Interview: Josh Hayes from He Danced Ivy

They’ve only been in Brisbane for a few months but already He Danced Ivy are breaking onto the scene with a bang! The hard hitting quartet formed two years ago in Coffs Harbour NSW before moving north to the big(ish) city to get their music to the masses. They’re off to a flying start, in the short time they’ve been here they’ve released two singles, dropped a killer music video, and have their debut album launch coming up fast! We chatted to drummer Josh Hayes on the band’s musical style, their latest music video, and their deepest darkest secret!

You guys are just breaking out on the heavy scene with your debut album set to drop on next week. For the uninitiated, what kind of sound do you guys have?

We would definitely describe ourselves as punk-prog. So we like to take the energy of punk music, but we like to put the thought and dynamics of progressive music behind it. I guess that sums it up!

Could you name some of your top influencers musically?

Oh, tough one! For me personally I would say Sevendust, because that’s always a top influence…but for all of us, a lot of the Australian music scene inspires us. So all the Twelve Foot Ninjas, all the Dead Letter Circuses, all the Karnivools…everyone in Australia that’s doing really good! And personally as a drummer I like to hear the emotion of drummers through their dynamics.

In live situations I’m not a fan of drummers keeping a straight face taking themselves too seriously…it’s all about the drums! It’s the funnest instrument of all time to me, it’s a full body sport. I’m not afraid to get mental and put a show on for our live gigs…and I think that conveys that with our latest music video. What you see is what you get, there’s no smoke and mirrors!

He Danced Ivy is an unusual name and gets a lot of people talking, how did it come about?

Well if I told you I would have to kill you, and you would have to ask old mate Davey, our lead vocalist…David Cheney. There’s a clue in there somewhere! As a drummer, I’ll have to kill you like I killed everyone in the film clip if I told you straight up…

In your latest music video for the album’s title-track, you were this villain voodoo master and basically f*cked up the other three guys. Where did the inspiration come from for this video?

With most video clips that I’ve watched, the drummer’s always left behind. He’s always in the background, just playing by himself. And you know what? It’s time to flip it around and have the drummer f*ck everyone up for once! So, that’s pretty much it. Revenge of the drummers! You know, all those drummer jokes have finally taken a toll on us and we went, you know what? It’s my time now!

What can we expect from your debut album ‘The Verbal Kind’?

Straight up energy! But we do have plenty of dynamic changes, we’ve got ups and downs, we’ve got twists and turns…we’ve also got a nice Pina Colada on the side with it. It’s a versatile album!

What do you like to bring to the stage when you play gigs?

When it comes to stage performance, it’s all energy! It’s all about having fun. We don’t take ourselves too seriously on stage. We like to get a smile on people’s faces, we like to keep people jumping up and down, and y’know, you can boogie and shake your ass if you want to, as well!

A lot of other heavy bands take themselves seriously, but you guys are tongue-in-cheek in your photos and videos. Is there a reason behind this approach?

I wouldn’t say there’s a particular reason behind it, I would say that’s all of our personalities that come together when we’re all in a room…we put all of our powers together and somehow, goofiness just comes out.

Anything else you wanna add?

Well, on Thursday we’re taking over Crowbar with Red In Tooth and Mofoisdead for our album launch, so we’d love to see you all there…we promise you won’t wanna miss it! We’ve got some aces up our sleeve for next year too, but I can’t tell you them! We’re hoping this album can bring some entertainment back into the entertainment industry!

Check out the music video for title-track The Verbal Kind and get gig dates below!

He Danced Ivy ‘The Verbal Kind’ Album Launch
supported by Red In Tooth & Mofoisdead

THURS 27 OCT
Crowbar, Brisbane
Facebook Event Page

also playing…

SAT 29 OCT
Banana Field Festival, Coffs Harbour