Interview: Harry Deacon of PLTS

A week before tearing into BIGSOUND festival, we sat down with the lovely Harry Deacon of PLTS and chatted all things new music, current affairs and how the band fits into so many different genres.

Unfortunately due to some unforeseen microphone issues, our filmed interview with Harry didn’t go completely to plan! But fear not, we were able to catch the second half and chuck it below for you guys to follow along with once the chatter ceases!

You guys are playing at BIGSOUND next week, it’ll be the first time you guys will have played live in a few months, will it be a relief to finally be able to get back out on stage and get back on the horse so to speak?

It will be! It’s been really nice to have a bit of a break and to put everything in perspective! We all kind of went off and did separate things, I jumped in with a few friends bands and played drums there so to get back with this crew and this energy, I’m really looking forward to it! Rehearsals have been coming along really tight, we’ve only got a short set so there’s some new stuff in there, all the releases are in there but it’ll be really cool to get back up there and unleash the beast again!

The BIGSOUND lineup is stacked to say the least, besides PLTS, who should people go check out while they’re out and about? 

In my opinion, I’d be going to check out Wharves! They’re on the same showcase as us at the Brightside carpark, they’re friends of us from Lennox and they’ve just won the unearthed slot for Splendour so if you haven’t heard of them, go check them out! I know the guys in Nice Biscuit are playing so definitely check them out, Pandamic will be really good! Everyone man!

Following the festival you’re hitting the road with Hands Like Houses and Dream On Dreamer. You’ve had the ability as a band to tour with everyone from The Amity Affliction to The Jezebels, what is it in your opinion that makes the PLTS sound so wide ranging in terms of genre?

I’m still trying to work that out, I like the thought of the cross over! We all obviously come from a heavy background, particularly punk and hardcore and then on the other side, Kit (vocals) comes from a totally different one. He’s got a real soul influence. I guess when it comes to pushing that live, we really like the energy in the shows! We’re really looking forward to the Hands Like Houses shows, they’re really big rooms, similar to the Amity tour we did earlier in the year.

I feel like our music really fits in those rooms, people seem to really respond to it and really like it. It’s really nice to be able to cross over. Once again, playing with The Jezebels, we’ve done a tour with Columbus, being able to be diverse like that makes it really fun, I’m really looking forward to those shows, the rooms! I guess we’ll wait and see as to where our sound fits within the tour but it should be a really fun tour!

Was it ever daunting initially playing to a metal crowd given your softer sound? 

Not at all! If you think of the massive cross section of who listens to metal or punk, there’s obviously heavy elements but there’s also pop elements in both The Amity Affliction’s sound as well as Hands Like Houses. So if you think of the cross section of the listeners, they listen to things as diverse as Tame Impala, they’ll listen to pop punk or metal, they don’t just listen to one style of music. They might be at a show for the heavier side of things but we’re there for that contrast and from our experience, dudes in heavy bands are the best dudes! We toured with Ocean Grove at the start of the year and they’re the biggest legends. They may play some wacky things so it may seem like they come across as different but they’re the most down to earth people and that’s what that scene has and that’s what we’re all about!