the moment, but I think people will be happy with what we're doing.‍

‍Is there a certain song that you storm into the band meeting and say, “I have to have this”?‍

I don't know. Honestly, there's a bunch of songs that I would love to play that I feel like maybe I'm alone in, not in the fact that people don't want to play it, but I feel like it's just songs that we haven't really played and we don't know how they would go. I really like songs like ‘Animate’ off Node. What else? ‘Is This A Test?’ off Obsidian? I really like the weirdest songs that maybe aren't expected to be played live. I'm always trying to throw them in the ring, but like I said, it's getting hard to whittle down the setlist before we're starting to play two-hour sets or something, which I don't know if I could hold up for that long. So, yeah, it's tough.‍

‍Going back on that a little bit, talking about how crazy regional shows are, with some of the tours that you've already done regionally, has there been an insane moment that's stuck in your head or even maybe a moment that was super touching that really stuck with you?

‍That's a good question. I mean, for me, I guess a couple come to mind... whenever we play the Sunshine Coast, I feel like that's a really special one for me. I spent a bit of time there in high school. I lived there for a year, and I've got a lot of family up there.

I wasn't really deep into doing music stuff when I lived up there. I was only 13 / 14 then. It's always nice to see my family up there and for them to see a completely different person from who they saw growing up.

So that's always a really nice time. But then also, I guess on the Sydney side of things, I think Ettamogah Pub was really wild because that's not a place where I ever thought we would be playing, but it was such a nuts show. But I love that the regional tours can take you to these places that you would never expect to be playing, but then you have such an amazing time. Yeah, those are two that come to mind!‍

‍Well, I personally am looking forward to seeing you guys in Penrith, and I think my friend is also trying to drag me to Newcastle, so we'll see how that goes!‍

Interview by Georgia Haskins @ghaskins2002

Northlane's All Over Australia Tour kicks off July 31st - tickets below!