Pt. 2: Ex-Amity Affliction member Troy Brady speaks out – Exclusive
In the final instalmentof atwo-part feature, the co-founding member of chart-topping band The Amity Affliction speaks publicly for the first time aboutleaving the band, why he started Elevnth Records, his thoughts onAmity's upcoming DVD,and why he's hesitant to tour his new music project.
Brady’s vision for Elevnth is neither untapped nor revolutionary, but it is non-traditional. Taking the direct-to-fan route allows artists and business partners to directly deal with core fanbases. Brady acts as the conduit for distribution, publishing, marketing, recording and technical strategy resources, all while working within a band’s financial borders, which means that when royalty payments do come in, the band gets full dibs.
“I essentially want to provide a service that educates bands on the industry,” says Brady. “A lot of bands will cut deals and not really understand what they’re getting into […] I’m kind of treating it like a band in a way. There’s a certain aspect of music which is exciting but it doesn’t have to be 'PG' all the time. You’re allowed to do things which are controversial.
This pay-it-forward creation stemmed from Brady’s own desire to reverse the paradigm. In his 14 years with The Amity Affliction, from its formation at a dear friend’s funeral in 2002, to the recording of the last #1 LP Let The Ocean Take Me at his own studio space, Brady has always played multiple roles creatively. From playing a hand in every song to engineering and recording keys when ex-member Trad Nathan left, Brady was often the silent mastermind, the member who would rather keep the peace than correct ill-informed fans.
“One quote I had seen was that I wasn’t part of the writing process. I guess it’s taken out of context in whatever regard. For me, that’s really hard to imagine.”
Days after our initial interview The Australian published an article to raise awareness about driving with fatigue. It used Brady’s friend Matt and his sister Emma to deter people from driving while tired: “With his friend Troy Brady he founded a band called Left Lane, and after Matt died the band changed their name to Amity Affliction and became highly successful.”
In a way, the timely reminder of the beginning of his journey, albeit morbidly heartbreaking, readied Brady for what was to come. “I’d be lying if I said it was harmonious between us all. But we have known each other for so long […]Whether I got to choose how this ended on my terms, or whether it be homeland security, other pressures, other friends, sometimes you just don’t have as much control over things as you’d like.
“Realising you can’t control everything is kind of freeing in a sense. I wasn’t able to control the situation so I had to just take it as it came and I knew there’d be some ugliness.”
That ugliness will no doubt show up on Brady’s still-to-be-named project, an angst-driven melodic approach that’s more punk rock than it is hardcore. Brady says he has half an album of completely fleshed out tracks and for the first time, he hasn’t leant toward a breakdown or beatdowns to get the aggression across.
“It’s a chance for me to visit a lot of roots and things that I may not have been able to do in the past, and really run with them.”
Of course his own band is signed to Elevnth, and like his label mates, the focus is more on the creation of each offering and less on touring.
“This isn’t just something where I felt compelled to immediately get some music out,” he explains. “I’m going to take my time with it […] I want to release something that as an engineer, as a songwriter, I can say that I’m really proud of.”
As the Amity Affliction ready the release of their first DVD – a legacy they’ve been filming since the band’s inception – it remains to be seen whether Brady’s role will be honoured. Not that he minds. In fact, he’d rather he wasn’t included at all. “For me the story is very personal and what it was is very personal […] I just wouldn’t feel comfortable being a part of it.”
There's no denying that with Amity Affliction, Brady had placed Australian hardcore in the pantheonof arena-touring career bands. Now, as the speed of the hardcore-economy reaches a new height, Brady is keeping up using innovation and career-earned intellect. Elevnth Records could be the antidote to Australia’s traditionalist label sector and his own project, cathartic or not, will at the very least commandeer Brady’s lifer status in the recorded music industry.
“One of the best pieces of advice that I ever got, it was from a gentleman who came to a show that I was playing at Hollywood House of Blues – he was actually Linkin Park’s manager. He said a slow build is a real build, a quick up is a quick down.”
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