Melbourne hard rock outfit Stonetrip have burst the shackles of COVID induced isolation and hit the ground running with their debut single “Sideways”, an instant classic that reeks of old school metal to be enticing but then bludgeons you with riff after riff and catchy vocal hooks that give it a more modern feel.

After introducing themselves to the metal world via stage performances in 2019, the band refused to let their gathering momentum falter when everything turned to shit, instead focusing on writing the nucleus of their debut EP which is well on the way to completion.


Vocalist Mark Ritchie joined HEAVY for a chat during the week to talk about “Sideways” and much more.


"It's just one of those riffs that gets you straight away. When Mick Malusa, (guitar) came up with it... it just came out of nowhere like most good songs do. The tracks that we wrote initially happened in a studio owned by a friend. Mick and I got together there and had a wild night with a few drinks and partied up a little bit and started jamming out and writing a few songs. Mick had a few riffs and I was sitting there writing lyrics and melodies through the process and we did that and didn't do too much with it. We put it down for a while and then I had a listen back and thought wow, this is pretty good! It wasn't just a wild night (laughs) because how they sound on the night is usually totally different to how they sound the next day at times. I had a listen and rang Mick straight away and said these songs are a little bit too good to put down and let go and that's where they came from. Mick's got a rock 90's background and is a big Garry Moore fan so they sort of amalgamated. I've come from a mixed bag of everything from the Black Crowes, Cold Chisel to Rush so it's extreme melodies and lyrics that I've mashed up somehow. I don't think too much about how I write when I write. I just write and worry about it afterwards. It all seems to work with the simple formula of if it ain't broke, don't fix it."

In the full interview, Mark talks about the new music coming, finding the balance between old school metal and rock, getting back out on the road and more.