Finding Your Rainbow: On Patient Sixty-Seven's New Single "Antithesis" and Finding Light Through the Dark
Australia has been the go-to place for many bands that have come to rise successfully in the current generation. It is by far a special place historically in the timeline for the metalcore community as well. Patient Sixty-Seven can now join this lovely curated list of talented bands in this genre. While their EP Home Truths caught the attention of the scene internationally, the band's new broader sounding, more ambitious single, "Antithesis," featuring Rory Rodriguez of Dayseeker, is about to garner them more.
Stepping into a new chapter of their lives, "Antithesis" represents more than just another step in time for the band with being signed to InVogue Records. Dig a little deeper, one will find a track that paints a picture of the ravaged struggle of addiction. On the other side, the future is bright, with a much stronger person and band emerging to share this story via their new single. Here to tell us more about it is vocalist Tom Kiely of Patient Sixty-Seven.
How did you guys come to work with Rory of Dayseeker? How did that conversation go?
I think in the earlier stages of demoing out the song, hearing what we were trying to go for in terms of sound and structure - we thought the bridge that was in the song from pretty much the get-go, was perfect to fill with something that felt fresh.
Rory is a vocalist I admire a great deal, his lyrics, the way he speaks to people through his music both in Dayseeker and Hurtwave - having him be apart of one of our songs is massive for us.
When the softer bridge section of the song was being replayed - I’d been on a huge Dayseeker kick at the time, and it just felt so obvious that he’d be an unbelievable fit - it kind of clicked from there.
We messaged over our socials, and made it happen! What I liked about working with Rory is that he wanted to know about the song so he could write a part that fit what we were going for. I’m so happy with how it turned out!
Patient Sixty-Seven “Antithesis” Single Art
How did you come to write "Antithesis?" What is the story behind that?
Antithesis felt like the first true progression since the release of Home Truths. The stuff we’ve released since was either stuff we’d been sitting on, re-recorded songs, or reimagined songs. And we love doing that!
But this was our first foray into creating something new to follow the EP. We wanted to make it feel like it was following Home Truths as something fresh - while still feeling like us.
Rory (Venville) is always writing stuff, so we have a bank of ideas to build on, and this is a demo that had the whole band excited. We dived right in, and it fell into place.
How was the recording process with Rory? I know this is uncharted territory, being that you guys are signed with Invogue Records, so this experience is all quite different now.
When we recorded it and he jumped on board. We were not signed at that point! But Dayseeker had released multiple albums under Invogue Records themselves, which is really cool. We were stoked to share the news with him that our band was joining their roster - and it worked out nicely!
"Antithesis" seems to have a different sort of presence to it right out of the gate. I guess that only feels right when you are moving into the new year. You guys have not had a full-release since your EP Home Truths, and even this single feels more ambitious. This seems to have an uncompromisingly massive sound, yet you also seemed to have curated your sound to crushingly-effective perfection. You seem very comfortable and content with who you are in this release? Is that fair to say?
Wow - that’s awesome to hear Sammie, and I definitely agree. We wanted to expand our sound - do something a little more ambitious. It’s a more progressive sound, and that’s not to say we’ll be moving away from what we did on the EP’s prior because that sound is apart of our band - but we wanted to kind of make this single feel fresh.
As you’ll see on release day - this single will also lead the deluxe release of Home Truths - containing a bunch of additional content along with all the stuff we have been busy releasing through 2020. This song stands out because it could easily be on the next full release we put together in the future.
It was a hard song to write because it is a little different in terms of…well there’s no "heavy" parts in this one, we wanted it to feel kind of relentless and show people we can continue to be diverse and not settle in what we do. Rory (Venville) is really talented as a guitarist, and he let his influences shine on Antithesis.
We also brought on producer Bryce Kariger who added some amazing post-production to the song, big orchestral sounds, and keys. He’s amazing to work with and just added an extra layer of atmosphere to the track!
Has 2020 made you approach writing differently this time around? How has it shaped your writing this time around? I know a lot of us have processed this time differently. Now that the year is finally behind us, we can finally put that final stamp on that chapter and really put it into perspective.
The song was written, lyrically at least, during the middle of the lockdown. Things were hard, I’d just come off a year of being completely sober. But I’d started delving back into old habits and was struggling to come to grips with that. I’m not trying to paint a picture of sympathy or pity, I live a wonderful life…but that particular time was challenging for me. My relationship with the pandemic was picking up - and it was just a chance to sit down and write something from the heart.
The song became more about the bigger picture in dealing with addiction, trauma, and toxicity as the themes in the song, rather than about me. It kind of evolved into something that I think a lot of people can lend sympathy to or can relate to.
What can we expect from you guys moving forward musically? If "Antithesis" was just a taste, I think we only scratched the surface of that.
Yep. You nailed it…we’re definitely going to keep building on it. The freedom to keep experimenting is there, and we’ll always be a heavier band within that - but we are so excited to keep building on this single.
The good thing with this deluxe coming out is having people who may have only jammed the EP in passing or not heard of us before, it gives them an awesome introduction to our band, and what we’re able to bring to the table. It packs in some heaviness, the melodic stuff, some acoustic stuff - a brand new song in Antithesis and a brand new cover. I’m so ready to get this full deluxe EP out to everyone!
Moving forward, we’ll have the chance to see where it takes us, but I’m really confident in our band that we’ll keep writing in ways that help us grow.
In what ways do you feel your music has evolved? I know we only have "Antithesis" to compare it to at the moment, but how do you feel you have grown as an artist since your last EP release?
We’ve become more confident, stronger as a collective band and we really believe in ourselves. It’s been such a hard year for shows and touring, but given how we’ve pushed through and continued finding our feet through the pandemic. I think it’s all tied in - but we feel happy to enter into 2021 with energy and gratitude to continue doing what we love!!
What do you want people to take from this release? I know your last single was a reimagining, so what people will take from that is slightly different. Since this is a new track and an all-new chapter for the band, what do you feel people will get out of this single that they didn't get out of the reimagined release, "Where To From Here?"
I think just a glimpse into our band right now, being intentional, hopefully, this satisfies people's need for a brand new song - we feel it has the intensity and heaviness of some of the stuff on Home Truths while bringing a more melodic side too.
I hope people can connect with the song- and I hope people see this as us continuing to build on what we did last year.
The deluxe edition as a whole - is a fun release for us, and will hopefully bundle it all together and tie the bow on last year as Patient moves into a new chapter. I can’t wait to see what 2021 brings after this release, as it’s an important one for us!
Love you all, thank you for giving us a chance!