Obviously, borders are looking a bit how ya goinвЂ™ across the rest of the country at the moment. We thought it was important вЂMoral CompassвЂ™ was released prior to playing shows, as we wanted listeners to experience everything we had to offer from the comfort of their homes, cars, or wherever possible!вЂќ вЂњWe have been extremely lucky here in Perth regarding COVID. PerthвЂ™s looking pretty good from a COVID point of view, got any shows lined up? Being able to work with Jo at DarkSpiritPhotography is such a pleasure and the quality we receive from him is second to none! ItвЂ™s just a blessing to be situated in Perth so we can all get together and do these types of things!вЂќ Our band is an investment to our hopeful musical futures so if we plan on releasing music to the public, it needs to sound impressive. вЂњAs a general rule we aim to do things right the first time. Do you think putting all youвЂ™ve got into music videos are integral to catch the eye of potential fans in the heavy music scene? It certainly seems that way these days, and many bands across the world have had to release animated clips and such this year, as musicians havenвЂ™t even been able to get together, so crazy! To put together a video with that level of production, so early on in the bandвЂ™s career is pretty impressive. The response we had internationally was great! Listeners from all over the world had tuned in to our socials and plenty of hometown love too. Being a brand new band on the вЂsceneвЂ™ with no prior social engagements, we had just hoped to reach as many people as possible. вЂњWhen we had released вЂ Waves вЂ™ we werenвЂ™t really sure what to expect. How was the response to the single вЂWavesвЂ™ and accompanying video? We feel we have a widely diverse sense of inspiration that came together as a whole when writing our EP, вЂMoral Compass вЂ™. I donвЂ™t think we intended to portray IKTPQ vibes (although humbling to hear). IвЂ™m getting some IKTPQ vibes on the EP вЂ“ is this an accident or not really? ThereвЂ™s something really familiar there and I guess I was just curious if you thought the same thing? From nasty Emmure -esque breakdowns to soaring melodic choruses, we are really trying to hit home with as many heavy music lovers as we possibly can! Not sticking to the same procedure of writing song-to-song.

Upheld, as a collective, are just a happy bunch of people aiming to punch holes through walls with our tracks and get a crowd jumping live. How would you describe Upheld to heavy music fans? Female, drummer, fierce vocals, all in one. Although itвЂ™s not uncommon to have both heavy screams and squeaky clean vocals in the metalcore genre, we like to feel we differentiate from the pack due to StellaвЂ™s rarity. We hadnвЂ™t intentionally aimed to reference sound from other local heavy hitters from the Perth scene when writing and creating our tracks. Following trends from fellow locals Make Them Suffer and Saviour, did you draw on any influences there to compare the differentiating howling screams to angelic cleans across the EP? You guys emphasise the variation of style on the upcoming EP, contributed to with StellaвЂ™s clean vocals, which you describe as something pretty unique. Creating, writing, and performing our music. We love what we do, and every step along the way. The vision of the band is vast, however it can all be brought back down to our shared love of heavy music. What brought the band together вЂ“ what was the vision of the band, even before the diversity of the EP вЂMoral CompassвЂ™ came to life? Now all looking forward to making our mark together in Upheld. Three of our members are no strangers to the stage, all having been a part of bands in the Perth scene from the past. ItвЂ™s true weвЂ™re a bit of a mixed lollie bag when it comes to musicians. YouвЂ™ve described yourselves as a band with members that weвЂ™ve probably seen before вЂ“ few of you been in the scene before the inception of Upheld? вЂњGo clear off a counter or a tabletop,вЂќ Hoffman says, вЂњwhichever one stresses you out most.We spent some time getting to know the band, and now weвЂ™d like to give you that opportunity. If you're raring to go, there's no time like the present. The danger here, she says, is that вЂњby constantly comparing our everyday reality to what other people are choosing to present it's always going to make us feel inadequate because you think everyone else has it together.вЂќ In reality, she reminds visitors to her blog - who are all enthusiastically supportive of one another - вЂњthere are many, many many more people like us than there are like them.вЂќ Now what? If you went to wide lens you'd be horrified.вЂќ вЂњIf I'm taking a picture I'm clearing everything out of the background. вЂњAt this point we're really only seeing very, very carefully curated snapshots of people's lives,вЂќ and that includes her own, she says.

Go hard or go home clean