EARTH CALLER
Hip hop-driven hardcore noise from Down Under
SOUNDS LIKE:
Gritty hip hop and punk-infused hardcore
FOR FANS OF:
Parkway Drive, Body Count, Hellions
LISTEN TO:
Your Enemy
WHEN YOUR DREAMS start coming true before your eyes, the last thing you want to do is slam on the brakes. Back in 2015, with only two songs under their belt, Melbourne hardcore crew Earth Caller were booked to open Australia’s biggest homegrown heavy festival, Unify – a huge coup for a new band.
“At the start of our set there was about 400 people and by the end of it there was about 1,500,” recalls band founder, vocalist and leader Josh Collard. “People were really behind it.” A support slot with Deez Nuts followed a few months later and it was clear that Earth Caller’s sound – metalcore, gritty punk and hip hop-influenced hardcore – was striking one hell of a chord. Then, the momentum was stopped in its tracks. Following the release of their debut, Degenerate, one by one over the space of six months, each member of the band quit, albeit amicably, leaving Josh alone.
“I was worried at the time,” he admits. “I thought, ‘Fuck, is Earth Caller wrapping up? Am I losing the reins of this situation? But if it hadn’t happened, we wouldn’t be in the position we’re in now.”
EARTH CALLER IS
clearly Josh’s baby, but his investment runs much deeper than that. After a troubled young adulthood, he looked to his punk and hardcore records to turn his life around.
“Maybe I shouldn’t go into too much detail, but I’ll just say that the way I was earning a living was… less than legal,” he says. “A good friend of mine said that he sees Earth Caller as a white light for me. My life now is far better than it ever was before.” Those experiences on the wrong side of the law led Josh to write the band’s fiercely political early material. In particular, first single Your Enemy tackled police brutality with the lyrics: ‘The gun at your side suggests what you’re after is fear not respect. There’s a difference.’
“At the time I had a very different relationship with the world around me because of what I was up to,” says Josh. “But with the wisdom that comes with ageing, I realised those situations were just as much my fault.”
After recruiting new bandmates and with their second album, Crystal Death, due out this month, Earth Caller have finally entered a period of stability. Sonically, while the record nods to the same incendiary influences as Degenerate
– RATM, Body Count and Bad Religion – lyrically, Josh is in a different space.
“Before, while I was focused on being political and socially conscious, I just wanted to make songs that would help people,” he says. “I realised I could do more good by focusing on what people actually go through. Fans can expect some hard-hitting personal stuff.”
Now with the might of global label eOne behind them, Josh is determined that 2018 will be the year the band take their music to new audiences. If anyone’s got the determination and motivation to lead Earth Caller to the top, it’s him.
CRYSTAL DEATH IS OUT ON JANUARY 18 VIA EONE
“WHAT I WAS DOING WAS LESS THAN LEGAL”