Totally Unicorn's Drew Gardner Puts It All On The Table & Says 'Sorry'

Sorry, Totally Unicorn's second full-length, opens with the memorable title track, as vocalist Drew Gardner rants, swears, shrieks and roars his profuse apologies, a primal scream punctuated by what soon segues into an appropriately abrasive musical attack.

Although the album overall is less chaotic than the noisy, time signature-bending metal/hardcore for which they've been renowned, there's still plenty of fury, anguish and idiosyncratic touches instantly recognisable as the same Sydney group behind 2016 debut Dream Life. Remarking that “this is the best the band has ever been as mates and musically”, Gardner is audibly enthused by the now quartet's new material. “I still listen to a lot of heavy music, but definitely my tastes have changed. I wouldn't say matured, but changed a lot. I listen to a lot more grungier, punk stuff like Pissed Jeans... So a bit more straightforward kind of stuff.

“It's always going to sound like us I guess, especially vocally. But definitely, this album for us was a pretty big one because we'd lost a guitarist, so we only have one guitarist now. And also we had a new drummer [former Robotosaurus member Adam Myers] for the first time writing. It was definitely a massive focus to change it up a bit. Be a bit more straightforward with the songwriting, not be as spazzy and technical, and have bits that people can actually bop their head to. That definitely was a focus for us.”

The end result is bruisingly heavy sonically and thematically, as Gardner doubled down and delved deep into his personal life, including divorce and drug abuse, for lyrical fodder. “Everything else that we've ever done, all my lyrics have always been kind of metaphorical, a 'You work it out' kind of thing,” he says. “Whereas this one I was, 'Fuck it, I'm just going to put it on the table, and talk about what's going on in my life, or what has been going on in the past two years.' It was therapy for me in a way, to talk about it and get it out there. I'm very bad at communicating my emotions to other people, and this was, like, a scary thing. But I was just like, 'Yep, this is what's going on,' and put it on the record.

"I guess it's scary to put your emotions on the table and say the shit things that are happening in your life out there for people to hear. But I just felt like it was something that I needed to do."

I think the last song on the album is about my break-up with my wife, and that was the scariest one for me, just putting that all out there. But it was more for me in a way I guess, it's kind of selfish, but for me to heal in a way.”

When writing such personal songs, was there a degree of anxiety for Gardner as he realised that the people he's affected along the way, or have been part of his journey, would hear it eventually and would have their own perspective? “Yeah, that's the thing I'm most scared about. It's not like I'm trying to be nasty about it or anything, I'm just telling this story and it's mostly about myself and how I was feeling. There's no hard feelings on it or anything, but a lot of my friends who were there at the time have heard the album, and I wanted to get their opinion on how they felt about it. It's all been positive, so that was a massive... I was very nervous about it all.”

Formed in Wollongong nearly a decade ago, Totally Unicorn established much of their reputation via manic and injury-inducing live shows full of audience interaction, with a perennially sweaty, clothes-shedding Gardner the burly ringleader. It will be a curious proposition to witness how some new songs translate to the live environment. The vocalist says they've played a few of them at recent shows, “and they've come off so well, people are so fucking stoked on them. I think the live aspect will never change. Musically obviously we are, but it's always about having fun. Obviously the song content is a bit more sad, but I think it definitely doesn't take away from the craziness of the live show".

“While we were on tour with Frenzal Rhomb, I was talking to Jay [Whalley, vocals] about it. He was like, 'Mate, what are you fucking doing to yourself? You're too old for this shit.' As much as the people expect me to go as crazy as I do, the music still means so much to me, and I still want to go wild when I play.”