South Australian hardcore punks Sölex have just released their self-titled 7” via the Perth record label Televised Suicide. With a nightmare of unsettling visuals and caustic delivery of abrasive sound, the band has collapsed any notions of cliché. Guitarist Daniel Drazetic discusses the project’s development and conceptual aspects of the record.

THOMAS HORTON Hey man, congratulations on the record. You guys have put a lot of effort into this one it’s not surprising that it is getting quite a bit of attention from around the place. This is a pretty big move for the SA scene. Can you take me back to the beginning. How did the band start? 

DANIEL DRAZETIC When our old band Exhumed Korpse ended, myself and the other members where left in a hiatus period with no project to work on. After a good while I suggested to the boys that we start a joke band, nothing serious, playing a Swedish style hardcore punk. It was meant to be named Proljev which means diarrhoea in Croatian, and I was going to do the vocals in Croatian too. But, after the second jam session, we realised that the riffs were starting to sound pretty good and the whole project evolved into something more serious. The drummer, Ryan, and I then had a long stint of back and forth writing sessions where we just continued to chip away at what we were going for.

TH It was notable learning that your vocalist hails from the steel city, aka Whyalla in SA, a fair hike from Adelaide. Why did you choose to work on the record with a vocalist that doesn’t live in the same city?

DD I know, it is a bit strange to work on a record where one of the contributing members wasn’t present for any of the writing sessions. But when we were trying to figure out who to have on vocals we couldn’t go past Shane (Mr. Speed), the vocalist of Impede and also Chrome Cage. I actually worked with him on Impede’s Digital Hell release where I did the cover illustration and felt quite comfortable asking him to be part of our project. His vocals have this particular shriek that I just couldn’t go past and it just suits the fast-frantic style of hardcore punk that we were playing. I wanted him to do the vocals for us no matter how difficult it would be.

As you mentioned, Shane lives in Whyalla, which is not by any means close to Adelaide. We discussed our plan of approach and how we were going to make it happen. The guitars, bass, and drums were recorded in Adelaide at Twin Earth studio by Jon McNichol. Then we sent the tracks to have the vocals recorded over in Whyalla at a studio. Everything was then sent back to us and we did our final mix and master with Will Killingsworth at Dead Air studio.

TH The band’s line-up has quite a history, with members from many reputable bands. Did you seek each other out intentionally to produce the release?   

DD Yeah, I would say that everyone involved in this record has a veteran status in terms of their own previous work and reputation. But that is what we wanted, I didn’t want to work with anyone that could maybe fit or just play an instrument. I didn’t want to risk that. We wanted to do a hard-hitting hardcore punk record made by people that are known for the style. We didn’t know where the whole thing would end up but once the songs started to take form, we started to discuss suitable band members we could recruit to finish the release. Every member has been in previous bands, good bands that people turn their heads for and still talk about no matter if they are active or not. The artists involved in the visual aspect of the record were chosen for this exact reason. It’s a rare thing for South Australia to pump out a record like this, we just have so few people that are the exact fit for this particular style. I wanted this to be my contribution to our culture and I wanted it to be perfect.

TH Conceptually, what is the record about? Where did the ideas come from and how were they formed?

DD Look, we’re all guys that have done so many different projects there’d be no point trying to just limit ourselves to an already done or defined style. I mean, musically, yes, it is hardcore punk with a uniquely composed song structure, but, conceptually, I wanted to include whatever was brought by any of the members. I’ve been a ratty punk kid since before I had pubic hair. I’m well beyond punk being associated with an anarchy symbol and obnoxious spikey hair attitudes. I can introduce elements into my projects that the culture wouldn’t even dare to touch because it’s been my thing for the entirety of my life. It doesn’t bother me. All of our work is good even if it seems absurdly unique. That’s why I was so ready to call it ‘bizarre and obscure’. We are well beyond what the genre is typically known for, we can do what we want because we own the style.

TH Can you go into detail and elaborate on some of the ideas that make up the totality of the record?

DD I think during the process of refining our sound and song composition, ideas about our visual and lyrical content were coming into view. This whole project is an interesting one because much of the material that was used to put the whole thing together was actually material that had been stowed away by each of us and intended for future use. Pretty much everything from the lyrics to the visuals and conceptual elements have been brewing for quite some time. Shane had some lyrics that were left over from his previous role in Chrome Cage, so naturally it was fitting that we used them here. He also introduced some Irish folklore into the band with his song ‘Sióg’. I first came with some song titles to go by and he was accommodating enough to acknowledge my lyrical contributions to the whole project. The name itself was mentioned by Boris, guitarist of Decrepitorum and early member of Sölex. He had wanted to use the name for many years and the opportunity presented itself here. It is inspired by the Latin words, sol and ex. Sol means sun, and ex means from, out of. This makes the dual component word: out of sun. It’s a solar reference, much like the Roman Sol Invictus, which means unconquerable sun. There is much more to the conceptual aspect of this record than I want to divulge at this time, I’d rather allow it to sit as a cryptic tomb for anyone willing to explore the mysteries within it.

TH So even the cover art was something that had been conceived prior to the band?

DD Yeah, even the cover art was something I had actually conceived a while ago. I have been commissioned to do artwork for many different people and it was back in 2018 that I was approached to do a cover piece for an Adelaide band’s upcoming LP album. They wanted me to do a collage cut and paste style piece for them so I spent some time trying to work out something that would suit their overall delivery. Sadly, that album never got released and I totally forgot about the artwork that I had never started. Then, more recently, I remembered and I sat down retrieving everything that was meant to go into that piece: the composition, the visual elements. Nothing new was introduced. I put the whole thing together with a photocopier, scissors, and glue. I wanted to convey a landscape of conspiracy, a visual doorway into that wormhole of mankind’s strange fascination with the unknown.

TH How did the band develop its sound and what were your influences during the writing process?

DD When we were writing the songs, we had a ball park idea of what we wanted to go for. Obviously, during the creative process, this became more refined. The main goal was to write a no frills hardcore punk record that was meant for the die hards. We started off with influences from the likes of Vile Gash and Men’s Interest. But, after I showed a couple of my buddies what we were working on, one of them mentioned that it sounded like Bone Awl. I hadn’t ever heard them before and decided to check them out. Naturally, I was blown away by Bone Awl and they fit in with our overall sound and ended up being an influence in our writing process. Once we recruited Nick (Godfrey Youth) as our bassist, he shaped what we already had into a rager. All of the elements ended up working well together, it’s the type of record you listen to from start to finish because each song just blends into the next.

TH It’s quite a bold move to drop a 7" as your debut release. Why did the group choose this format as your entry point into hardcore punk?

DD I must admit, that was quite the dice roll. Not many people would even dare propose the idea of dropping a vinyl record as the first release from a band, especially a band that had such little recognition. The bassist, Nick, was the one to suggest the idea of a record as the first release, he’s been in many hardcore punk bands before so we trusted his attitude toward the quality of our work. The confidence in what we were putting together kind of overrode the hesitation of the whole debacle and we ended up getting in touch with the Perth label Televised Suicide who agreed to put out the release. Some of my friends in other well-known bands thought it was a risky move and had concerns about if they would sell. But my response to that was that I didn’t care how many actually sold, if a handful of real heads rate the record as a rager then I’m satisfied.

TH Overall, how has the record been received?

DD I would say very well. I mean, it just came out so its still early days, but from what I can gather from the comments I’m hearing, the record is making a bit of an impact. I think this band has an aura about it. To me, this record is the type of release that will linger for a while and get its own reputation. There’s just so many intricately composed elements in its timeline that the karmic aspect that it injects into the world will flow well on into the future.

Sölex’s 7” is available now for listening and purchase at Televised Suicide.