Bayside’s own Ocean Grove touched down on home soil last month heading down to Bar 12 to play a show along side some of our up and coming talent. These hometown heroes started out strong with their new single ‘Backbone’ that set the room’s energy on fire. This powerhouse of local hardcore lent us two of their five members, Dale Tanner (bassist) and Matt Kopp (guitarist) to tell us a little more about the band and what we can expect to see from them in the future.
First thing we needed to know was how Ocean Grove formed? Well starting out at a local high school Matt Kopp and Jimmy Hall (guitarist) started playing covers of bands such as Avenged Sevenfold in their high school assemblies. Completely unaware of what the future held for these two, Hall and Kopp recruited Luke Holmes who took position as vocalist. Searching for a bassist, Luke threw close friend (just about the only competent musician with similar taste he knew) Dale Tanner’s name into the mix and the rest is history. Tanner’s induction into the group maximised their potential, after filtering through drummers to finally take on Sam Bassal as drummer and form what we know today as Ocean Grove.
Why the name Ocean Grove? The band describe themselves as simple guys, so naturally they were drawn to a simple name, since Kopp and Holmes holiday on the west coast, a nearby town in Ocean Grove seemed a fitting name for the band. While the name has taken on several meanings to the band, it’s generally seen as a metaphor for the place between your obligations and freedom.
Inspired by the late 90s to early 2000s sound, Ocean Grove draws most of their inspiration from bands like Korn, Slipknot, Rage Against The Machine and Limp Bizkit. This band defines their sound as experimental hardcore, which in some cases can set them apart from other bands. Their song ‘Overshadow’ combines many aspects of the hardcore genre, going from their opening lines straight into a breakdown that instantly contrasts the spoken word with the heavier and harsher sections of the music. In contrast ‘Backbone’ really stays true to their inspiration of Rage Against The Machine, having a recognizable eerie guitar sound which adds a layer of intrigue to this particularly grungy track. The songs that this band loves to play are the songs that get everyone up and moshing, particularly Enigma, which is an especially raucous song from their Outsider EP.
Of course we made sure to ask the boys their advice for up and coming musicians, to which they said “Do it for the right reasons, because you love the music and you love the people who you’re in the band with”. These boys’ love of music is extremely evident in their stage presence, their constant smile and energy whilst preforming which truly displays their love of music.
So what can you expect to see from Ocean Grove in the second half of 2014? Well Kopp and Tanner have told us there is no block on creativity, and judging by Backbone we can expect good things from whatever these boys release.
Did you miss them at Bar 12? Ocean Grove have their first solo tour lined up for the month of July, catch them down at OLP (4 Wilana Street, Ringwood) on the 6th of July for an all ages show that has an incredible line up. Be sure to like Ocean Grove on Facebook (www.facebook.com/oceangrovemelbourne) and get their EP Outsider from Bandcamp (oceangrove.bandcamp.com)
MILLI RANSOM
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