COPPERHEAD are a three-piece heavy rock/metal band from North-West Tasmania, delivering a powerful no-nonsense sound that punches well beyond their years.
Fronted by Charlie Wicks (15) on guitar and vocals, alongside Nate Starkey (16) on bass and Charlie Williams (19) on drums, Copperhead already show the chemistry and focus of a band built for bigger stages. Despite their young age, their sound is confident, aggressive, and unapologetically heavy and wearing their influences like a badge of honour, unashamedly drawing from the power and grit of bands such as Metallica, Nirvana, Alice in Chains, and even flashes of early Silverchair.
After travelling to Melbourne to record with producer Tyson Fish (Mammal, Vance Joy), the band went on to dominate at the Rock Challenge in Tasmania, the state’s elite school band competition, taking out both their heat and the state finals in the high school division.
Their debut single Mortal Souls delivered hard-hitting riffs and relentless energy and quickly racking up thousands of streams across Spotify, establishing Copperhead as one of Tasmania’s most exciting emerging heavy acts.
Now gearing up for the release of their new single Public Indecency, Copperhead continue to push an old-school rock/metal sound with a modern edge. Early listeners have already described the track as something that “could fit perfectly on Metallica’s Black Album.”
Both songs have been co-written with Australian punk band Captives and Public Indecency is shaping up to be a defining moment, not just for the band, but for the next generation of Tasmanian heavy music.
HEAVY caught up for a chat with all three band members ahead of Friday's release and start by ask how they are feeling just a couple of days out.
"We're extremely excited," drummer Charlie Williams exclaimed. "We've had this song in the files for months now and we've just been so eager to it out to the world. And now it's finally happening and it's going to be out next week."
Public Indecency follows Copperhead's debut single Mortal Souls, and we ask the boys what their thought process was when deciding which song to lead with.
"We released Mortal Souls first because we thought it was just a good way to really show people who we are," Williams replied. "But Public Indecency is our favorite out of the two songs. We kind of wanted to hold off on releasing the better song because people are going to be surprised on how different it is musically. Mortal Souls is just a thrash it out, fucking just go hard all the time, and Public Indecency is also that in a way, but it's a lot more like… I don't even know how to describe it (laughs)."
In the full interview, Copperhead spoke more about Public Indecency and how it represents them as a band. They talked about the title and subject matter, emphasing the need to have fun with your music whenever possible.
The band spoke about their youth and love for old school rock and metal, recording in Melbourne, co-writing both songs with Captives, album and tour plans and more.
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