27 Oct 2017 // An interview by Shade
Armed In Advance (AIA) are a heavy rock trio from Auckland, currently taking New Zealand by storm. With a penchant for ruthlessly efficient, hard hitting post-grunge songs laced with pop sensibilities and thought provoking undertones, their music has been described as "delivering on all fronts", and it's only going to get better from here.
AIA recently
released the video for their single Pain, and they'll be heading back to where it all started -
Backbeat in Auckland on 8 December with
Fallstate and
AnimalHead for
'The Little Big Show'.
AIA have also opened up for US Rock heavyweights Drowning Pool, as well as
I Am Giant,
These Four Walls and many more goliaths of the New Zealand rock scene, and with another album well and truly under way, AIA are wasting no time in proving that they are more than capable in holding their own against some of NZ's biggest names.
JP and Hugh answered the following questions for muzic.net.nz:
It has been a busy year for Armed in Advance, what has been the most exciting show you’ve played in 2017?Hugh: Definitely the
Auckland City RockFest, so many of our friends were on the bill as well so it was great.
JP, you were one of the people responsible for setting up the Auckland City RockFest. How difficult was it organise something of that magnitude?JP: Organising it was easy - the difficult part was the nervous breakdowns, when I figured out what I'd got myself into. Fortunately, all the bands were GC's and the tickets flew out the door. Hopefully reason enough to put another one on next year.
How does the atmosphere of a full Kings Arms compare to the intimacy of Backbeat?Hugh: The Kings Arms is a legendary venue and it will be sad when it’s gone because it has such an amazing vibe but Backbeat is like a second home, I feel very confident playing which allows me to put on the best show I can.
Do you have a preference for doing tours or one off shows?Hugh: Tours, after every tour we go through PTD (post tour depression) where we just want to be out exploring new places and playing shows.
Your latest single Pain has been doing well with over 10,000 plays of Spotify in its first month (currently over 31,000 plays). Is it safe to say it has been well received by the fans?JP: People seem to be into it, and we've also had some radio play from the Rock FM and BayRock which is great. Hopefully it keeps on kicking on and reaching new ears!
Rumours are you will be performing new material at your upcoming show. With the first anniversary of your debut album Change/Evolve recently, is there a follow-up album in the works?Hugh: Yeah been working a few of the new ones into our set, might see some of these getting released together at some point but most likely in the further future.
Armed in Advance have performed a number of covers at previous shows. Is there a cover lined up for The Little Big Show?Sure is, we will be doing a song by a band we used to get compared to when we first started out, you might just have to come along to find out what it is.
Your upcoming The Little Big Show is supported by Fallstate and AnimalHead, both having won Ding Dong Lounge band competitions, what can the crowd come to expect from these bands?JP: Tight, savage Pop Punk/Metal from Fallstate, and slick grooves, delicious riffs and party vibes from AnimalHead.
Is this the last chance to see Armed in Advance for the year? Are there any big plans for 2018?Hugh: Yea last show for this year but going to be very busy in 2018 so won’t be too long in between drinks so definitely keep an ear to the ground.