Epakist talk rock ’n’ roll, politics and their latest release Domehead

Epakist have a larger-than-life rock ’n’ roll sound. It’s fantastic fuel for a workout. They released an EP two years back and, more recently, an enticing new track, Domehead, written about (unnamed?) self-serving politicians. As we approach the election later this month, the song feels particularly appropriate. Following its release, vocalist Beej answered our questions about what makes the band tick.

You guys have a massive sound. How do you get those guitars to sound so thick?

Yeah, Jamo’s guitar rig produces a massive sound. He plays through a mark IV Mesa/Boogie, and it absolutely cuts through your soul.

For Domehead, he used that same setup but also ran a parallel signal through a Vox tube head and Marshall combo. The wall of sound coming out of that guitar room almost stopped my heart.

When we record, we double-track the guitar parts. That gave Dave Rhodes plenty to work with in the mix and helped create that width and thickness.

Jason’s bass is a big part of it too. He uses an array of effects that creates this fuzzy wall underneath everything, so the weight isn’t just coming from the guitars - the bass really fills out the whole sound.

I can hear a wide range of rock influences in your songs. From your perspective, who are the artists who have had the strongest impact on the band?

We definitely have a lot of common ground in our influences - bands like QOTSA, Tool, Faith No More, Soundgarden and Primus - and you can probably hear elements of all of them in what we do.

But I actually think it’s the bands that fall outside that common ground that really shape the Epakist sound. The stuff that one of us absolutely loves and is hugely inspired by, while the other three could happily leave behind. Those slightly left-field influences creep in from different directions and give each of us something unique to bring to the band.

I think it’s that combination of shared influences and all those weird little side roads that ultimately forges the Epakist sound.

There is so much going on in the local scene at the moment. Who are your favourite Aotearoa acts?

There’s so much good music coming out of Aotearoa at the moment, it’s crazy.

I’m mostly drawn to heavier guitar music, and lately I’ve been blasting Dead Empire’s Sliver. They’ve got a really proggy edge to what they do, which I love. Cindy is absolutely killing it with the new album - we helped bring them out to Piha for a gig a year or so back, and they were amazing live. Pieces of Molly is bringing some of that kick-ass old school-fashioned rock ’n’ roll energy back into the local scene, and Powder Chutes are probably the pick of the newbies, a real standout coming out of Wānaka. The Boondocks, with their big, filthy riffs, the list goes on.

There are honestly too many good bands to mention; it feels like a really healthy time for local music.

You've said that before Epakist you would never perform music in a live setting again. What was it that made you change your mind?

I became pretty disillusioned with where I was musically after years of playing solo in Japan and feeling like I was getting nowhere with it. At some point, my passion became my job, and I stopped enjoying it. I was playing gigs for the money, mostly covers, and somewhere along the way I stopped writing my own music. I just dried up. Eventually, I told myself I was done with it all.

In hindsight, the truth was that I didn’t surround myself with the right people, so I wasn’t pursuing music in the right way.

When Jason approached me and asked if I wanted to try out for a band he was putting together, I was really apprehensive. I almost cancelled on the day, but forced myself to go along and just see what it felt like - whether I could still do it.

Almost instantly, everything changed. It all came rushing back. I felt comfortable, I felt at home, and I remembered why I loved doing it in the first place.

They saved that part of me, really. I’ll always be grateful for that.

The bands latest track Domehead has a real sense of purpose about it. Tell us about some of the ideas that underpin the song?

Domehead came out of my frustration with self-serving politicians. The idea of climbing your way to the top, only to make things worse in the name of self-preservation and looking after your own, makes me sick.

It feels like we see it all around us, and increasingly there’s very little accountability. People make decisions that have real consequences, then conveniently distance themselves from the damage they’ve caused. I find that level of short-sightedness and detachment from reality pretty hard to understand.

Domehead takes aim at those people and calls them out. Hopefully, it also makes people think about what we actually want and expect from people in positions of power.

The release also showcases your progression as a band from the original EP. How would you describe your journey thus far and what is next for the band?

We went through a pretty challenging period as a band after the original EP. To be honest, we didn’t really know each other that well yet, either personally or musically, when we recorded it. Everything happened pretty quickly.

When we came back together to start working on new material, there were a lot of competing ideas about what the band should be. Everyone was pushing and pulling in different directions, and there was a point where we almost didn’t make it through that stage.

It was a fragile time, but we kept working at it. Everyone had to give a little, listen more, and make room for what the others were bringing. Through that process we got to know each other properly, built a lot of mutual respect, and became much more comfortable with what Epakist actually is.

Once we got through that, the songs started to flow. I feel like we’re a very different band now from the one that recorded the original EP - more confident, more cohesive, and much clearer about our identity.

We’ve got a heap of new material, so the priority now is getting those songs recorded and released, and then really taking this music out live. These songs were written to be played loud in a room full of people, and I think that’s ultimately where Epakist makes the most sense. We’ve spent a lot of time figuring out who we are as a band; now we want to get out there and show people.