Parkway Drive - Bleeding through its roots

Joel Hamilton-Foster talks to Winston McCall from Parkway Drive before headlining at Hardcore 2005.

Hardcore is everything and more for the 5 surfies from Byron Bay.

After recently finishing their tour with Orange County’s hardcore band Bleeding Through, I asked Winston how it was.

“Amazing and awesome,” he said.

“They’re a band I have loved for a long time. They were all friendly and helpful. It was the best tour we have been on up till now.”

It is a logical comment from a man who cites Bleeding Through as one of the bands biggest influences.

“They have an influence both in there musical style and in the way, they not so much play hardcore, but the way they see themselves as a hardcore band and follow their beliefs.

“They still stick to there hard core roots, and they know were they came from.”

Well Winston, it seems you know where you’re coming from, too.

Winston and the boys have just recently arrived back from a short trip to the US of A to record with famed Metalcore producer Adam Dutkiewicz of Killswitch Engage, after they contacted him on the off chance he’d be interested.

They were surprised when he said yes to helping to produce their second album.

Winston said they had 100% control, but Dutkiewicz brought a fresh ear to their music and a mind for music they could only dream of.

Their CD ‘Killing with a smile’ due out next month according to Winston will be heavier and faster. Thanks to Dutkiewicz’s help, it is pretty much the CD they wanted to make the first time around.

Winston also talked of the current Hardcore scene in Australia saying;

“I think it’s pretty strong at the moment. I like it how there are a lot of hardcore bands coming out sticking to the original hardcore punk sound and I think it’s great that there are other band breaking the boundaries and changing hardcore.”

Although his influences are mainly punk and hardcore, Winston said he had been becoming increasingly more interested in Metalcore, a genre within which his own band falls into.

“‘I think it’s going to be big, due to bands like Atreyu and Killswitch Engage will help with the promotion and popularity of it,” he says.

I asked him whether Metalcore could just be a fad, but he stood his ground;

“If it is a fad, I think it’ll die off, but there will still be bands playing because it is rooted in both metal and hardcore scenes which both have very loyal fans.”

Parkway Drive will be touring nationally to support their new CD, due out at the end of September. They will be part of the Resist tour in November/December and then head overseas.

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