1. How did the band come together?
Steven Campbell: We formed in early 2018, we used to jam in Ryan; our drummer’s dad’s steel factory late at night after work, writing and working on original material. He and Veronica, our lead guitarist, had known each other for sometime before I came into the mix. Went through a few bass players and shitty rhythm guitarists before I took over on bass as well as lead vocals and eventually we found Arthur to take over rhythm guitar from V.
We rehearsed for a few months and from October last year started playing the local pubs and music venues around Sydney and a few out of town shows as well. Between gigs we spent a lot of time in this very well set up home recording studio, recording a total of 4 songs for our debut EP, SENT FROM HELL, which just came out on May 1st. We got a shit ton of shows lined up to promote the EP all over Sydney and are really going all out with promotion on this one.
2. What are some of your most memorable moments with the band?
Steven: We’ve had a few but there was a clear one for me, during our first ever performance in front of a live audience, we played an open mic at the Hard Rock Cafe in Sydney. There was a point where I did a high pitched elongated scream and legit afterwards I lost consciousness for about 2-3 seconds almost fell straight over and then had to come back to reality and keep playing, it was a wild experience.
3. When going to one of your concerts, what should people expect?
Steven: We’ve been told we’re very loud haha. But you can expect to just have a good time and maybe go a little deaf. We always look out into the crowd and see both younger people and older people dancing around and getting into to our music, the audience often goes as hard as we do. A lot of people tend to think that rock is dead, or that only older people are into it or that it only appeals to a small group of people, but if you actually go out to gigs, its amazing the mix of people and ages you see there. If you come to an Avalanche gig, just expect to have a good time with some good people.
4. Out of every band you have seen live, who are some of your favorites?
Veronica: AC/DC will definitely be #1, no one can quite compare to Angus Young and everything that AC/DC have accomplished. We also saw Airbourne at Download festival this year and they’re up there with AC/DC, they’re live show is crazy and Joel is really one of a kind. We were at the front and he drenched in beer, it was awesome. The Screaming Jets are another great Aussie band with a magnetic frontman in Dave Gleeson, who always put on an awesome show. A local band from Wollongong called the Pinheads are pretty hectic live as well, I think the singer broke his nose at the gig I saw.
5. What are some of your biggest influences that have shaped your music?
Steven: As a band, it’s definitely 70s/80s Aussie rock bands like AC/DC, Rose Tattoo, the Angels, Stevie Wright, the Easybeats, and my dad’s band Avalanche. We’re also inspired by all the big rock and metal bands like Guns n Roses, Led Zep, Metallica, Sabbath, Motörhead, as well as the Rolling Stones, The Who, Chuck Berry, and we also have a lot of blues influences as well.
6. Have you met any of your favorite musicians and what were those experiences like? If you have not met anyone, then who do you want to meet the most?
Veronica: Me and Ryan actually met the Angels and Dave Gleeson from the Screaming Jets, who’s now fronting them. It was awesome shaking the hands of the Brewster brothers, legends of Aussie rock, and Dave was such an awesome dude he talked to us for like half an hour. I would love more than anything to meet Angus Young, we’ve actually met Ross Young, Malcolm Young’s son a few times before at some of our gigs, he’s pretty involved in the music scene in Sydney and always comes out to gigs, he gave me a Malcolm Young guitar pick which I will always keep.
Steven: I gave weed to The Animals once.
7. What are some long-term goals you have for the band?
Steven: I think the biggest long term goal we’ve had from day one, is playing a festival. We’ve always said that’s our goal and once we get there we can start applying ourselves to another but until then we’re trying to play a festival!
8. What is the biggest accomplishment you have had so far?
Steven: Well it’s not really one particular thing, but I think it’s a pretty big accomplishment that when we play a show, we’ll get asked to come back and do another, or the other bands we played with will ask us to do another show with them or a band we’ve never even heard off will ask us to play with them saying that someone else recommended us. It just really means a lot to us because we put a lot of work into rehearsals and writing and our live shows and it shows that people seem to really enjoy it and that we’re doing a good enough job to be asked back for more.
9. What plans do you have for the rest of the year?
Steven: We’ll be gigging non-stop all over Sydney and maybe a bit out of town as well over the next few months to promote the EP, we’re already booked out until the end of July and are constantly booking more shows and working as hard as possible to make em our best shows yet. We’re working very hard with several promotion companies and advertisers as well to just push this EP as far as it can go. Veronica just bought a beautiful new Gibson SG as well, she has 2 now, as well as a Marshall JCM2000 stack that she got last year that she can wait to play the shit out off live. Arthur had to buy a stack as well just to compete with her! So if you’re in Sydney anytime soon, be sure to come along! Apart from that, we’re already working on a new release for towards the end of the year, stay tuned!
Keep up with Avalanche by following their Facebook, Twitter, and Bandcamp
Buy their album: Buy: Avalanche – Sent From Hell
Special thanks to Rogue PR for setting up the interview.
Images provided by Avalanche and social media.
Tristan Zelden 