Rural heavy metal band rehearsing for gig 800km away in Adelaide

ABC NEWS (Australia)

It's a long way to the top if you want to rock and roll. But if you're a young band in regional Australia it's even more challenging. An ambitious heavy metal band based in a town at the edge of the Nullarbor Plain is preparing for an 800-kilometre road trip to play their first gig in a capital city.

Transcript

00:00On South Australia's West Coast, heavy metal band NAR is in full flight.

00:13The Ceduna-based band is rehearsing for their first big city gig in Adelaide, 800 kilometres away.

00:19A round trip from here is around 16 hours, and doing that sort of a trip for a 40-minute show to some people might seem a little extreme,

00:28but, you know, for us, it's a thing we've got to do.

00:34Heavy metal is not a typical soundtrack in regional Australia.

00:37I think it's very limited what you can do in a regional town.

00:40There's only a, I dare say, it's quite a niche genre that, especially in heavy music,

00:45where you can only meet a handful of people and you've kind of reached your ceiling quite early on in terms of that.

00:50Jack Bergen was a frontman for the Melbourne Metalcore band Void of Vision.

00:55He's sensing a shift in how regional audiences are embracing music of all genres.

00:59I think we're starting to see a bit of a change in it.

01:02I know that regional touring, in a larger aspect for some of our more household names, is coming back big.

01:09Venues like this one in Port Lincoln are offering support.

01:12But financial pressures, including skyrocketing insurance costs, are making it increasingly difficult.

01:18But with a struggle becomes a possibility for, you know, an opportunity.

01:22It forces venues to be a point of difference and offer things that people want to see and hear and do.

01:34Despite the challenges, the members of NAW are determined to build a following.

01:38I don't think we've gotten to the too much or too expensive part yet.

01:41But even if we do, I don't think we're going to be that fussed.

01:43Forging a metal future.

01:45You

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