ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: Marie DeVita from WAAX

AAA Backstage is proud to introduce our new article series dedicated to showcasing some of the amazing female-fronted bands and female artists based in South East Queensland. Our first spotlight article is on Brisbane hard-rock darlings WAAX, lead by the captivatingly ferocious multi-instrumentalist Marie DeVita.

DeVita is one of the most absorbing, intimidating, and passionate performers in Brisbane’s uber-talented scene. As frontwoman of WAAX, DeVita jumps between keyboard, occasional electric guitar, and shredding up the stage between her band mates while delivering both delicate verses and ear-scorching call-to-arms choruses.

The 5-piece are about to hit the road in support of their latest single This Everything. It’s a powerful song which carries all the grit, charm, and energy that propelled their 2015 debut EP ‘Holy Sick’ into the ears of young headbangers all the way down the East Coast.

This Everything begins with DeVita’s signature soft-SCREAM vocals, before the rest of the band come crashing through in a huge hard-hitting chorus. Its dark tone is somewhat similar to Queens of the Stone Age, but the vocal chant hook “I’ve got nowhere to be!” means you can definitely show your friends the song without receiving too many blank stares…

DeVita says the song’s lyrics are about feeling yourself descending into dark places, mentally.

“It’s a song about being overwhelmed by everything at once but not being able to move, or at the very most move backwards. I felt myself slipping into the dark places I had been in the past. I was isolating myself socially and felt like I didn’t belong anywhere,” said DeVita.

This Everything is the first taste of the band’s forthcoming, yet to be name, second EP. Let’s hope the new EP is at least as furious as their debut ‘Holy Sick’, and if their recent live shows are anything to go by it’ll also show a slightly softer side to the quintet.

Last year in support of ‘Holy Sick’, DeVita for Pilerats created a series of hand-drawn illustrations to introduce the band and their thoughts on their music. Is there anything this rock diva can’t do!?

In November last year DeVita talked to The Music about the challenges she’s faced both being in an emerging band and also as female.

“As a female in the industry, a little complex that I had when I first started in this band was that I kind of thought that because I was a girl that maybe my opinions weren’t as valid or that I wasn’t experienced enough in comparison to the other guys in my band.

“It’s definitely something that I have had to overcome and be more confident in my own ideas and direction and my intuition and not constantly put myself down because I’m a female and you know, thinking that I can’t measure up to all the ‘big guns’ in the rock world I suppose.

“[But] guys don’t have it as peachy as what it seems at all. They all go through stuff as well and working in a band with a bunch of guys you definitely see that there is a lot of pressure on them as well,” said DeVita.

WAAX will be heading out on tour in mid-September in support of the new single, sharing the stage with The Sinking Teeth, Horror My Friend, Super Best Friends, and Walken. Make sure you grab a ticket and experience Marie DeVita’s incredible stage presence for yourself!

WAAX ‘This Everything’ Tour

FRI 16 SEP
Black Bear Lodge, Brisbane
SAT 17 SEP
‘A Day On The Grid’
The Curtin, Melbourne
FRI 23 SEP
‘Waywards’
The Bank, Sydney

Get Tickets HERE