And The Award Goes To... With MARCUS BRIDGE From NORTHLANE

Interview by Kris Peters
It's that time of the year again where Australia's finest musical
talents assemble to reward their achievements over the last 12
months and beyond.
The APRA Music Awards celebrate excellence in contemporary music,
honouring songwriters and publishers who have achieved artistic
excellence and outstanding success in their fields. To be held in
Melbourne on April 30 this year, the APRA Music Awards have, for
the second year in a row, acknowledged the growing presence of
harder edged and heavy music by presenting the Most Performed Hard
Rock/Heavy Metal category - won in its inaugural year by Parkway
Drive.
More than just a token nod in the direction of change, APRA has
fully embraced music of these genres, recognizing and paying due
respect to a style of music that has grown to such levels it is now
impossible to ignore.
The nominees for Most Performed Hard Rock/Heavy Metal in 2025 are
Make Them Suffer, Polaris, Windwaker, Speed and Northlane, with
HEAVY jumping at the chance to speak with Northlane frontman Marcus
Bridge to find out how confident the band is going into the
awards.
"It's exciting stuff, and it's with a bunch of other great bands,"
he smiled. "It's cool to be with so many bands that we've all grown
up with and built our careers with at the same time and see the new
generation taking that spot."
We ask Marcus how important recognition such as this is for the
future of Australian hard rock/heavy music.
"I think it just shows over the last five to ten years how heavy
music has grown worldwide," he mused, "and especially the
Australian bands. Whenever we're touring overseas, I feel like
Australian heavy bands are the talk of the town, especially in the
US and Europe. Just because there are so many awesome bands working
so hard to get over there. And I think in the end, it's kind of
putting Australian music on the map in a different way around the
world. So it's really, really cool to see that it's being
recognized in that way. I'm just hoping that it keeps on growing
and keeps on getting bigger."
In the full interview, Marcus discussed Northlane's nomination for
the 2025 APRA Awards, expressing excitement about the recognition
alongside other Australian bands and the support from APRA. Marcus
reflected on the growing international attention for Australian
heavy music and the importance of regional tours, emphasizing the
unique energy of smaller venue audiences compared to city crowds.
He also addressed the band's musical evolution, with Marcus
outlining their approach for the next album, which will build on
the last EP's while allowing for experimentation with various
styles.
We took a look at the lighter side of the APRA Awards, including
the potentially crippling effect Frenzal Rhomb had on such bands
being invited to perform live and more.


Become a supporter of this podcast:
https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.