Perth Voice Interactive

“NONE of us can sing, so we pretty much yell,” says Horror My Friend front man Josh Battersby.

The indie-rock trio is a teenage cliche—a bunch of guys still in school playing loud music in their parents’ garage—and going on to find fame.

Horror My Friend may not be a household name yet, but its hard-hitting songs earned the group a coveted spot on Triple J Unearthed last year: their song Birds was the twenty-second most played track on Unearthed Radio for 2013, and they’ve been on ABC’s Rage.

And with rave reviews in a number of music mags, including Tone Deaf and Mess and Noise, Horror My Friend is a band to watch.

One year after forming in 2011 the trio was notching up supporting gigs for the likes of The Cribs (UK), Violent Soho, DZ Deathrays and Dune Rats.

Battersby and Gordon are the song writers: “I work at home and then take them to the guys. Most songs happen when I’m sitting in front of the TV or watching a VDO or Utube,” Battersby says.

Horror My Friend released its first album Shivers and Spines in 2011, and the group’s grunge-infused indie-rock music is inspired by the likes of Nirvana, My Bloody Valentine and My Honey.

The guys learned guitar a while at school, but none played bass—nor sang.

“No-one wanted to play bass, so we thought whoever does the fun thing with guitar has to do the singing and play bass—now we really enjoy it,” Battersby says.

The group’s music continues to mature, the now 21-year-old says: “My older stuff I find a bit forced.”

The songs are about the “teenage experience”, Battersby says. although he admits to a a lack of “life experience”.

And where did the name come from?

“We couldn’t decide on a good name and Tom suggested it,” Battersby says, unsure where his mate got it, but sure it had been “in his head for a while”.

Nothing is Horror My Friend’s first release for 2014, and is described as a “hard-hitting track” that is a “three-minute trip through swirling guitars, distorted bass and raw, yet melodic vocals”.

You can catch them before they are really famous at The Rosemount Hotel, Mt Lawley Thursday March 13, The Beat Nightclub, Northbridge Friday March 14 and The Swan Lounge, in North Fremantle Sunday March 15.

by JENNY D’ANGER