Windwaker – Chris Lalic

Windwaker is an exceptional metalcore outfit hailing from Wagga Wagga, via Melbourne. They have just released a killer cut called “New Infinite” for eager listeners to sample.

Their very talented drummer/ percussionist and resident technical audio specialist Chris Lalic joins me to chat about “New Infinite” and his band’s music.

“We are sort of trying to push all of the boundaries that we want. I don’t know if that’s what you would expect me to say but some people think we’re going more poppy, some people think we’re going heavier. It really shows the song has sort of said something different about it. Really, we’re just trying to push every direction at the same time to see if we can make it coherently work, that’s really what we’re going for.”

Lalic’s response alludes to the many different influences that motivate the band’s core membership. He goes deeper offering broader context.

“I think we come from really different places. I come from a lot of early 2000’s Australian rock was very much my thing like Silverchair, Grinspoon and stuff like that, but later in the years I got into Killswitch Engage and lots of metalcore bands and eventually ended up on the proggier sort of stuff, getting into Meshuggah, Periphery and all that sort of stuff.

Will (King- Vocals) likes Incubus, his vocals are really Incubus inspired, he sings quite fast and that. Everyone’s a bit different. Our guitarist, Jesse (Crofts) he comes from a death metal background.”

12 months on from the release of the EP, Fade, I asked if the collection of songs did for the band what they hoped in regards to building an audience and obtaining critical approval.

“Yes definitely. We really weren’t a very well-known band before (the release of the EP). We really had just grown slowly off it and that’s all we could ask for really. Every time we look back three months we go, ‘Oh jeez. We’ve actually come a long way since then’ we get better shows. We’ve hardly noticed it happening but every time we look back we really go, ‘Oh jeez, yes it really has done well for us’. Yes, we’re pretty happy with that.”

The band formed in Wagga Wagga a few years back, making the decision to move to the opportunities that a city like Melbourne can offer a group of up an coming musicians. Anyone who has grown up in a regional town can attest that a close-knit community can influence your character and outlook on life. But how does it influence Windwaker’s music?

“I definitely think coming from that setting has given us a little bit of an advantage in terms of the way we don’t approach music the same as everyone else, just because we haven’t been raised in the scene. We’ve just sort of done our own thing. Now I think we’ve walked down a bit of a middle ground where we still fit into the scene a bit more and we get shows with bands that sound a bit more like us. We’re still doing our own thing. We’re doing it how we want to do it.”

“New Infinite” is available now. Click here to secure your copy!

Head to the band’s official Facebook page for more details.

Check the audio of the full conversation here.

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