MNZ Interview: Muzic Speak S01 / E05 – Brainwave

New Zealand’s underground scene has long been a breeding ground for raw energy and boundary-pushing sound, and Brainwave is no exception. Hailing from Wellington, this formidable five-piece is putting the 04HC scene on the world map with their ferocious blend of Thrash Metal and Hardcore.

With influences drawn from US heavyweights like Power Trip, No Warning, and Cruel Hand, Brainwave channels blistering riffs, punishing breakdowns, and relentless intensity into a sound that’s as uncompromising as it is electrifying. Whether in the pit or blasting through speakers, their music embodies a physicality that grabs you by the throat and refuses to let go.

Lisa recently caught up with Brainwave, as they delve into the evolution of their sound, their place in New Zealand’s hardcore movement, and what’s next for the band as they carve their path through the global scene.

Starting with introductions – who are the members of Brainwave, what instruments do each of you play, and how did you all get involved in music?

Brainwave is Rob (vocals), Joram (guitar), Ian (guitar), Caleb (bass), and Angus (drums).

We’ve all played in bands since we were teenagers and over the last several years have found ourselves in bands associated with the Wellington hardcore scene including Severed Beliefs, ColdxWar, and Zone Killer. People might recognise Ian from his other project, Deathtrippa, too.

For those that have never heard of Brainwave before, how would you describe your music?

When Brainwave started we were mainly influenced by hardcore and crossover coming out of Texas, the North East U.S., and Canada. Recently we’ve expanded our influences, and working with Lewis Noke-Edwards to produce our new LP has brought in other elements which add a bit more finesse. We hope fans will recognise a distinctly Australian hardcore influence, which is a really exciting scene at the moment. Think Iron Mind or Warbrain, maybe even a bit of Speed.

So it’s raw, heavy, fast, aggressive (what all bands say about their sound!) but also incorporates more melodic leads and less straightforward arrangements with this release.

The live element is also really important to us and if you’ve never come to one of our shows, or a hardcore show in Wellington, then you definitely should! We hope there is a vibe that people pick up. Hardcore is about community, it’s supporting each other, but also holding each other accountable. At the best shows, the barrier between the band and the crowd totally breaks down. That’s when the crazy stuff happens, stage dives, mic grabs and the like.

Can you tell us about the formation of Brainwave? How did you all come together?

Brainwave formed in 2019. It was probably just the right moment for a few of us. We were all looking for a new project and everything just lined up in that sense. After a couple of shows we started recording our debut EP The Decline (2020) just as COVID lockdowns happened (would not recommend!).

The line-up took a bit of time to stabilise, we started as a five-piece, then were a four-piece for quite a while. Recently Ian joined to add that extra sonic layer. It’s been great having two guitars again!

Wellington’s hardcore scene has always had strong roots. What’s your take on how it has grown in recent years?

Currently, the scene in Wellington is really strong and there are so many great bands, with more forming all the time. Check out Lucre, Standover, Stress Ghetto, Shuriken, Visions ov Hell, Molosser, Ruminari, Marmablade, Vortekke, the list goes on. Everyone is doing something different – from death metal to power violence, to goregrind. It’s just really vibrant and exciting to be apart.

A major part of why the scene has grown so much in recent years is down to the efforts of Start Today Crew putting on regular all ages shows and recently hosting their own fest, which included bringing over Horsepower from Naarm. Hardcore is a DIY genre and if you don’t have people doing that kind of mahi then the scene dies.

You’ve cited Power Trip, No Warning, and Cruel Hand as influences – what aspects of their sound resonate with you?

Those bands all define the sound of their particular regional scene, at least to our minds. Power Trip’s albums Manifest Decimation and Nightmare Logic laid the blueprint of what a band with hardcore roots playing thrash could sound like in the 21st century. The songs are so well written and the playing is often stripped back to its bare bones, but it’s that simplicity that makes it. Less is more in a lot of ways.

Likewise with No Waring and Cruel Hand, these bands were incorporating influences from an older generation of hardcore – Cro-Mags, Leeway etc. – and giving it a modern feel. We didn’t think there was anyone doing anything quite like that in Aotearoa and wanted to give it a go.

Your upcoming album Ill Intent explores themes of hopelessness, loss, and the brutality of everyday life. Can you share the inspirations behind your album and how it resonates with you personally?

We were all facing some challenges during the writing process. Whether at work or in other aspects of our personal lives, the album became an outlet for those struggles. Things like not achieving the goals we wanted in life, feeling disconnected, isolated, and atomised. This is also all of course in the aftermath of the COVID pandemic and the polarisation that has wrought. Society itself seemed to be breaking down.

We were also all profound affected by the genocide being inflicted on the people of Gaza by the state of Israel and the escalation of violence in the West Bank. It was also frustrating that many of our peers seem to have failed to recognise that daily horror and systemic forces pushing the region to the brink.

Overall, just a general dissatisfaction with the state of the world, but also a sense that you can conquer your doubts and prove your detractors wrong and, hopefully, make things slightly better in the process.

What challenges did you face while creating the album, and how did you overcome them?

It probably took a lot longer than we anticipated. We recorded everything ourselves except the drums, rather than going into a studio and doing it all over a week or something. That process has mainly been a methodical grind to get everything done. And inevitably, things happen in someone’s personal life that mean timeframes get pushed back. Luckily, we are all really understanding of each other and of the other commitments we have and we’ve all been flexible and adaptable.

Because we have experience in the ‘real world’ of office jobs and project-based work we have made use of a lot of those techniques, too. Spreadsheets, gantt charts, even things like sprints and scrums to get a single release done. It would be hard to imagine getting this album done without our Thursday night stand-up!

How was it working with Lewis Noke-Edwards again? How has his influence shaped your sound?

Lewis is great! Our mates in Soul Void put us onto him. They’d been working for a while and when we did a split with them, Horrifying New Form (2022), it was a natural fit to get him to do the mix and master for our tracks on that release. He then did the mix and master again on our Summer Promo ‘23 (2023).

For Ill Intent we wanted to have an outside influence on board to both push us and check our instincts. There wasn’t really any other person for the job in our minds.

So we set-up regular meetings with Lewis. We’d send him demos beforehand and then he’d rip them apart, recombine them, add things or take them away. He was never pushy and was always clear that we didn’t have to do what he was suggesting, in fact his ideas might make us realise that we were on the right track initially. But there are definitely a number of ideas on the album that we would never have thought of on our own and that make the songs much stronger. As we said, that Australian hardcore influence, particularly in the guitar leads. Also some of the drum patterns and arrangements are things that people wouldn’t have heard from us on previous releases. For example, there is a bass and drums only transition section in the single Ill Intent that has a really roomy feel. It gives the whole song a totally different dynamic to anything else we’ve done.

It’s cool as well because when he comes to mix the songs, Lewis already knows them and gets what we are trying to achieve. He’s been ruminating on them and isn’t starting from a blank page.

What made Xile’s Luke Manson the ideal choice for your newest single, Ill Intent? How did this collaboration come to life?

We’ve played with Xile a few times and it’s always a blast; they’re such a solid band!

Some people might think Luke was an odd choice. Xile is more of a beatdown band and we play crossover. But we wanted someone whose vocals contrasted with Rob’s. The section where Luke comes in has almost a hip-hop feel. The drums play an accented 16th note pattern, different layers of guitars are coming in and out, and the two vocal parts are essentially trading verses. It was important to have some differentiation in the vocals.

We also wanted to have that bridge between the Wellington and Auckland hardcore scenes, the 04 and the 09, and no one reps Auckland harder than Xile!

So it was all just a natural fit, we got chatting with Luke and made it happen.

You have some killer live shows lined up. How do you prepare for live shows, and what can fans expect from your set?

Yeah, we’re stoked to be on these upcoming shows, first up the Existence Birthday show with Lucre, Martial Law, Shruiken, and Ruminari at Valhalla on 14th June, then supporting Iron Mind at Newtown Community Centre on 11th July. Those will be mad shows!

It’s fun to have a bunch of new songs from the album to play and figure out how we want to do them live. We don’t just want to deliver every song as recorded; we want to adapt them to a live setting and find ways to hype the crowd more. So we are busy experimenting with the set at this stage, as well as bringing back one or two older tracks we haven’t played in a minute.

Beyond the album release, what’s next for Brainwave?

We want to hit as many spots as we can, old and new, for the release of the album so keep an eye out for that in the future.

We’d love to get overseas to Australia or South East Asia at some point too.

It would also be cool to follow up the album with another release relatively quickly so we are kicking around ideas for that.

What advice would you give to aspiring musicians looking to break into the music industry?

Start a band, go to live shows and meet people in other bands, be humble, and work hard. Remember that it’s band rehearsal, not band practice (that happens at home).

Most of all, have fun with your friends!