Brothers In Arms

"Im just getting my car fixed man, the tyres are bald, the engine mounts gone, the speedo's not working and the list goes on, it's going to be fucked, man. I'm not exactly rich either,” jokes The Amity Affliction vocalist Joel Birch. The frontman is enjoying some down time back home after what has been one of the most hectic touring calendars in their history, supporting their ARIA chart-topping 2012 release Chasing Ghosts.

It's been a whirlwind ride for the band, who earlier in the year earned a spot on the famous US Warped Tour, to add to their numerous shows throughout Australia this year. But the lingering effects of so many shows took its toll on the frontman to the point where he was rushed to hospital while in the US, back in July. Birch was diagnosed with a case of severe dehydration which led to other complications, resulting in the singer suffering a seizure, and later he awoke in an ambulance. “I've got no memory of it, but apparently it was pretty hectic, apparently I went blue and stopped breathing,” he recalls. Birch stayed in hospital overnight for precautionary reasons and missed their set in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and was still too sick to play their next show in Cleveland.  Enter: The Amity Affliction karaoke, with Sam Carter, the vocalist of UK hardcore band Architects, Chris Roetter vocalist of US metalcore band Like Moths To Flames and letlive. frontman Jason Butler filling in for Birch. It was an unusual situation for the band but one that Birch looks back on with a range of feelings. “I got to watch my own band and that was pretty wild and it was pretty emotional,” he muses. “It was psycho; I mean it was cool just seeing my friends up there doing it but it was pretty weird.”

During his interview with The Music Birch is constantly apologising to me for being distracted by both his mechanic and his one-year-old border collie named Dondi. “Fuck sorry man, two seconds 'Dondi get back here',”” the frontman quips. “He's full of beans and he's only one, so he's still a bit of a puppy.” Birch is enjoying his time off, and managed to fit in a surf before our interview, but he's adamant these are things he misses the most when on the road. “Man it sucks [leaving Dondi] but it's good coming home to him, it's pretty funny when I get home, he's full on, he does back flips and shit.” He laughs. “I've just been body boarding and hanging out with my family. Yeah it's awesome coming home to this [place], the girlfriend and the dog.”

The Amity boys are about to gear up for another touring leg and another headlining run of shows for the Brothers in Arms tour with Chelsea Grin, Stick To Your Guns and In Hearts Wake. It will mark their last tour before the band gets ready to head back into the recording studio in early 2014 to begin work on their follow up to Chasing Ghosts. They have already written seven new songs while on tour and between breaks. It's an exciting prospect for the band and one that has seen them try to reduce the time it takes between recording albums. “This is the first time we've had more than six weeks to write an album,” Birch says rather satisfied before he jokes “I mean it's better but at the same time, I mean for me; I've been taking it a bit too easy, [more] than I normally do.”

2013 has been a massive year in the hardcore and metal scenes particularly in Australia. The Amity Affliction debuted as number one on the ARIA charts in 2012 and saw their profile skyrocket in the last 18 months, Northlane unleashed their smashing sophomore release Singularity and heavyweights Parkway Drive celebrated their tenth anniversary. Birch admits the scene is healthy for the bands at the top but is hopeful more Australian heavy bands find success. “I'd like to think [that] and hopefully there's a trickle-down effect of success, you know, because I mean there's a lot of good bands coming from Australia and they do deserve to get recognition,” he suggests. But it's their persistence and the constant touring schedule that has helped spawn their enormous standing throughout Australia and worldwide, but they have achieved this through sheer grit and determination.

“When we started it was just you jam, you play shows, you don't put anything on the fucking internet, release a CD and then tour, and tour and tour and that's what we did and that's what Parkway did,” says Birch.

“Nothing's changed for us, we've been touring like this for last four or five years, we've always toured and we always will.”