More Greetings & Salutations With AZZA & HUTCHY From FRANKENBOK

Interview by Kris Peters
Playtime is over. Now shit gets real.
Much has been made of Frankenbok welcoming back original vocalist
Hutchy to launch their next foray into the world of metal, but as
fun as the honeymoon period has been it's now time to let their
music do the talking.
Following the frenetic Demon Tantrum, the tongue in cheek cover of
(You Spin Me) Right Round and the most recent track Dopamine,
Frankenbok are preparing to throw all their cards on the table
today, January 31, with the release of the first EP under the
current regime in the form of Irrepressible.
Not that anyone who has been a part of Australian metal at any
stage over the last quarter of a century would - or could - have
any doubts, but it almost feels like Frankenbok have got a point to
prove. The band have had an ever-evolving sound, mainly due to a
merry-go-round of vocalists over the years, but from all reports
Irrepressible is a large step back to the early days of the band
where pretty much anything went and the focus was, first and
foremost, on enjoying playing music.
HEAVY sat down for a chat with guitarist Azza Bok and vocalist
Hutchy to get the lowdown in a chat that got so involved we had to
split the video into two parts for easier digestion.
"It was a real cathartic moment for me personally as well," Hutchy
explained when talk turned to him rejoining the band. "I turned up
to Cherry Bar and someone said Frankenbok was playing, and I
thought I'm not in the mood for any bullshit and Aaron walked
straight up to me, looked me dead in the eye, extended his hand and
said some really nice words and defused the situation. It felt like
a whole weight had lifted off my shoulders. I made my peace many
years ago, but we obviously hadn't spoken for a while. It started
that next step for the things that came to follow."
So the big question is what can we expect from the new music?
"It's a homage to all the Frankenbok over the years," Hutchy
measured. "When I approached it vocally and lyrically I went back
and listened to all the albums and stuff and got inspired by
everybody. I've got this reputation as being a bit of a Mike Patton
try-hard, so I went back, and I tried to be inspired by Frankenbok,
and make a Frankenbok record. It's got all the great elements of
Frankenbok, but hopefully something new as well. I think it's a
very refined, mature Frankenbok as well. I'm really proud of it. I
never thought it was going to turn out like this."
"And I know people always say this about their latest album, but I
will legitimately say it's my favourite one to date," Azza chimed
in. "I went through years of writing it and listening to it over
and over and over and getting it done, but now when I listen to it,
I legitimately really, really enjoy it. I love the sound of it. I
love what everybody did to it. There was no… I said to everybody,
you do whatever the fuck you wanna do, just do it the best you
can."
In the full interview we cover more ground on how Hutchy came back
to the Frankenbok camp, lessons learnt musically by both of them
over the last two decades, writing new material and settling into a
groove, more on what to expect from the new music, we analyse each
of the five tracks in more detail, discuss future live shows and
more.


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