Ground Control Touring

Australian six-piece Coldwave is a frantic yet tightly controlled blend of jagged guitars, booming horns and uncompromising vocal delivery that captures the abstract in life’s most mundane moments.

Coldwave is Harry Evans (he/him) vocals, Kiran Memisoglou (he/him) guitar, Anthony Griffin (he/him) guitar/vocals, Jordan Maywald (he/him) drums, Sean McGowan (they/them) trumpet/synth/vocals, Lara Patzel (she/they) bass. Formed in 2020 from the ashes of two beloved Adelaide post-punk outfits, the band has evolved rapidly in just four years – welcoming new collaborators, exploring experimental instrumentation, and building a national audience.

The band was named Triple J Unearthed’s feature artist ahead of their performance at Adelaide’s 2023 Laneway Festival, seeing them share a bill with the likes of Fontaines D.C. and Turnstile. They showcased at BIGSOUND the same year to critical acclaim, with Dave Ruby Howe applauding the band for “delivering heavily to a big room which seemed to have caught wind that something was cooking… every member of the band vying for your eyes with intense noodling, rumbling rhythm section and demonic trumpet”.

Wielding a sound described as “post-punk pulse accelerant”, Coldwave’s EPs ‘Same Window, Different House’ and ‘No Conflict’ were met with glowing praise, the title track of the former touted as “precise in [its] chaos” (Dave McCarthy, Laundry Echo) and “like being plunged into an ice bath and set on fire” (Abby Butler, Triple J).

Off the back of a year supporting industry heavyweights including Citizen, Pond and RVG, Coldwave’s upcoming release ‘The Ants / Italia ‘06’ sees the band exploring influences fresh and familiar. The two-track EP was produced and recorded by Bonnie Knight (2024 AIR Independent Producer of the Year – Amyl & The Sniffers, Angie McMahon, ENOLA) and mixed by James Trevascus (Nick Cave & Warren Ellis, Billy Nomates, RVG).

Tightly coiled, ‘The Ants’ unwinds itself like an emo-tinged prequel to the band’s 2021 single ‘Plagiarise’. “We returned to a really comfortable place writing this song,” says vocalist Harrison Evans. “It’s built around reminiscing on childhood, and is a bit of a soul-searching expedition around the realisation that you’re one of many”.

Meanwhile, ‘Italia ‘06’ pushes new boundaries – a patchwork quilt of ideas that introduces saxophone and experimental percussion in a genre-busting slice of mayhem. “This song is more narrative-based,” Harrison explains. “We were thinking about the Aussie battler – someone who feels hard done by in a social or cultural bubble where life is actually pretty good. It evolved into referencing heartbreak over a penalty wrongly awarded to Italy in the 2006 World Cup. It’s a moment that ‘broke Australia’”.