XILE – interview with the new hardcore band from New Zealand

Interview with the hardcore / beatdown band XILE from New Zealand to their debut "Grafton", which was released in October 2016 via Beatdown Hardwear.

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XILE is a newly established Hardcore / Beatdown band from New Zealand, which is their debut EP Grafton equal once published on 03th October 2016 BDHW Records. We could talk to XILE in an interview about the band, their new record and how they get into hardcore-punk.

Interview with XILE (Beatdown Hardwear)

„Our lyrics come from a darker place.“

AFL: Hey, how are you? Can you short introduce yourself for everybody who don’t know you so far? Since when you play together, have you played before or additionally in other bands and so on!

xile-grafton-epXile: Hi, we are Xile from Grafton, New Zealand a small country from the bottom of the world. We formed to create a hardstyle band influenced by some our favorite NZ hardcore bands mixed in the euro beatdown style and also after doing so many bands we wanted to create a band of good friends, instead of musicians just brought together. I (Luke) wrote the first song “Burn” in 2011 but we didn’t get the band off the ground until 2015. We’ve all played in previous NZ bands (James & Luke in The Burial, Luke ex Too Late) and some of us are currently in other NZ hardcore bands (Luke – Guitarist for Antagonist A.D, Dylan & Simon Guitarists for Too Late, Lee Guitarist for Superior Vision)

AFL: What meaning have you band name XILE?

I got it from the Slayer song – Exile after Tom Araya screams Exile over and over in the Chorus, then i just chopped the E off the front.

AFL: You will release on 3rd October your debut GRAFTON. What can the listeners expect?

Listeners can expect the Kiwi style of aggressive hardcore mixed in with euro beatdowns. The aim was to create a thunderstorm of relentless sound from start to finish.

AFL: Which bands and music do you count to your influences and how would you describe your music?

This is a massive question, because we draw influence from so many places to create the Grafton sound. Lyrically i think this is where XILE differs from the traditional hardcore band, the lyrics come from a darker place.

Specifically Promise of Bloodshed is an old New Zealand hardcore band that had murderous lyrics. So i fused in their style with the Slayer vibe who also remains a heavy influence on the lyrics and wrote a song about murder, kidnapping and wanting to die before you were killed by the captor. The rest scream of from religion, hate and war. The Delivery of the vocals is drawn from the style of The Burial and Nasty, spat fast and intense but still with flow over the music.

The music is a fusion of what i grew up watching at shows, all the local NZ bands. Antagonist A.D, Damaged, Promise of Bloodshed mixed in with the Euro scene. We wanted to keep the legacy of the hard kiwi style mixed in with a new flavor.

AFL: Which themes do you treat on your debut and where do you get the inspiration for them?

There is the theme mentioned above where it is purely fictional and unavoidable growing up listening to Slayer. Other themes are drawn from personal experiences (frozen over) , religion and the effect it has on the world around me (burn) and War (war zone) which is written about the fear that must be felt inside the war zone of the modern world and the helpless feeling i have about it watching it from the safety of my lounge chair, Syria for example.

AFL: GRAFTON will be released on Beatdwon Hardwear Records. How came the contact between you and the label? I mean it’s a fast entry for your first release!

Yes, we are so stoked to be releasing on BDHW, first contact came from Tom, Nastys TM who is a friend of Antagonist AD. We had always had our sights set on BDHW as we were a big fan of the majority of bands signed and knew we would be a good fit for the lineup. We sent the EP to Toni at BDHW and the rest was history, were very grateful he took notice of a band literally on the other side of the world, thanks Toni!

AFL: Do remember how do you get into hardcore / punk?

Simon, James, Lee and I have all been part of the NZ metal and hardcore scene for at least 10 years now. I remember i got into heavy music through BMX and Skate videos, Metallica, Slayer, Iron maiden playing in the background. Then one day a friend gave me two CDs to listen to, one was Terror – lowest of the low and the other was Evil Priest a local NZ hardcore band and it all went downhill from there!

AFL: Have you plans to come in the next times on European tour? Or what are your next plans after releasing GRAFTON?

Yes, were ready to jump on a plane, we almost came last month; long story aye bro haha. We’ve just released Grafton and booking shows and yes we’d love to come smash Europe out. As well we are writing the Album, the Grafton LP.

AFL: Have you some inside tips from your home? I need to discover some new bands!

Check out local NZ bands, Out Cold A.D, Salvage, Blind Threats, One Outs, Nailgun and the bands Xile members play in as well Antagonist A.D , Too Late , Superior Vision .

AFL: Thanks for the interview! Have you something to add or any last words?

Thanks for the interview! See you soon on tour!

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Here you can read our review to XILE’s debut Grafton:

XILE – Grafton ::: Review (2016)

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