INTERVIEW: Lewis de Jong – Alien Weaponry

Following on from their jaw dropping performance at Bloodstock this year, we simply had to grab time with guitarist and vocalist Lewis de Jong of New Zealand thrashers ALIEN WEAPONRY to discuss their game changing combination of thunderous thrash metal and Maori culture, as well as the fact that the band are all shy of 20 and an international touring outfit!

How did have you managed to work through the obstacles of international touring given you’re so young?

Lewis: I feel that we built quite a bit of following in New Zealand and as such, there’s a lot of agencies and sponsors that can help us with the touring. Basically all the money we made through the touring of New Zealand has all been invested in this tour, this the first time we’ve been to Europe so we wanted to do it well.

How does it feel to be over here for the first time?

Lewis: I still can’t quite believe I’m doing this, it’s been great, it’s been amazing playing all of these shows. I’d probably be making coffee if I weren’t here right now.

How long has it taken to create the ALIEN WEAPONRY sound we hear today?

Lewis: Me and Henry [De Jong, drums] started it about eight years ago, so that’s when ALIEN WEAPONRY as a band actually kicked off. We never thought it would get to this point, that was always just a dream, y’know, we never expected to actually be playing these shows. Like me and Henry started this when Henry was 10 and I was eight. Then about six years ago Ethan [Trembath, bass] joined, and then we started to incorporate the Maori culture into the music about four years ago and it’s been blowing up ever since.

How did the Maori influence come into the band?

Lewis: We were influenced by a couple of our mates who play in like a ska/reggae band, they entered a competition called Smokefree Pacifica Beats and that’s like a Maori language songwriting competition where you have to incorporate your Polynesian heritage into your songwriting, and they won that competition and we were inspired to enter it. So we thought about how cool it would be to write a song in Maori, but we still keep it thrash metal, which in New Zealand is pretty unheard of. Maori are not associated with metal, or they never used to be. It was something different and that kind of got a really good response.

How do you guys write your songs knowing you want to incorporate your Polynesia heritage into the songs?

Lewis: I feel like when we write songs, we usually just kind of jam out an instrumental piece and then we just make shit fit, I guess. If you try and write songs that you think people are gonna enjoy, but you don’t personally enjoy then you need to start writing songs from the heart, and that’s what we do.

Was there a lot of pressure on your guys when writing Tu?

Lewis: We always wanted to write an album, early on and thinking about it we wanted to see if we could do it on the cheap side of things, how can we just get this album out. There was a lot of talk that after we released the album that was it for the band, now it’s obvious that it’s not the case we want to be doing this long term. We’re very grateful that when we got into the studio, we did it all the right way. It took quite a bit of time, quite a bit of money, but fuck it, the end result is so much better than we could ever hope for.

Was recording what you expected it to be like?

Lewis: Recording was, like I guess when you go into a studio it’s always different to rehearsing and playing live, because you do have to play along to the click track and it’s really weird playing along to a recording. It was different but it was pretty straight forward.

If the debut was originally supposed to be it for ALIEN WEAPONRY, did you ever reach a point when you stopped writing music?

Lewis: Not at all, that was quite a while ago that we thought that. We are writing new material, I’ve got riff ideas and we’ve actually been jamming and working on concepts. We’ve got a test cam recorder in our practise room and like there’s so many ideas and shit on there, and when we get back from tour we’re gonna add stuff to the collection and dig around and look for shit that works, and definitely we’re gonna be releasing another album in the future, and if we keep playing we’re gonna keep writing.

Given the reception ALIEN WEAPONRY are getting, it must be so inspiring!

Lewis: Yeah, the crowd is the best fuel when you’re on stage. We came here straight from Holland and had just played a show, we jumped in the van and drove all the way to England, we had been awake for like 48 hours and I had just gotten six hours sleep. Even when you’re so tired, the crowd still fuels you and you can pull off a good show.

Does it get overwhelming at times?

Lewis: I usually pull through if I have a few coffees. Touring is way more unconventional than going to school, and I feel like I enjoy touring a lot more than school. At home you feel like you’re not achieving much, that you’re just not doing much. On tour you’re playing shows, your packing in and doing interviews, it’s a real interesting experience.

How different is international touring compared to touring New Zealand?

Lewis: I feel like the metal community will always have this kind of unity, like black shirts! Everyone’s fucking friends with one another and it’s a very neutral, non-judgemental environment which I enjoy and it’s like that all over the globe. Definitely the culture in general in New Zealand is different from Europe and the UK but it’s really cool experiencing this new stuff.

What’s the difference between your home shows as opposed to the international ones?

Lewis: Well definitely more Maori come to our New Zealand shows, trying to find one in Europe is like finding a needle in a haystack. The Maori side I emphasised when we’re home, people get into it here as much as they do back home though, we’ve had some mental shows over here.

Who’s been your favourite crowd?

Lewis: All three festivals, Bloodstock was an insane crowd, but Wacken has always been our dream and the crowd over there just went off, it was insane to see how many people turned up to see us. That’s literally been our dream since we started so I’d have to Wacken, but Bloodstock did come close.

Tū is out now via Napalm Records.

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