Resist and Trial and Error’s Hardcore festival today announced their lineup and plans to host the event across two days (July 13-14) at the Hi Fi in Sydney. New York band Youth Of Today will be headlining; the event also marks the 20th Anniversary for Toe To Toe, who will be playing a set plucked from their early 7"s. We caught up with event organiser Graham Nixon, who helms Resist Records.
:: FEATURE - THE RISE OF AUSTRALIAN HARDCORE
Firstly, congrats on putting together another healthy lineup, how long did the planning and confirming process take this time around?
As last year's line up featured some of the best local bands, getting a quality bill together this year without asking the same bands was tough. We were lucky last year with Break Even playing there last ever shows and having two internationals available to play. I always have an idea of the line up about 12 months in advance, especially for the main bands. I start locking in bands in January and the line ups generally confirmed by February.
How do Resist and Trial and Error decide on which bands will perform? Can you tell us a bit on what swayed you to choose a few of the bands on the bill like Youth Of Today and Warbrain?
I wanted a "classic" hardcore band to headline, and Gorilla Biscuits were looking to do it until there drummer injured himself and ruled them out. I saw Youth Of Today in New York last year and they had been wanting to come out to Australia for some time, so it made sense to offer them the headlining slot. There were also a bunch of other bands I was interested in, however were unavailable due to various reasons. Warbrain will have a new album out around this time and also played the all ages show last year, I was looking for a band to finalise the 18+ line up and rather then add another band from the all ages line up, it made sense to add Warbrain.
:: REVIEW AND PICS OF HARDCORE 2012
Obviously longtime hardcore fans are very happy with your choice of Toe To Toe, what do you think when you look back on their growth over the past two decades?
Toe To Toe was the first hardcore band I got into, so to have them on my festival is something Im proud of. They paved the way for Australian bands, in a time when hardcore music wasn't popular. They were touring both Australia and overseas and involved with a lot of things non hardcore related, whether it be festivals or supporting other bands exposing people to hardcore music. As they celebrate a 20-year anniversary, they will be playing tracks from their earliest 7"s, so should be a great set.
It's still a Sydney-centric festival but sees hardcore fans from across the country make the commute to attend. Given last year's sell-out, have you thought about taking the event nationally at all?
The whole purpose of the event is to bring people together and keep it more of a community thing. If it was to tour, it would lose that, and thats a big part of why I do it every year. Its so easy for people to stay in touch these days, however its great to see people from all over the country catch up over the weekend. I have no plans for it to go to other cities, I think its a perfect excuse for non-Sydneysiders to come to Sydney, catch up with friends and watch some of the best Australian bands out there.
The hardcore festival market is currently quite small, do you think that makes it harder or easier for established players?
Hardcore music is still a small scene compared to other genres. Sure there are many heavy bands doing big things, but true hardcore bands still only draw small crowds. The Hardcore weekend attracts a lot of people from all over the country side and gives great exposure to many young bands.
What's the biggest setback Hardcore has had over the years and what did you learn from it?
Some years are definitely hard to put together a big line up. We missed 2011 for that reason, 2010 was slow and the line up for 2011 just wasn't coming together, so was easier to just skip it then to force it and not have it work. 2012 sold out and was one of the biggest we've had, so not trying to force a line up or making sure you have a good line up is the most important thing.
- Poppy Reid
