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 With a new album to tour, hardcore band 50 LIONS are once again on the prowl up and down the country’s circle pits. Vocalist OSCAR McCALL may have had a change of scenery, but as he tells LINDSEY CUTHBERTSON, his band’s music has lost none of its trademark bite.
When moving to a new area, there are usually a few ways to become acquainted with the locals and slowly begin to feel comfortable and at home. It might be a welcoming tea cake from the neighbours, or an invitation for a few drinks down the local tavern with the regulars. It’s not too often though, that a person will tell you that getting inked is how he began to feel at home in one of the biggest cities in Australia – but for 50 Lions vocalist Oscar McCall, it’s just another way that helped him transition to becoming a Melbourne resident.
“I’ve always been here in some way, whether it’s staying after touring here to get tattooed and hang out,” McCall says. “I’ve got a lot of mates down here so it’s not really a new place for me. Byron Bay just got a little too boring; Parkway Drive (Oscar’s brother Winston is their vocalist) was on tour more and more and a lot of people moved away. If there were no waves then there was nothing to do.”
Originating from the small New South Wales seaside town, 50 Lions exploded out of the burgeoning Byron scene and quickly became a touring staple all over the country – and subsequently overseas. So while McCall may have had no trouble fitting into big city life, he has his band to thank for it.
“After however many months I’ve been here it still seems a bit small, especially when you’re coming back from touring in places like London and Tokyo. It’s probably the easiest city to get around, so it’s the best city to start off with and adapt to.”
McCall even found himself a great little office job at Foxtel, which, contrary to what you might think, he absolutely enjoys.
“Because you can talk about TV all day,” he says with a laugh. “Who wouldn’t like to do that?”
With two new members and a vocalist with a new place to call home, it comes as no surprise that their new album, Where Life Expires, is a barraging display of crossover power. Where Life Expires builds on 50 Lions’ back catalogue and contains many mosh-friendly numbers for when the band restart their touring regime.
“It’s a more mature, heavier album. We wanted to steer clear of being a teen angst sort of band and just focus on being a band in general,” McCall explains.
“We’ve never really tried to change trends or be anything other than a hardcore band. It seems that a lot of bands at the moment are doing the whole melodic, play-the-same-riff-for-ten-minutes, boring vibe, and I don’t know if they’re trying to be progressive or not, but we are not interested in that when it comes to the band itself. Having short, to-the- point, songs are a lot more intense, especially when you play them live.”
50 LIONS play The Princess Theatre (AA) on Wednesday Nov 11 and the Byron Bay YAC (AA) on Thursday Nov 12. WHERE LIFE EXPIRES is out now through Resist.
  
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