Noiseworks Have Big Plans: ‘This Year We Will Come Out Of The Darkness’

“You don't know what you’ve got until it's gone. Two years there, you know, music was kind of dead. So, it's really great to be out there doing live shows again, there's no question.”

The pandemic swiftly mowed down live music as it swept around the world and, of course, in Australia. It was a heavy enough blow for any touring band for those two years, let alone one on the eve of their first release in 30 years.

Such was the case for Australian rock powerhouse Noiseworks. Since their last album, Love Versus Money in 1993, the Sydney outfit have kept themselves busy with solo ventures, families, and an impressive list of musical side projects. Most notable of these was frontman Jon Stevens, who made the role of Judas his own in musical Jesus Christ Superstar and stepped into the INXS spotlight to take up the vocals of the late Michael Hutchence for the band in the early 2000s. 

Periodic catch-ups over the past decade led Stevens and his Noiseworks bandmates to pen new material until finally in 2019 a new album took shape. Sadly for the band and his loved ones, founding guitarist Stuart ‘Chet’ Fraser passed away before the record could take flight.

“It was just one of those things where, you know, a few years ago we'd always meet up individually or a couple of us here and there, and then we got together just decided to just start writing some songs every chance we could,” Stevens says.

“Then in 2019, we finished an album in between everything else we were doing in our lives, so it was fun to be back together just creating and being in a room. The album was ready to go in 2019 but sadly our beloved friend and guitarist Stuart Fraser passed away from cancer. 

“Then COVID hit. And now here we are at 2022 – now feels like the right time to get the record out and go and do a bunch of shows for Stuart because he's all over this record. 

“The idea of it sitting on a shelf somewhere, it's just not a good idea; it’s not good for any of us. So, this year we will come out of the darkness, of COVID, of losing Stuey... [we're] getting out there and playing some rock to honour our mate.”

In the late 1980s and ‘90s, Noiseworks sat right alongside Crowded House and Cold Chisel as one of Australia’s most popular live music acts. Hits No Lies, Take Me Back and Touch ran rampant across the airwave and commanded heaving crowds at major venues around the country. Fast forward three decades and Stevens is cognisant that much has changed in the world and within the music industry, but the appetite for live music has only gotten more ferocious.

“The thing with Noiseworks is we're always a much better band live than on record,” Stevens laughs.

“It's one of those things because you can only capture so much energy when you're listening back to something. But when it's live, it's like, holy hell, that energy is unleashed. I think that was true of a lot of Australian bands from that period. And we always maintained that edge because that's where we feel most comfortable.”

Noiseworks’ as yet untitled fourth studio album is due to drop in October 2022. In the meantime, fans new and old can wrap their ears around new single Heart & Soul, which is a fitting first offering that possesses all the band’s hallmarks – hooky guitars, an anthem-like chorus and big heart. The track was laid down in the same piece-by-piece process over the course of 10 years as the rest of the album, and Stevens said that just meant more time for each song to percolate while the band kept their numerous side projects on the go.

“We got together, had an idea for a song, we wrote it, we demoed it, we roughly recorded it, and then it sat there when we all went off to do our own things,” he explains. 

“But we came back to it and thought hey, this sounds really good. So, we all agreed to get together and write some more and then it just came down to scheduling. 

“We're all always all over the place, around the world doing different things. So, it was just a matter of bit by bit. We spent a few days here and there together, sometimes a week. And you know, we just drank beer and shot the shit.

“And a lot of ideas that we would flesh out just didn't make it for whatever reasons. And when you're writing, you're producing, you're creating, the things that stick out are the things that stick, you know; the things that fall away are clearly not meant to be at this juncture in time.”

Heart & Soul is out today. Noiseworks tour from November 5. For more details, click here.