Appreciating Aussie Metal With WINSTON McCALL From PARKWAY DRIVE

Interview by Kris Peters
While the annual APRA Music Awards have always celebrated the
abundance of talent coursing through the Australian musical
landscape, the focus has always been on the more mainstream artists
and side of the industry.
Hard rock and heavy metal have long been touted for inclusion, but
for varying reasons have never quite made it onto the big stage for
Australia's most prestigious awards.
Until now.
The 2024 APRA Music Awards will, for the very first time, include a
category which rewards and recognises this country's strong and
growing stronger metal scene with the inclusion of the inaugural
Most Performed Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Work category.
The point could - and will - be argued that heavy music should have
been included long before this, but in the overall scheme of
things, the fact this category has been introduced is recognition
and vindication of how much heavy music is progressing in our own
backyard. It is just reward for a scene and genre that has never
claimed to be for the masses, but through sheer weight of listening
numbers has ensured long overdue acceptance in the public
spotlight.
Nominees for the category this year include Alpha Wolf, Polaris,
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, The Amity Affliction and
Parkway Drive, all bands who have played a significant role in the
increased growth of heavy music both here and abroad.
To celebrate this landmark event, HEAVY tracked down Winston McCall
from Parkway Drive to discuss just what something like this means
to Australian heavy music.
"It's sick," he smiled. "It's awesome that they have added that
category. Awards are humbling in general. I'm really stoked for
more recognition for our scene and community, full stop. Because
right now it just seems like… it's honestly bigger than it's ever
been. The more that we can do to push that forward and make people
recognise it, the better for it. For us to get an award, sweet, I'm
stoked the award exists with a bunch of really, really cool
bands."
As good as it is to have APRA finally recognise the heavy music
community, their hand has been pushed somewhat by the continued
expansion of artists within this genre. It is a sense of pride to
everyone in the metal scene, and one not lost on the bigger fish
like Parkway Drive.
"Yeah, 100%," McCall agreed. "And that's the way it works. At the
base of that, the really cool thing is being involved in a scene
where situations like that come about because of the community
behind it. It's like an engaged scene of people. Everyone pays
attention to everything that's going on. Everyone supports
everything. Not every scene is doing as well as ours at this point
in time. Post-COVID it's been difficult, but I look out there, and
I see people who still care about this music that is their passion
and still support it 110% and look at where it is now."
In the full interview, Winston expressed pride in the Australian
music scene and the community's support for the genre, discussed
his upcoming attendance at the awards night and his lack of
preparation for a potential speech. The conversation also included
a lighthearted exchange about sending photos of outfits and the
casual approach to the event.
Winston also reflected on Parkway Drive's 20th-anniversary tour
later this year, expressing gratitude for the band's journey and
the community's support. He shared insights on the band's supports
for the tour and discussed the challenges of managing the
unexpected popularity. Additionally, Winston discussed the band's
upcoming European festivals and Australian tour, hinting at new
music in the works but expressing a preference to focus on the
existing material during the tour.

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