After years of refusing to fit neatly into any one scene, HEALTH have found themselves embraced by one of heavy music’s most passionate audiences.
Ahead of HEALTH‘s Australian headline tour this September, vocalist Jake Duzsik reflected on everything from their memorable Knotfest Australia appearance to why Australian fans continue to surprise them.
For HEALTH, playing Knotfest in Australia last year was a very different experience to their usual headline shows, sharing bills with bands like Hatebreed meant adapting to a crowd with its own traditions and expectations:
“I don’t scream. I have this very delicate androgynous voice that I think can be a little confusing for an audience that are uninitiated to what we do,” Duzsik tells us.
Rather than trying to imitate the high energy crowd banter of many metal frontmen, he leaned into the awkwardness, one off the cuff moment during the Brisbane performance, where he joked about not being able to scream between songs like everyone else, clearly stuck with Australian fans.
HEALTH ‘ANTIDOTE’ video
A different approach
That Knotfest experience also changed the way HEALTH approached writing new material:
“That experience and doing a lot of metal festivals in Europe, it did affect a lot of the writing we wanted to do” on CONFLICT DLC, he says. “We could see, like, oh, we need some more kinetic, higher tempo, just physical aggressive songs to tailor a live experience for this kind of setting.”
Despite regularly appearing alongside heavier acts, Duzsik still isn’t convinced HEALTH have fully crossed into the metal world:
“We’re not a metal band,” he explains, adding that while the band’s fanbase comfortably moves between industrial, electronic and extreme music, earning repeat invitations to major heavy festivals is the real test of belonging.
A second home in Australia
One place where there’s no question HEALTH have found a home is Australia:
“It has been one of the fastest growing… our best fan bases are the United States and Australia, unquestionably.”
Duzsik admits he still can’t completely explain why Australians have connected so deeply with the band, but he believes the country’s long running love of heavy music has helped.
“I think that you guys… have this pedigree of like things like Parkway and heavier music. I think has really started… to become more part of the mainstream listening culture earlier in Australia than it has in a lot of other places.”
He also sees something unique about Australian fans beyond their taste in music:
“We find that it’s like a lot of very internet savvy people,” he says, pointing to gaming culture, online creators and heavy music fans all existing within HEALTH’s audience.
Online culture
That online culture has become just as much a part of HEALTH’s identity as their music, the band’s social media balances bleak industrial aesthetics with absurd memes, something Duzsik sees as a natural reflection of modern life rather than a calculated strategy:
“I think that it’s like the scene in Full Metal Jacket, you know, where he’s got ‘Born to Kill’ written on his helmet next to the peace symbol. It’s like the duality of man.”
He believes humour has become inseparable from darker themes:
“Right now, all humor feels like gallows humor.”
While HEALTH’s music often explores bleak emotional territory, Duzsik says one aspect of the band’s success still catches him off guard, fan messages describing how the music has helped people through serious mental health struggles remain difficult to process:
“It’s just hard to digest,” he says. “I don’t want to sound pompous… it’s more the opposite of that.”
With HEALTH returning to Australia this September alongside Perturbator and King Yosef and learning valuable lessons from Knotfest, Duzsik is looking forward to bringing those experiences back to rooms already filled with people who understand exactly what HEALTH is about (and no doubt new fans from Knotfest).
HEALTH Australian Tour 2026 dates
- Friday, September 18th – Brisbane, The Tivoli
- Saturday, September 19th – Sydney, The Roundhouse
- Sunday, September 20th – Melbourne, The Forum
- Wednesday, September 23rd – Hobart, The Odeon
- Friday, September 25th – Adelaide, The Gov
- Saturday, September 26th – Fremantle, Metropolis
Find out more and get your tickets here.
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