Secret World is a band comprised of longtime members of the Australian hardcore scene. Featuring musicians who've played in bands like Speed, Downside, and Trophy Eyes, the sextet plays a melodic strain of punk that drives forward with '90s alt.rock punchiness.
With their debut EP, Guilt Is Good, coming out next month, and an Aussie tour kicking off today with Long Island's Koyo, I spoke with Secret World guitarist Josh Campiao to get the story behind the band.
Was part of the motivation behind starting Secret World to do something a bit more removed from the heavier bands you've all played in?
Yeah, it definitely was. For years, Pondy and I had always threatened each other with doing a rocky sort of band together because we had predominantly been in punk/hardcore/heavy bands and as much as we listened to/enjoyed that sort of music we also listened to/enjoyed the more rocky/emo/grungy side of the world we existed in.
It remained an idea for ages then during COVID when I (along with the rest of the world) had nothing but time I thought I’d write some stuff to send to him so that at least one of the many late night ideas we had could see the light of day in one way or another. Even if it had just remained as little bedroom demos and nothing more.
Listening to the material on the demo vs this EP, you can definitely hear a progression, and I think the melodic aspect has grown even stronger. How did the writing and recording process evolve between the two releases, and what did producer Fletcher Matthews bring to the table?
The demo was just me, Pondy and Maddo bouncing ideas off each other, trying anything and everything because it was all pretty unknown territory for us. Pondy had never tried to sing with melody and I had never been the person to bring song ideas to the table so we wrote a bunch of songs and picked the ones we liked the most and hoped for the best.
Elliott at Chameleon studios who recorded the demo was very patient and was a massive help with guiding us through all the unknowns we were dealing with on that demo. With the 7” we were a bit more confident and sure of what we wanted to do. We also now had Kelly, Cheddar, and Dcold to kick ideas around with which helped to shape the and refine the songs even more.
Fletch really helped us to make more sense of the demos we brought in. He was also really integral in helping bring out what we wanted to do vocally because we were (and still are) very much learning how to make that work the way we want to.
From a gear perspective, how different is the stuff you use in Secret World compared to your other bands since you're looking for melody in everything?
We didn’t stray too far from what we know and like as far as gear goes, a few more effects get used (chorus/vibrato/phaser etc) but a 5150 and a Les Paul is pretty unbeatable for rhythm tones for example.
In saying that, we definitely fucked around with a bunch other amps/guitars/effects to compliment that more rocky sound we are going for as there is a requirement for a bit more by way of dynamics with that stuff.
Tell me about Oscar Pantalone's photo that graces the cover of the EP. I think the evocative imagery fits well with the music it’s representing.
We spent ages talking about what we wanted for the cover and couldn’t really think of a way to create a photo that would work but we knew the emotions we wanted people to feel when they saw it.
We all found some photos we liked for reference then Pondy spent a very long time trawling photo archives with the understanding that he’ll know it when he sees it. He came across a series of Oscar’s photos, he saw that one, he sent it to us and it just felt right. It felt like it represented the music and the overall feeling of the 7” as well as us as a band.
What are your plans for Secret World in 2024? If the opportunities come your way, do you see the band becoming more of a commitment in the future? Are you open to that?
We are going on tour with Koyo in Australia which starts today, October 11 (go to lastriderecords.com for tickets):
We also have a few other hectic shows after that tour to wrap up the year. It’s funny, this band was more likely to never exist than to exist so the fact we are playing shows and have a 7” coming out is pretty crazy to me. We’re just taking everything as it comes but definitely open to seeing where this takes us.
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Guilt Is Good will be out on November 15th via Last Ride Records in Australia (pre-order) and Sunday Drive Records in the USA and rest the of the world (pre-order).
Secret World on social media: Instagram
Tagged: secret world, speed
