Finding Purpose With LAURENCE HEWSON From SORDID ORDEAL

Interview by Kris Peters
Melbourne rock outfit Sordid Ordeal are the epitomical Aussie music
act, if there ever was such a thing.
Fronted by Laurence Hewson - who some might know by his stage name
The Voice Of Flinders - Sordid Ordeal have been through the
proverbial ringer and back but survived to tell the tale and then
some!
Starting out in Melbourne in 2010 and formed by a group of mates
freshly dropped out of university, Sordid Ordeal spent the next 8
years of their musical journey as a hard-drinking, hard-partying,
and hard-playing punk outfit but for some reason known only to
themselves decided to straighten their act out in 2018 and began
actually recording music and touring outside of their comfort
zone.
Following an East Coast tour in 2023, the band members took things
a step further, assembling more talented musicians to join the
cause and getting down and dirty on their debut album.
That sonic effort has manifested itself into part 1 of a two-part
album release called When I Left Town, which details the early days
of Hewson moving to Melbourne and falling in love with music.
It is a quirky and entertaining trip through musical history,
highlighting the many adventures undertaken by Hewson and the
trials and tribulations of making it in the real world.
Unleashed on the world today (February 16), When I Left Town is a
stunning debut album from a band who are as eclectic as they are
brilliant, with Hewson joining HEAVY to talk through things in
greater detail.
"I can't even begin to tell you how long I have waited for this
moment," he enthused. "In the time this band has been together
we've had 20 or 30 mates bands all put out multiple records and
break up and look back on a successful career in the time we've
been working on this. So it's been a long road in, but it is a
massive relief to smash this one out of the chamber. Tracks on this
were on previous demos and EP's that we have done, but with this I
feel we have finally attained the sound that we always wanted to
have. This is the line-up I've always dreamed of for this band. I'm
actually glad that it took so long because if I'd done this under
previous line-ups or previous circumstances it wouldn't have
sounded or been the way I wanted it to be. This is it. This is a
true representation of what I think this band should have always
been."
In the full interview, Laurence talks more about the album process
and getting it to the release point, the musical side of it and
what they were going for, the four singles released and how they
represent the whole album, the two-part concept behind the twin
releases and why he has done it that way, having a 12 piece choir,
brass ensemble and string quartet on the album and how difficult it
was to keep a cohesive flow to the music with so much going on, the
early days of Sordid Ordeal and how they shaped the bands future,
the album launch party and more.