- Feb 22, 2018

Meet ARBORVIEW - Through This Storm INTERVIEW

Since their start in 2017 Sydney, Australia natives Arborview are living proof that persistence, dedication, practice, kindness, and a little bit of luck with excellent chemistry will pay off. In this short time, the pop-punk trio released an EP, started ripping up playlists, and recently signed to LA based indie label We Are Triumphant. The boys are set to turn heads across the globe.

"Open up your eyes it's time to escape, look at the horizon it can't wait..."

Scotty Berger (vox/guitar), Alex Powys (drums), & Eamon O'Byrne (bass/vox) got their start through mutual friends, after a few months of hanging out and jamming together they realized that all of the chemistry was there and it was a good idea to keep what they had going.

The trio had the work ethic and mindset to lock away in a rehearsal studio and grind away at what would later become their first EP. They sent that EP and gigged out for a while, and after a few months the founder of We Are Triumphant (Neck Deep) himself got in touch with Arborview in hopes they would work together

Now with a monthly listener base of 20k, over 32k plays on Spotify alone, +3K likes and listeners on social media and growing daily, their eyes set on sunny California as their new home, Arborview is living proof that anything is possible with work, timing is everything, and this is just the beginning...

I chatted with the Aussie lads about their first gigs, their signing to We Are Triumphant and how to stay tight as a 3 piece band...CHECK IT!

- TPPD: How did you guys get your start/meet?

AV: We all met through mutuals and decided that we all had similar interests and got together in a rehearsal room one night and everyone was sounding sick. The cohesion and friendship was there so we just kept meeting up and jamming, now we are here.

- TPPD:Your guys first shows what were they like, who came?

AV: Our first shows were actually pretty awesome! We played a tonne of 18+ (legal drinking age in Australia) shows and everyone got hammered and jumped around with us. Some of our loyal fans and friends even brought balloons, party poppers and streamers to cause a ruckus during our set.

- TPPD: I remember when Folie A Deux came out Fall Out Boy hit up all of the old VFWs and dive bar venues when they were touring Take This To Your Grave LP and didn’t let anyone know the venue until DAY OF and let local bands open up for them, tickets were like $20. Question is, what is your like “HOMETOWN venue” that you consider “your place”?

AV: The Bald Faced Stag is a Sydney venue which we love playing at. The staff are always legends, the sound guy is hilarious and the general vibe is a killer of a place to play.

- TPPD: You guys only started 1 year ago, and you’re already signed to We Are Triumphant. How did that come about?

AV: Huge hey! We were very lucky. Alex messaged Greg (Founder of WAT) with our EP in the hopes that he would check it out. A couple of months later, Greg got back saying he loved the music and wanted to work with us. We signed the deal the next week and it has been absolutely awesome ever since!

- TPPD: Did you guys initially start going “okay let’s write some fucking songs” or was it like cover songs and a few of your own sprinkled in?

AV: Haha we definitely had both mindsets going into the rehearsal room. We all agreed on some covers we liked just so we had something to play and then someone would start jamming on a riff or groove and then BAM! Arborview has a new song.

- TPPD: Any favorite cover songs? Do you perform it/them live?

AV: Eamon is a huge fan of Yellowcard so we have played Ocean Avenue live religously, such a banger. We also tend to cover Fall Out Boy songs because it's always good to get super rowdy with the crowd and get them fully engaged.

- TPPD: Will we see perhaps a recorded cover tune in the future?

AV: We have some covers up on our Youtube page already but we recently did our own rendition of 'Ho Hey' by The Lumineers which we are hoping to get recorded and put out on We Are Triumphant's cover albums, should be coming up either this year or next year!

- TPPD: You guys have a shit ton of musical backgrounds, from jazz Fusion all the way to pop-punk, do you guys try to incorporate all of your backgrounds into playing?

AV: It's great that everyone has such different musical backgrounds! We definitely write to the style of the Pop-Punk Genre but our individual playing styles allow us to have that unique sound that differentiates from all of the other Pop-Punk boys and girls.

- TPPD: I’m a bass player, so in high school when starting out with pop-punk, I idolized the 5 M’s. “MARK (Hoppus), (Fat) MIKE, MATT Freeman, MIKE Herrera, and MIKE Dirnt). *What individual musician from punk, pop-punk bands influenced you/got you started playing?

AV: The 5 M's are always a great way to persist with music and excel. We definitely have influences from Yellowcard, All Time Low as well as other bands such as Periphery and Animals as Leaders. For Alex, his biggest influence was his Grandma passing away just after buying him his first drum kit so he swore to stick to it and pretty glad he did!

- TPPD: What musician/artist would we be surprised that you like outside of the punk/pop-punk genre? (I love Demi Lovato, Brad Paisley).

AV: Demi is an absolute babe! We are actually HUGE fans of Nickelback haha. A bit of Bruno Mars too, anything that isn't house music we are generally pretty into

- TPPD: Dream collaboration...GO!

AV: Scotty is a huge fan of All Time Low so his dream collab would be with Alex Gaskarth. As a band, Neck Deep would be a sick collab as they started off in the same label as we have had the opportunity to be a part of.

- TPPD: I’m a huge sucker for harmonies in bands. Was that something that came natural?

AV: Scotty writes all our harmonies so he's some kind of god-like entity when you see him recording them in the studio. Harmonies definitely make a song and we are super glad we have Scotty to smash them out.

- TPPD: With so many bands like Neck Deep, Real Friends, Knuckle Puck, they all have like a pop-punk orchestra amount of people in the band. I love how fucking tight and full sounding you guys are as just a 3 piece band, was that a conscious decision? Did influences like blink-182, and even bands like (The Used, AFI, NFG) who only have 1 guitar, 1 drum, 1 bass impact you?

AV: Thanks man! We honestly never really expected it. We have lead guitars in our songs and are actually soon to announce a 4th member but yeah we have stuck as 3 piece ever since as we haven't been able to find someone with the same passion and goal as all of us and have just been waiting for the right person.

- TPPD: You guys plan to move to LA in August. I wish you so much fucking luck. What are your goals until then? After?

AV: Very exciting! Still in the works, hoping we can get there around that time. Lots of paperwork and money haha. We have our Debut EP 'Through This Storm' coming out March 30th as well as a follow up single, some new merch, a deluxe version of the EP and some covers and behind the scenes content, not to mention plenty of shows around Australia before we hit the states!

- TPPD: Have your families been supportive? Do any of you plan to bring a significant other/ kid (if you are dads) or pet with you?

AV: The families have definitely been supportive! Very stern and worried but they know that we are willing to give it everything to play to people and engage our audience. We are looking to come with our girlfriends, unfortunately no pets :( but we could even get a cute little puppy when we get over there!

- TPPD: Is there anything else you would like to say to new listeners & fans?

AV: We just wanted to thank Pop Punk Dad for the opportunity to chat with the man himself. We love talking to new people and like to create a big Arborview family so feel free to contact us on your preferred social media platform or come out to a local show! Be sure to keep your eyes out for new music and thanks again Pop Punk Dad for being a legend x

You can check out more of Arborview at ANY of the links or playlists below and be on the look out for them in 2018 on We Are Triumphant.