Based in Melbourne, Australia, Stuck Out has not only become one of the most exciting pop-punk acts in their own country but throughout the genre entirely. With the ability to mix explosiveness and melody, they make tracks that are immediately memorable and addicting.
So when I got the chance to interview the lead singer of the group, Josh Walker (he/him), I couldn’t pass it down.
Editor’s note: This interview was conducted back this past May.
Steven: How have you all been handling quarantine? I hope everyone in your inner circle is safe and well!
Josh: We’re all well over here! Australia’s done pretty well with this entire ordeal, so we’re definitely lucky to be living where we are.
Isolation’s getting stale now but we’re writing music, planning releases, and hopefully when everything comes back, we’ll be ready to make the most of it!
How does something like COVID-19 affect bands like you, who have been riding off of an ongoing wave of momentum?
It’s definitely thrown a spanner in the works of what we had planned, but we’re pretty chilled out about it all; you just can’t help these things. We were lucky as we’d just finished recording our next record when lockdown came into place, so we’ve at least got that to look forward to.
How does it change your plans for moving forward?
All our planned tours, releases, etc. have been postponed for now, but it also gives us more time to plan an in-depth outline of what we want to do. Hopefully, we can make this next release more of an ‘experience’ for the fans rather than just another bunch of songs.
Many are considering you one of the best up-and-coming bands from the Melbourne scene; does that bring pressure to you as a group?
We’re a pretty relaxed group and we try not to take everything too seriously. We were definitely stuck in a rut for a bit where we heaped a lot of pressure on ourselves with what we thought we needed to do to be ‘successful’, but it ended up just stressing us out, and we weren’t enjoying what we were doing anymore. Funnily enough, as we took a more relaxed approach, everything started to work out for us.
Touring with some notable acts, how do you adapt to the pressure of it all (if it even exists)?
We were getting the tours we wanted, getting more traction on our releases, etc; I think everything depends on what your outlook on life is, if your aim is to ‘enjoy’ the experience there’s a lot higher chance that you will.
How much does the influence on your favorite acts play into your own music? Having drawn comparisons to Real Friends and The Story So Far, how has the group developed a defiant “Stuck Out” sound over its tenure?
Personally, I think ‘finding your sound’ is easy if you’re willing to put in some time to experiment. We’re not a ground-breaking band with our music, but we definitely put in time and effort to make sure we like the music we’re producing. We definitely take inspiration from a range of different artists whether it’s a beat, a guitar tone, a vocal line, but the journey from that inspiration to a fully formed Stuck Out song is very fluid. Provided you’re not ripping off an entire song, it’s very hard to write something that doesn’t sound like you. It’s all about inspiration, not imitation.
THAT PUNK ZINE 