Rick_Fury_Interview

Gloon from the Full Metal Mayhem team nailed down Fury six stringer Rick Boon and inquired about touring, the evolution of their sound and playing blind.

A quick background if you could, on the band and their journey for the uninitiated?

Well, the band was originally founded in 1993, when we lived back in a small country town called Broken Hill. It started out simply as myself and (Lead Guitarist) Darren jamming out a few of our favorite cover tunes. We could barely play at that stage, most of us were still learning our instruments. As we got better though, we started writing some original material and it sort of developed from there. After a while we had a few members come and go but nothing was ever really solid.
We eventually recorded our first full length CD in January 1997. We had our current vocalist Mick O'Neil, bass player Aaron Dewsbery (who left in 1998) and a friend of ours Ben Harris played session on the drums. We relocated to Adelaide in search for a permanent drummer and a bass player after Aaron decided to leave. Derek Beauchamp joined us in August '98 on the drums and we began writing material with and also played a few shows with just a four piece line up. We really needed a bass player though and finally in October of '98 we found Steve who fitted the requirements quite nicely.
During 1999 and 2000 we we're in and out of the studio a lot recording cover songs for tribute albums. The next recording session was for our 5 song MCD "Stigmatised", which was released in February of 2000. After a solid year of playing some high profile shows and some small tours we then headed back in to the studio to work on this current release. After around 3 weeks of studio trauma we gave birth to "Slavekind".

Slavekind, its a corker! How has the response been so far and has there been any label interest yet?

Thanks, the response has been great so far. We've been getting some kick ass reviews from around the world. Also, we have been getting some interest from labels and distributors, but at this stage there's definitely nothing carved in stone. We don't want to get pinned down with a contract that can't deliver what we need and miss out on something more appropriate later.

The band themselves describe how on the new release they are getting
heavier and darker. Is this the deliberate intention of Fury or is it just
evolving into a more brutal beast as time goes on?

Our music seems to be naturally evolving. We don't tend to make any con-
scious efforts to change our style or direction, but their is definitely a signif-
icant difference between our first cd and our latest.

I understand that you have just finished a tour of the East Coast, how
was the band received and did you win over any crowds and convert any
new fans?

All the shows went well, especially in Canberra. We really enjoyed playing there, the crowds really took to us from the first song onwards. We've actually started to branch out into a few of the regional areas as well and the reactions to those shows have been amazing.

your thoughts on the thrash revival and the re-emergence/return to form of bands such as Kreator, Destruction, SOD and Sodom?

I think it's great, I've always been a thrasher and with the renewed interest in the scene it gives a band like ours a bit more of a chance to be noticed.

A personal question if I may. It mentions on your site the conflict and battle you have had with your eyesight, how did you stay strong and focused and learn how to play at such a high level while being at such an obvious disadvantage?

Despite the whole blindness thing, it hasn't really been all that hard to remain focused. Music has been something I've been passionate about from a relatively young age so it seemed like a logical path for me to take. To some degree it's actually helped my playing, especially in the situations where there's wierd lighting or darkness. I'm not relying on what I see so it doesn't tend to throw me off at all. Whilst being blind pisses me off, I guess I've got it to thank for the whole direction of music. It's made me a little more determined to achieve something despite the obvious disadvantage.

What�s on the cards for Fury in 2002, can we expect any new music in the foreseeable future?

Well there's the string of shows I mentioned, plus we've started writing and rehearsing songs for the next release. We've currently got about six or so songs written, so with any luck we'll head back into the studio late this year to record the next cd for a possible early 2003 release. Also if we can find decent enough financial backing we're all keen to get over to Europe and check out the scene there.

Finally anything you would like to say to those who haven�t yet been blasted by Fury?

Get out and support your underground bands. Without the support of the fans it's hard for these new bands to get off the ground. Also, if you let us know who you are, where you are and make enough noise about it, we'll do our best to set some shows up in your area.