PREMIERE: st.sinner Command Your Attention on Melodic Body Mover 'HEADCASE'
Making their way to the pages of Wall Of Sound for the first time is a new hybrid act that's going to get your body moving in all the right ways.
st.sinner have emerged from the pandemic and are ready to ignite your senses with their display of heavy meets electronic alt-pop that wouldn't be too far removed from the likes of Bad Omens, Palaye Royale, Yungblud or fellow Aussies, Void of Vision. Hellbent on having their music heard, we're stoked to be premiering their new track 'HEADCASE' for you today, ahead of tomorrow's release for New Music Friday!
Featuring a phat beat throughout while vocalist Rory Maclean takes us on a ride, ebbing and flowing between melodic cleans and palatable yells for those slowly making their way into the heavy/alt scene. Fans will be jumping for their lives at their upcoming shows singing along, and rightfully so, 'HEADCASE' is catchy AF and certain to be an instant fav upon completion especially with that tastyyyyy breakdown!
We grabbed Rory for a chat about the band's conception, their influences and to play a little game to identify saints or sinners in the scene...
Hey Rory - welcome to Wall of Sound - For those discovering you for the first time, tell us how st.sinner came to be!
HEY! It’s great to get a feature with you guys! So, st.sinner came about back in late 2020. I wanted to be making music that felt authentic - and I wanted to really push some boundaries.
Sam (guitar/bass) and Caleb (Drums) both came along in 2021/22 and since then we have had SO many changes and stages of growth. We started out doing more rock stuff and have now recently really leaned into heavier genres, all the while keeping an edge and throwing some different stuff in there! st.sinner went through this kind of shift from one genre to what we are now.
I definitely attribute that to being constantly in crisis…as the name suggests there’s laws conflicting and battling layers to everyone. Through all the change st.sinner has been about embracing everything that makes humans individual… the good and the bad.
You're here to chat about new single 'HEADCASE' - a self-reflective song about internal mental health struggles. What can you tell us about the writing process and inspiration?
Writing HEADCASE was an interesting experience. Lyrically it came about after having this super mental “vision” I guess? I was in a really dark place mentally, having this massive identity crisis. I was going through this phase of reality not knowing who I was or what I was about. I felt like all I had were these super dark, intrusive thoughts going on a kind of loop.
I remember staring in the mirror and seeing my reflection doing stuff that I wasn’t doing, like moving about doing some pretty scary stuff. I thought I was losing my shit. I eventually came back to a kind of reality and I had the idea to really personify that experience. It was a weird way of coping, but I figured if I gave the “feeling” a face and a name, the “monster”, I could deal with it more effectively.
Once I had the lyrics, they sat for ages in my phone and sometime later I had this shitty demo I made on logic, like this weird electronic-house type beat. That became the verse and from there I took it to the boys in the band and we took it through MANY changes.
HEADCASE is the bridge that has changed our sound so much over the last 6 months, it’s super special. We drop-tuned it, I got screamy, Sam and Caleb beefed it up with some mad guitar and drum work and now it’s this weird fusion that I think is super unique.
Tim Wisbey (CLAY J GLADSTONE) had previously introduced us to our now manager Daniel Antix, out of DEFWOLF studios in Kurnell. They were both super encouraging and hyped about the song which was super validating! Tim co-produced and helped us to turn it into what it is, he’s a gun and we love him. Daniel worked his magic on the track production-wise, and really elevated our sound - the workflow was awesome during the session we spent on it!
https://www.instagram.com/p/CvUMb3HP7ID/?img_index=1
Sonically - it reminded me of a cross between Bad Omens and Palaye Royale - who would you say are the band's biggest influences when it comes to sound?
I think there’s such a range of music that has inspired where we are going at the moment. I LOVE Palaye Royale AND Bad Omens, I think they’re both phenomenal bands and the comparison is super kind!! Bands like Bring Me The Horizon and Bad Omens definitely inspired us as well as newer Aussie Metal-Core bands like Void of Vision, Ocean Sleeper and Polaris! We all love heavy music and it’s in such a cool place for growth at the moment.
Funnily enough, we love to sneak pop melodies into our songs and HEADCASE was inspired by early 2000’s Veronicas/P!nk. We love a hook and retaining that catchy aspect that 2000s pop has is a fun time. We also love EDM and Dubstep; acts like DeadMau5 and Skrillex are dope and putting EDM and electronic elements like Tearout Dubstep into HEADCASE was a must!
And that breakdown is chunky AF - would you say this song is an indication of the overall sound you're going for with st.sinner?
ABSOLUTELY, this is TAME compared to some of the stuff we have coming. This transition feels super natural and the way we are meant to go at the moment. We are a mixed bag though, so we have a few other tricks up our sleeve that we can’t wait to show you!
Let's have some fun identifying Saints vs Sinners - tell us which of the below is a saint or a sinner and a short sentence on why!
Each member of st. sinner
SAM - Saint, Sam is literally the most lovely human being on the planet. Super giving and generous and just the most wholesome good boy.
CALEB - Saint - (until he goes into menace mode on the bevs) Caleb is another incredibly giving and caring individual. He’s the type of person who you can depend on (he’ll cuddle after)
RORY - Both. Rory is not averse to some sinning but does his best to be a good boy.
Noah Sebastian (Bad Omens)
Saint for sure…have you seen videos of him before Bad Omens blew up massive?? He’s such a wholesome lil guy who makes lil meme videos and then goes RAAA. He seems like such a likeable dude.
Monica Strut (The Last Martyr)
ALSO a SAINT! We did a few shows with The Last Martyr on tour with Hands Like Houses last year. Monica was absolutely lovely to us and made us feel super welcome! I know she does a lot of work in the scene and with bands coming up, she is a boss and an absolute gem of a human being! She is also a DEMON when she goes RAAA though!
You've got your East Coast tour coming up in September/October, give us three reasons why we should buy tickets right now?
1 - You will get to see our show that we’ve put a TONNE of work into. And you’ll be able to jump about like a mad thing!
2 - Supporting small bands like us by getting tickets helps us in a massive massive way - we just want to meet everyone and make this music thing work
3 - We are $20,000 dollars in debt.
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Tickets here[/caption]
Will your custom balaclavas be making an appearance on stage and if so how often do you wash them?
YESSIR! They do a couple of times! The Ballis are hot and dangerous! (You can’t see and they are wool) This is gross…we haven’t yet …we should. We will go wash them now.
The new single is great but it's got us wondering if there's more on the way - what can you tell us about the future?
Thankyou! Absolutely - HEADCASE is just the start of this “identity crisis” cycle, there are LOADS more songs to come and so many sick announcements and things that we can't wait to show you. I can tell you that you’re going to be seeing a lot of us - were keeping busy and we are so excited!
Sounds very promising Rory, any final thoughts?
Thank you for having us and pushing the track! We can’t wait to see you guys at a show!! We’ll be back here 1000%
Interview by Paul ‘Browny’ Brown @brownypaul
st.sinner is Rory Maclean (vocals), Caleb Jonas (drums) and Sam Thornhill (guitar).
Find the band on Facebook | Instagram | LinkTree
Pre-save 'Headcase' here
