“We live here, pretty much,” she says of the band’s affinity for Collingwood. “Before High Tension formed, Ash [Pegram, guitar] and I we were in a band previously together [Young and Restless], and after that band broke up we still stayed in touch. Eventually we said, ‘Fuck, let’s do something else.’ I told Ash I wanted to do something far more brutal than what we were doing. Ash is not a heavy music fan, but he loves to play guitar. With Collingwood, I always remember seeing Matt [Weston, bass] at the Gas back in the day. I remember when we were looking for a bassist, I thought ‘Well what about Matt?’ I never really had chats with him so I hit him up on Facebook, and realised that we were next-door neighbours. It’s easier when you’re doing something with people that are close by, there’s no hassle or piss-farting around. So I met up with Matt again at the Gas, and we were on the same page to begin with. I think Collingwood is a nod to that… well not easiness, but just feeling incredibly lucky to live on Easey Street, basically. We’ve had a lot of great times here, and the song was a semi-autobiography.”
While Young and Restless weren’t devoid of aggression, the heaviness of High Tension is on another level entirely. “It came from living in Canberra,” Utomo laughs. “I have my theory about it. I grew up in Jakarta where there’s a big metal scene, which I think comes from the Javanese culture of passiveness, and being submissive. I think when you have that much submissiveness and forms of repression, that’s where heavy music thrives. But it’s all in a really positive way.
“I think with Young and Restless, that time around mid-2000s when the band started, I only turned 18 a couple of years before, and because I lived in Canberra, all I did was go to hardcore shows and metal shows. I loved going to those, seeing bands like 4 Dead play. I was so blown away and thought, ‘Fuck, I’ve got to learn how to sing like that somehow.’ So I think Young and Restless… well it wasn’t an experiment, but it was the first go, trying to sing in that style. Since that experience and era, and being older and now having Damian [Coward, drums] and Matt in the band, what we like and what we get stoked about is much more aligned, so much more solid, and maybe that’s why it seems like such a big leap.”
On Take Control, Utomo sings, “I don’t know what success feels like.” It stands out on an album brimming with positive energy. “Every other song on High Tension and Bully has been about positive reinforcement with positive themes,” she says. “It’s never personal, but that particular song was the last song I wanted to approach. It was so different to our other songs, with these gross themes, with anxiety and depression, where you really hate yourself and addressing those concerns. When I proposed the idea to the guys I said ‘Tell me if you think this is shit’, and they said ‘Nah’. Especially for Bully, that song is about being a bully to yourself.”
BY LACHLAN KANONIUK
