Repping Tasmania and their enigmatic brand of melodic punk and alt rock this December at Good Things Festival will be none other than Luca Brasi; a beloved and enduring fixture on the Aussie music scene since first springing to life back in 2009.
Evolving from blasting their wares in local pubs to taking festival stages by storm and touring alongside the likes of Alexisonfire, Violent Soho and You Me At Six, Luca Brasi are that rare breed of band that sound instantly authentic yet entirely unique, capable of devastating and consoling you within the blink of an eye.
From their debut full length, 2011’s Extended Family, through to 2021’s Everything Is Tenuous, the latter swinging in at #7 on the ARIA Charts, 2023 has once again delivered the goods from everybody’s favourite Tassie rockers in the form of Luca Brasi’s sixth studio album: The World Don’t Owe You Anything, which dropped last Friday 29 September.
Fusing introspection with nods to the band’s past, present and future, The World Don’t Owe You Anything is as much an exercise in rumination as it is a hearty cry to the battles in the band’s own wake. And amongst the diverse mixture of softer gems and heavier cuts, The World Don’t Owe You Anything also saw Luca Brasi tread into brand new waters, as guitarist and backing vocalist Patrick Marshall recently revealed.
“We did do this one a bit differently this time,” muses Marshall. “We made it completely ourselves at home. We did do a little bit of that on the last record, but we had a bit more outside help. So this one was probably the first record where we completely took the reins.”
“I think with the last record we made a really conscious effort to try and make it a cohesive set of songs that all fit into that kind of 90s vibe,” Marshall continues. “Whereas this album, we just wanted to lean into every song. We've ended up with a pretty varied set of songs I think, there's some really heavy moments on there, there's much quieter moments on there as well. It’s definitely been pulled together a bit differently, but I find it really interesting to listen to.”
Bearing a title that certainly holds no grey areas as to its meaning, alongside its title track that emphatically drives home the refrain “The world don’t owe you anything”, album #6 for Luca Brasi sonically and thematically pulls no punches - but the take home sentiment is ultimately one of connectivity and reassurance, helmed by the inescapable charm wielded by the gents from St Helens.
“It sums it up pretty well in the title,” says Marshall as talk turns to what he hopes a listener takes home after a visit with their brand new album. “Nothing's going to just “happen” for you, if you know what I mean. If you want stuff to happen, you've got to go out there and make it happen yourself. And everyone has hard times, but you've just gotta get out there and do what you can.”
“And I think it's also a little bit about good karma as well,” Marshall adds, “doing good things for people and it'll all come back around. Just that feeling of hope and being there for each other is what it’s all about.”
The journey to making and releasing The World Don’t Owe You Anything also saw Luca Brasi team up with a fellow Aussie rock hero (and, coincidentally, someone who also will be witnessed live in action at Good Things Festival later this year).
“We had a lot of help from Ben Stewart from Slowly Slowly in the production of this record,” shares Marshall. “We did all of that via distance where we had to kind of get the song to a point where it was pretty close to being finished. Then we'd send that over to him and he'd cut it up and send us back a completely different version of the song. That was a really cool process.”
“We didn't always use what he sent us,” adds Marshall, “but it was really good to know that he was just going to throw everything at it and then we'd just kind of pull the best bits out of it. There’s definitely a few songs that ended up quite differently because of his input. And I think different for the better, definitely.”
With its colourful artwork featuring two subjects floating in a palatial backyard pool in front of a globe statue, The World Don’t Owe You Anything instantly grabs your attention with its stylised cover - and it’s one that may appear familiar to fans of a certain 1983 Al Pacino classic
“Tyler [Richardson] likes to do a lot of the creative side of the artwork,” shares Marshall, “so we had a pretty clear vision of this one. It's actually based on Scarface, there's a scene in Scarface where they're face down in the pool after the massive fight, and then there's that globe in Scarface as well.”
“Basically, we really wanted to try and work with that and try and tie it in. And it's pretty glaring to look at, I think it’s pretty confronting. But I also think it's pretty awesome at the same time.”
As Good Things Festival draws nearer in just two months’ time, Luca Brasi will certainly be closing out 2023 with a bang. And fresh off a recent intimate acoustic tour to launch their brand new album, Luca Brasi have definitely got their live chops (and heckler deflectors) sharpened.
“We just finished a run of the acoustic shows to celebrate the launch of the record, which was so much fun,” Marshall shares. “I dunno, there's just something about doing some of those smaller, more intimate shows where you can communicate a bit more with the audience. They heckled us, we heckled them back, it was so much fun.”
“We played a handful of songs off the new record and it was interesting,” Marshall continues. “We played The Entry Ramp and The World Don’t Owe You Anything, which are the first two songs off the record. The title track is a pretty heavy song, so we were a bit worried how that would come off with a couple of acoustic guitars. But it was so cool. The crowd was singing the call and response with us, it was such a nice vibe. The other one that worked well was when we played Sonny too, that's a bit of a quiet one and that seemed to translate really well as well.”
If at this point you’re pondering just exactly what brand of heckle a band like Luca Brasi may attract? As Marshall reveals, it’s way more wholesome than you think.
“There was one guy who was just getting stuck into Tom [Busby] about his guitar tone. He's like: more treble, more treble in the guitar! It was pretty funny.”
While an entirely acoustic set is not on the cards for their Good Things Festival appearance, one song that may very well get a look-in onstage at Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane is Marshall’s own current favourite track off the new album: the feel-good anthem Habits.
“My favourite at the moment would have to be Habits,” Marshall reveals, “just because I feel like it's a bit of a throwback. It's probably the fastest song we've done for a while. It's got some nice heavy guitars in the bridge and I feel like it's something we haven't made for quite a few years. So yeah, that one kind of gives me the feels and people who I’ve spoken to have been like: ahh, this is the old Brasi.”
While Habits marks a sonic bridge to the past and present Luca Brasi for some, Marshall has shown up with the goods, also sharing some tantalising intel surrounding what fans may expect when Luca Brasi roll up to Good Things Festival 2023.
“Definitely Theme Song from Hq off the first album, that’s got to be on every setlist I think,” Marshall reveals. “And then I reckon we probably also play Aeroplane every set too. We do Anything Near Conviction, obviously because it’s a crowd favorite - they're probably the big three. And then we'll throw in probably four or five songs from the new record as well.”
Joining the likes of Fall Out Boy, Limp Bizkit, Devo, Sepultura and a horde of other incredible local and international bands on the utterly stacked 2023 lineup for Good Things, Marshall personally will have his eyes firmly fixed on one particular band come December.
“For me personally, it's Taking Back Sunday,” says Marshall of his Good Things Festival bucket list band. “We’re definitely massive 2000s punk rock emo fans and I've never seen that band live before. I'm just really pumped to see how they go. I'm just hoping it lives up to my very high expectations.”
Helping to deliver and smash expectations, Marshall’s closing gift was parting the curtain into what Luca Brasi keep on hand as their essential festival item.
“I’d have to say Vodka Cruisers,” Marshall reveals. “We like to get a mixture, but probably raspberry flavour most likely.”
“We're 16 year-olds at heart. We only have those on days where it's all feeling a bit hard and you've got to get yourself a bit geed up. The sugar in there just gets you going!”
Vodka Cruisers and some festival times with Luca Brasi in 2023? Sign us the hell up.
