1. Thanks for agreeing to do this interview! Would you please introduce yourself and what you do in the band, as well as provide a little context such as where you’re from?

My name is Rob Hamilton, I play guitar/backup vocals in Feral Nature. I also engineer and mix our music under the name Eureka Soundworks. I’m originally from Sydney (Australia), but I’ve been living in Oslo (Norway) since 2011.

2. Before we get into the band proper, how did you get into hardcore in the first place and what made you want to (have to?) play it?

Growing up in Sydney I was mostly into metal, but when I was 18 I started going to hardcore shows with friends and fell in love with the energy. It was what I was missing in metal, that sense of danger and realness.

3. What is the band’s origin story? How did you come together and what was the shared vision at the outset? Has it changed?

I had been sitting on a bunch of demos for years, struggling to find others that understood the end goal. I meet a lot of musicians through my work as the house engineer at Vaterland Bar & Scene (100 cap. venue in Oslo focusing on metal/punk/rock). With a few strokes of luck we landed the current lineup of Selma (vocals), Will (bass/vocals), Mathias (drums), and me (guitar/vocals).

We’re still a young band exploring how we complement each other and fit into the musical landscape. But for me, I think the strength of Feral Nature is in our ability to cut the fat and do a lot with a little. One thing I think we all agree on is our live show - we want you to feel trapped in the room with us. Not participating is not an option.

4. You’ve just released the Cradle of Twigs & Bone EP and it sounds fantastic. Crisp yet raw, frigid and suffocating, dare I say feral…? If my research is correct, all of your visuals (artwork, music videos) are done in-house as is the majority of the recording process. Can you speak to this?

Thanks! Fortunately we have skill sets within the band that make it easier to achieve our goals. Ultimately it means that there’s less lost in translation between our intention and the result. It might not be perfect, but it’s undeniably us.

My background is in live sound (@eureka.soundworks), so I place a lot of importance on capturing something that feels real. There’s enough hyper produced music out there, and I love a lot of it, but I think emotion trumps production every time. I want to preserve that palpable human touch.

Will (bass) does all of the visuals in the band. He’s done our logo, covers, merch, video post-production, etc. Selma (vocals) wrote the concept for our latest music video. Mathias (drums) worked on the stage production for a showcase show we did last year at By:Larm festival. Long story short, we’re a very proactive band.

On occasions where things have fallen outside of our wheelhouse, we’ve been lucky enough to collaborate with very talented friends like Thomas Moe Ellefsrud (@hellrideer) or Henrik Østreng Eriksen (@ostreng.photo), who have helped with photography and videography on music videos or at our shows.

5. What was the writing process for the EP like? What sounds and themes were you looking to explore and what emotions were you looking to evoke?

Honestly, it was a bit of a scramble after the release of our previous EP. We released ‘Rituals’ in November 2024 and tracked drums for ‘Cradle…’ in December 2024. Being a DIY band, we know everything takes longer than expected and decided to get cracking on the next thing ASAP.

As far as aesthetic choices go, we all bring something different to the table, but the most important thing is doing something that excites us and feels right, whether sonically or thematically. There have certainly been a few conscious decisions to expand our vocabulary on this release though.

6. My favorite track off the EP would be “Heavy Are the Mountains,” which I would describe as frost-bitten blackened hardcore with some d-beat, Kvelertak, The Ghost of a Thousand, and Hail Destroyer-era Cancer Bats all in the mix. Do you have a favorite track or are they all like your babies and you can’t choose one?

Will (bass) will be stoked to hear that! TGOAT is one of his favourite bands. I would have to say ‘Cradle of Twigs & Bone’ would be my personal favourite. It’s a prime example of where we’re from and where we’re going, a good reason for it being the title track. It’s also our most collaborative and adventurous song to date.

7. Your first show was supporting END in 2022 in Oslo. That’s quite an entrance onto the scene! What was that like?

That was before we landed the current lineup, but it was pretty wild. Personally, I’ve been a fan of Will Putney and Greg Thomas’ work for years. In particular, I love a record that Greg did with a band called Yashira (‘Fail to Be’ album). I'm a big fan of that new era of sludge (if you can even call it that?) like Yautja, Inter Arma, etc. Being told by Greg after our show that we gave him strong Deathwish Inc. vibes was a nice bonus!

8. What have been some show/touring highlights from then to now?

We’ve been privileged enough to grow quickly and experience some amazing opportunities already, but to name a few:

-Høstsabbat festival in 2024 set the bar for a packed floor show vibe. Selma was basically headwalking the entire set, smoke detectors hanging from the ceiling, no escape from the sweat or chaos. I had even busted my elbow the night before while stagediving, but managed to make it through the set.

PHOTO CREDIT: THOMAS MOE ELLEFSRUD

-EYES (DK) invited us down to Copenhagen for their album release for ‘Spinner’, framed as an all-day fest with some other incredible bands. It was our first tour together and heart-warming to be received so generously by a city/scene witnessing us for the first time. We’re looking forward to coming back to Copenhagen for A Colossal Weekend in May.

PHOTO CREDIT: JENS RAADAL

-Playing By:Larm festival and seeing Daniel P. Carter (BBC Radio 1) sidestage filming everything and having a great time was definitely a moment. That guy has probably seen everything, so it’s very validating to know we’re on the right path.

9. Do you have any shows or tours lined up for this year in support of the EP?

We’re just about to hit the road around Scandinavia in February and March. We’re playing A Colossal Weekend in May with some bigger names like Cult of Luna, Russian Circles, Svalbard, and our friends in EYES. We also just signed with Atonal Agency for booking in the EU/UK, so we’re working on a bunch of stuff there too. All confirmed dates and tickets can be found in the link below:

https://bnds.us/mqcaxg

10.  Okay, last question: When I was doing my previous website, I also made YouTube-exclusive content, and one of the things I did was “face off” against a guest in drafting bands or records from particular genres or labels; one of my favorites was when I had a close friend join me to draft Deathwish, Inc. releases. I can’t recall how many picks we each made but let’s say in the spirit of the question you can pick just five records, originally put out on Deathwish, no re-issues, to I don’t know, ride out the apocalypse in a bunker or something. Which five are you choosing?

-Rise And Fall - ‘Faith’

-Converge - ‘No Heroes’

-Trap Them - ‘Seizures in Barren Praise’ (I wish I could have picked Darker Handcraft though)

-Oathbreaker - ‘Rheia’

-As We Draw - ‘Mirages’ (this is a bit of a sneaky one, since it was released on Throatruiner Records which went on to become the EU base for Deathwish Inc., but I hope you’ll allow me that one, haha) [ed. note: To quote Mills Lane from Celebrity Deathmatch: "I'll allow it!"]

Also, Will was outraged that I didn’t include Cult Leader - ‘A Patient Man’