The life of a rock star isn’t always as glamorous as the media would have you believe.
Perception is rarely reality and just because you are in a band featured in magazines and invited to play at festivals of the caliber of Soundwave doesn’t mean that your career in music is set.
Just ask Conditions, a hard rock band from Richmond, Virginia.
Two albums into an eight year stint the band have reluctantly pulled down the curtain on a promising career. Not because of internal issues or contractual disputes, but because of money. Pure and simple cold, hard cash.
“Things just seem to have naturally run their course,” vocalist Brandon explained.
“It’s that pretty much run of the mill story where the band just isn’t enough financially for us to be grown men. It’s okay, no-one hates each other, we’re not breaking up out of spite. We all love each other and we’re very happy with what we got to do with Conditions and we’re excited that we’ve been given the chance to come back to Australia one last time.”
After already playing their farewell show in their home city and announcing their exodus from the music scene, it was what was initially thought a bit of a gee up that led to their appearance next year.
“It started with what we thought was a joke,” Brandon said.
“The day that we announced our breakup AJ Maddah tweeted us and said ‘don’t break up’ and we were like ‘no dude, sorry’ and he said ‘well take a year of and come and do Soundwave 2015’ and we totally thought it was a joke but when it became real we thought it would be stupid to pass up.”
With such a promising future in the industry snatched from beneath them, it would be easy for the band to be bitter at the whole thing but in true Conditions fashion the boys actually leave having learned something.
“Music is hard, man,” drummer Ryan offered, breaking his silence.
“It’s strange that the things that are so much fun in life are the things that ultimately hold you back,” Brandon continued. “It sucks really. Obviously, having had the chance to play music live, there’s really nothing like it and it’s a shame that something like financial security can overshadow that. It’s a disconnection between being financially stable and being happy with what you do in life.”
Brandon seems to be a man passionate about his art and music, as reflected in his two album titles.
“I’ve always been extremely, maybe at times too comically, deep,” he said.
“I’ll talk to people and I’ll start going into dark places and they will be like ‘what the hell are you talking about?’ so with our first album ’Fluorescent Youth’ that title meant a way of explaining how important youth is in that it is the spark that is going to send you into life basically. Everything that you do in your youth is going to shape your future.”
“Our second album ‘Full of War’ basically explores us a band. Life is a constant battle between two different things if you really break it down to an extremely simplistic way of thinking about it and a lot of the songs on that album were about duality or paradox or having the ability to be aware of two sides to everything and that’s what it meant. Life is full of warring factions and this versus that basically every second of every day of every life and I just wanted to tie that thought process together with some action words.”
If music is a painting and life its canvas, a person is defined by their last stroke, and with Conditions that stroke is ‘Full of War’, an album that will forever leave an unfulfilled legacy and leave fans of the band wondering ‘what if’?
As far as albums go it is a beauty, but not even the band knew that they were penning their last act together.
“Honestly, no,” Brandon laughed at the idea they had any idea this would be their last piece of music together.
“I don’t think that the…… I don’t know what to call it… I don’t want to call it a disheartening but I guess the thing is we kind of saw this wasn’t going to work while we were touring the album. That’s when things started getting a little frustrating. I think though it is a good representation of the band and a good as any place to leave it. I for one am very happy with how I personally delivered on the album. I really like the lyrics that I wrote. I leave feeling like I have said everything that I needed to say.”
If all of this had left you wavering as to whether or not to spend forty minutes of your day with Conditions at the concert, Brandon has this to say.
“Man, we’re a band who has already broken up so we’re not going to leave anything on the stage.”
“Plus we’re really, really handsome,” Ryan concluded.
Kris Peters
Conditions play as part of the Soundwave 2015 festival in Brisbane on February 28 and March 1 and at all other shows. Tickets can be booked through the website.
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