‘Death to Misery’ review: An interview with The Amity Affliction

As their Australian tour begins to draw to a close, guitarist Dan Brown talks to Chris Daniel about triumphs, the previous year and what to expect in 2017.

After appearances at European festivals including Slam Dunk and Rock Am Ring, The Amity Affliction released their fifth album, ‘This Could Be Heartbreak’. Spending the latter half of the year venturing to cities across the globe including those in the USA and Europe, they finally headed back down under for more intimate and regional shows at selected venues in Australia for their ‘Death to Misery’ tour.

“I guess in the end, we are just really happy to be back in Australia. We have good support here and all our fans are awesome.”

Joined by Hellions and Ocean Grove, the tour successfully sold out most venues, one of which was the University of Newcastle’s Bar on the Hill on Australia Day. Though quoted by many, their stop to Newcastle was one of the hottest gigs Bar on the Hill has seen in a long time, however following up their triumph with this years hottest 100, earning 3 separate positions, it seemed to be a fitting way to end the night.

Above: ‘This Could Be Heartbreak’ which scored a position at #76

With such an action packed year behind them, Dan took a step back to summarise in the shortest words possible.

“2016 was definitely a big year for us as a band and all as individuals, but I personally took the knowledge of ‘if you want something, you have to go out and get it’. Things won’t come your way if you’re not willing to work hard for them.”

Travelling globally to tour new music means the band has spent more than enough quality time together, but looking back to how far they have come, Brown reflects differently.

“There’s heaps of notable memories, almost too many to remember. I think looking back; my favourite was probably one of the first shows that I played with the band. It was during the ‘Chasing Ghosts’ album launch tour, and being overcome with the feeling of the unknown walking out onto stage was surreal.”

With the tour slowly drawing to a close, there is still potential material and shows ahead for the band in the near future.

“There is definitely stuff to look forward to. We always have something in the works. 2017 is going to be busy for all of us with both touring and writing. This is all we love doing and it’s a wild and fast ride.”

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