Scott Brierley and Julian Wheeler – Myridian

With only a few days until their support slot for Opeth in Melbourne, I decided to catch up with Scott and Julian from the Myridian. The last month has seen the guys release their second full length opus and play a full-house album launch at The Tote.

I meet Scott at one of the watering holes in Federation Square and we shoot the breeze while waiting for Julian to arrive (later find out that he is studying his Honours in Philosophy!). We start by listing Australian bands that we’ve listened to in the past; Karnivool, Cog, Butterfly Effect, Floating Me. Not the types of bands that one would normally associate with Myridian’s sound, yet fine examples of Australian prog. I ask Scott about his influences. “We try to bridge the gap between traditional doom metal and something more proggy”, he says. I tell him that I think of Ulver and Old Man’s Child; “Not an influence on us at all!” he laughs. He goes on to list Draconian, Daylight Dies, My Dying Bride, and Saturnus as direct influences.

Scott tells me more of the band’s genesis. “We started in 2009, when I met the band’s previous guitarist Josh at a mate’s birthday. We were the only metal-heads there, he was wearing an Opeth shirt. We got talking and it went from there. Julian (keyboards) and Felix (vocals/bass) were recruited soon thereafter, as well as the band’s previous drummer, and Myridian was formed.

“When Josh and I started writing for Myridian, we were both huge Opeth addicts, and tried very hard not to sound exactly like ‘My Arms, Your Hearse’”, muses Scott. “After Felix joined, we focused more on the doom sound rather than melodic death.” That’s really the sound that separates Myridian from other bands in the scene. Felix has a range of vocal styles; low growls, high screams and the in-between, as well as some spoken word and the occasional clean vocals. Scott agrees that Felix’s vocals are a perfect match to the band’s music and points out that Felix initially joined as vocalist, and it took a bit of convincing him to also play bass, as he is actually a guitarist.

There’s been a couple of recent changes in the Myridian line up as well. New recruit on drums Zebådee is a familiar face, also playing in Adamus Exul and Aquilus. Scott and Julian both reminisce of his first jam with the band. There was a song which is not on the new album which was entirely in 4/4 time. “Zeb played it once and said, ‘I won’t do that’”, laughs Scott. The guys elaborate that Zeb however is easy going and takes feedback well, while adding to the songs rather than taking them in his own direction. “He learns everything so damn quickly,” says Scott, “he’s been a great fit for the band.” The other new guitarist, Ian, has been a long-time friend of the band and is also founding member of melodic death metal act Catacombs.

The local metal scene seems quite incestuous; Nick Magur (guest vocalist on the track ”These Weary Bones”) also hails from Adamus Exul, while Catacombs and Adamus Exul share guitarist Mark Hamono. Scott also played bass in Feralian until recently. There are a number of reliable venues; The Tote, The Evelyn, The Central Club. “The guys at The Central are great, they know us well, so we can call and they say ‘another gig, when do you want it?’” Scott says. That, and local bands such as Catacombs, Hybrid Nightmares, Aquilus, Feralian and Adamus Exul, make local shows work well.

The new album was recorded completely by the current line-up, although majority of the material was written by Scott. However, the final product was a band effort. He explains that he “wouldn’t be able to write this music without a few people saying, ‘all right, but what if we do this’”. For the album, Scott wrote everything including the drums and keyboard sections, then brought in the material for each member to add their own variations and touches. “One rehearsal we asked Zeb to play a new song and he suggested three different variations” muses Julian. “We all picked the 2^nd one, and Zeb said ‘good, that’s the one I wanted too’,” adds Scott. The strength of good bands comes from the interaction between the members.

The three Myridian releases; The Starless Demo, Under the Fading Light, and We the Forlorn, have been a stepwise progression. Scott likes the previous album, describes it as having “an underground type of sound”. “As a first album it’s good, but for the next we all had to step up,” he notes. “I often write material that I can’t play yet”, Scott adds. The aim for Myridian is to have a distinctive sound, yet for each song to stand apart.

I ask the guys about the recent album launch, where they played for over an hour and had the crowd request an encore afterwards. The extra set time allowed the band to show more of its repertoire. “With the songs being so long, we only usually get to play 3 songs per local show. When we introduce new songs, we have to leave one off,” notes Julian. He adds that “it was so cool to see people watch a local band for a full hour, then demand more. You don’t often see that.” Scott reflects that “as much as it was a great night, I found myself running around stressing. I wish I had time to enjoy the night more. We got to play a full hour, and even had an encore.”

There was a great turn-out for the album launch, The Tote was packed. “When the big bands like Opeth come to town everyone goes, but you don’t see them at local shows,” Julian says. “That was one of the best parts of the night. I looked out into the crowd and thought, ‘hang on, I don’t know you’,” jokes Scott. He adds that both album launches have been great shows with good attendances. “It’s good to see how many people actually know the music,” he adds.

I ask them about the future. Myridian don’t currently have a booking agent, nor a record label to promote the album. The guys tell me that they aren’t really looking for a record label; however a distribution deal would be great. They remain realistic. It’s not easy to make a living from this type of music. “If I wanted to do music for the money and fame, I wouldn’t have started a death/doom band!” jokes Scott. “Any money we make goes back to the band, to fund merch, CDs, the album, and so on.” As for album sales? “We’ve taken off on Russian torrent sites! We haven’t put the album on YouTube this time.” says Scott. Julian adds “It’s more flattering to us when others put our stuff up (on YouTube).”

We finish the interview chatting about future plan, touring and balancing the demands of the band and life. Touring in Australia is costly, yet the guys are optimistic about possible dates in Sydney and Canberra. I suggest Adelaide and Brisbane are viable. “We just need to find suitable venues and support bands in each city,” notes Scott. And playing alongside their early influence Opeth? The guys are keen. “I really like the new album (Pale Communion), even more than Heritage, ” says Julian enthusiastically.

Myridian play with Opeth to a capacity crowd at The Forum in Melbourne on Thursday 7^th May. Their new album is available now through bandcamp: https://myridian.bandcamp.com/.

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