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Three teenagers from Waipu will perform at the biggest metal festival in the world next month.
Alien Weaponry – brothers Henry De Jong on drums and Lewis on electric guitar and vocals, and
Ethan Trembath on bass guitar – made headlines after winning Rockquest and Pacifica Beats in 2016.
The band went on to have more than one million YouTube views and picked up an award at the Silver Scrolls last year.
This month, they will play the Dead of Winter Festival in Brisbane before going to Europe for a three-month tour.
“We are really excited to play Wacken Open Air in Germany, the biggest metal festival in the world, in August” Ethan says.
“We set a goal years ago of reaching there by the time Henry was 20, so to be two years ahead on that dream is amazing.”
Other stops on the tour will include England, Bavaria, Spain and the Metaldays Festival in Slovenia, where Alien Weaponry will have the main stage with a prime-time slot.
The band will perform tracks from its new album, Tu, which was released on June 2 and entered the NZ Top 40 album chart at number five.
“We’ve been working on the album for years and, at times, wanting to complete it has really kept the band together, so it is a huge feeling to finally release it,” Ethan says.
“There are a lot of new tracks, plus all the singles we’ve released over the last few years.”
Ethan believes the mix of young band members, the metal genre and the use of te reo Maori lyrics has struck a chord with audiences.
“There’s a lot of competition out there so I think the key is to be unique, and what we do is very different to anything else in the industry,” he says.
Despite being set to play its album in front of thousands of people, band members still reflect their small town beginnings.
“Even going to Auckland is a shock experience, seeing all of the people, so I’m a bit nervous about touring, but mostly excited,” Ethan says.
“My first stage performance was at Bream Bay College and back then I wouldn’t even move on stage, so things have come a long way.”
Ethan was pulled into the band by chance after he went back to the De Jong’s house after a circus group practice when he was 10.
“Their dad Niel was passing the bass guitar around with all of our friends and I was the only one who could reach up the neck, so I became the third member of the band.
“We write most of our songs on historical events that Niel teaches us about.
“Things really exploded for us when Paul Martin, bass guitarist from band Devilskin, put our music on the radio. It put us on the map and then gave us the chance to open three shows for Devilskin, which was huge.”
Ethan hopes to pass NCEA level two at Otamatea High School and Lewis at Bream Bay College before they embark on the European tour. Henry has left school.
