UK pop punkers As December Falls will descend upon the Land Down Under this time next week and we couldn’t be more stoked. Look, it’s been awhile since an international upcomer from the genre has utterly blown us away with their infectious power chords and punchy antics, but this four-piece have done well with what they’ve shown us so far on 2023’s Join the Club.
In the leadup to their Aussie takeover, the band have unleashed not one but two fiery singles for you to learn and get to know the words at their very first club shows in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. The latest, ‘Therapy‘ continues to hone in on vocalist Beth Hunter’s overpowering vocals, packing a mighty punch in your innermost demons. Alongside last year’s emo anthem ‘Angry Call‘, the four-piece are on a mission to make catchy tunes begs to becoem your new favourite earworm, therefore becoming a staple on your pop punk’s not dead playlist.
We caught up with Beth and lead guitarist Ande to get to know them, their band ethos and why nurturing that fan community is ever so important in today’s music scene.
Where were you when you got the call that you guys were coming to Australia for the very first time?
Beth: I think we were on tour with Bowling For Soup.
Ande: we’ve talked about Australia for a couple of years, and it’s definitely been a big goal for us to try and get over. We tried to make it work last year, and it just didn’t happen for whatever reason. But this year, we were like, right, this is the time now.
It’s been a long time coming for Australian fans as well. I think what really got me vibing on to you guys was ‘Mayday’ and ‘Carousel’ was pretty catchy too. As soon as I heard ‘Mayday’, I was like, this song is a banger. It’s definitely one of the best songs in pop punk in the last couple of years. I just kind of love the energy you give off in your music, especially in that song. What’s your vision for the band overall?
Beth: Our songs are about quite deep, serious topics that we write about. But then, at As December Falls shows we are very much like, it’s a party and everyone’s invited. We’re very high energy. I like our shows to be an escape for people to come to. I’m not here to lay on the heavy. Yes, we’re all experiencing the heavy, but we’re going to party and have a great time together.
Ande: It just shows how naturally we’ve fallen into be being a band. We have no label, no management. We’ve always focused on fan first from day one. We’ve always known that if we focus on creating relationships with people that like the music and fostering that connection, then that is more important than any label or what anyone else could manufacture for us. Our Discord community has got like 1000 people in it, and it’s so active. It’s just a beautiful thing to see.
Beth: Yeah honestly, our fans are just great. I feel like we started the community, and then they’ve taken it and have gone, yeah, we’re in charge of the community now. They’re so welcoming. I Twitch stream and when I’m on Twitch, whenever there’s a new chat room, I’ll be like, oh my god, welcome to the family. It’s such a wholesome welcome and I feel like people feel very safe.
Ande: Being an independent band, we’ve always said the fact that we’re on our fourth album, it’s literally because our fan base rally behind the next record. If an album doesn’t do well, we can’t afford to make another because we are our own label. We fund everything ourselves, and we’re very aware that at any point it could stop. The fact that we’ve managed to go over the last four albums and we’ve got another one on the way, is all a testament to how much the fan base loves the music.
I love that. Community is a huge thing, especially in this scene and in this genre as well. You just have to look at the OGs like Simple Plan. They do extremely well with keeping their fan base at the forefront of the music. Keeping your fans number one over labels and radio and things like that, I think is the key to keeping longevity,
Beth: I mean, we’ve always treated them as our priority, and they always will be. When we went into writing this next album, there’s been times where we’ve been like, oh, I don’t know if people like this, but I’m not writing it for them. I’m writing it for our fans. This next album is for us and for our fans. I’m getting out what’s inside of me in a creative way.
‘Angry Cry’ sounds like one of those! It’s kind of like an anthem for anxiety, and it’s just it’s so fiery. Beth, when did you realize you wanted to turn those emotions into a song?
Beth: Songwriting for me has always been like a style of therapy. I remember writing the lyrics to ‘Angry Cry’ literally because I had insomnia one night. I was trying to do all the normal things I do like, go to sleep and it wasn’t happening. The song just came out of that one really terrible night.
I’ve always been the kind of person where If I get high in any emotion, I cry. I always have been, always will be. But when I wrote it, I remember showing it to Ande, and I was like, I’m so excited about these lyrics and I don’t know why. I can just feel them. They’re deep and they’re meaningful. I feel like people are going to be like, Oh my god, I relate so strongly to that, because it’s not just anxiety. It’s overwhelming, it’s over stimulation and I feel like it has paid off. When it came out, we’ve had such a huge response to this song. It’s so different to all our other tracks that we’ve ever written.
What’s something about Australia that you’re excited to do or see when you get here?
Beth: I’m excited, just because it’s going to be hot. I was literally talking to Emmy (Mack, RedHook), and she was like, you are going to be hit by a brick when you get off that plane.
Ande: We’ve heard amazing things about Australian breakfast. We’re very excited to experience the coffee. The RedHook guys are gonna be taking us out for some drinks, which is probably going to be a messy night. We played one of the shows with them on the Skindred tour, and we also played Download Festival with them a couple of years ago. They’re just the best dudes. Absolutely love RedHook, so very excited to meet up with those guys and have a million beers, as they put it.
Interview by Tamara May
As December Falls will play in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane next weekend. They’ll be releasing their forthcoming LP, Everything’s On Fire But I’m Fine on August 8, 2025. Pre-save here
