Stop the presses – Antiskeptic, the early 00’s god-fearing rockers that inspired every teenager to get an eyebrow piercing and check out their local youth group – are back for longer than just a one-off reunion show.
“Anberlin are the catalyst for us getting back together” laughs bassist Sean Daly, paying homage to the Floridan Tooth & Nail legends that invited them to re-form for their Australian tour last year.
“When they announced that they were getting back together with their Australian shows a few years ago…the prospect of playing with those guys…that was too special an opportunity to pass up, so that was the clincher that made us go ‘let’s do that!'”
It’s a changed world that the band finds themselves in now, with streaming numbers and juggling a social media image the dominant side of the music industry that used to be about good old networking.
“When we began it was all about…physically having a space, handing out things, sharing phone numbers, handing out flyers, going to other people’s shows…it was very much who you knew and a lot of long and hard hours,” reflects Sean.
“Returning to this – I’ve been out of all this for about 10 years now….we’ve been able to resume our status of where we left off…we’ve come back to find that people are really excited, and we weren’t too sure at the time if that was going to be the case!”
In addition to the changed scene, there’s change in the lives of the band members – namely something called ‘kids’ – but even though we won’t be seeing them trek around in a van for weeks at a time anymore, Antiskeptic will have a presence moving forward.
“I didn’t want to hear about my kids first anything over the phone while I was away…coming back to it though has been different because I want to bring them along, and you can’t always bring your kids along to rock shows,” says Sean on the balance between having children and being in a rock band.
“We definitely have aspirations to do more music, there’s a lot of writing going on, and we have an agenda to release some new music.”
“But we’re balancing that with how many hours, nights and days can you afford to put your partner through being the sole person whilst you’re off having a bit of fun. You go ‘I’m gonna take from the family and have fun for a bit’, but when you get back, you have to give back.”
Antiskeptic have always been a group that channel their life experiences into their music, be it changing family life, or their faith, with a shared Christianity between the members something that characterised the band in the past.
“Our faith and beliefs are still something we hold dear to” says Sean, “but they have changed, been weathered and tested..but we’ve added to that with more life experience and added more things that are important to what we believe and choose to stand for.
“In 2020, it’s okay to stand up for something that you believe in, i.e. climate change as a perfect example, and it’s not a divisive issue to say that ‘I think that this is something worth fighting for.’”
“We have a set of beliefs and opinions that we think are good and serve the good of people…for example I’m involved in the Melbourne Sea Shepherd movement, my whole family is…that is a theme, environmental conservation that is, that will come through our music.”
The winds of change have definitely taken the Antiskeptic ship to new and unexplored shores – but at the end of the day, they’re still the angsty musical explorers at heart, which is good news for fans hanging out for new material.
“There’s some unfinished business around the Monuments cycle” teases Sean.
“It feels like we’re coming back to that mixing pot of creative tension of it being heavy, loud, hooky and sellable at the same time.”
Bring on the 20’s with a fresh and heavy Antiskeptic back in the mix!
BLAST FROM THE PAST 2020
SERAPHS COAL, ANTISKEPTIC, FOR AMUSEMENT ONLY
Friday, 6 March
The Triffid, Brisbane
Tickets: OzTix
Saturday, 7 March
Mary’s Underground, Sydney
Tickets: MoshTix
Sunday, 8 March
Corner Hotel, Melbourne
Tickets: Corner Hotel
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