“I’ve wanted to sing for a long time and now that I have a vehicle in which I can do that it’s very fulfilling for me” says Jonny. We’ve managed to overcome the challenges of an 8-hour time difference to get together via Zoom, and he’s clearly excited to be able to share this band and their story with the world.
“I can let loose and release what I’ve built up and been practicing for years now, I’ve really been workshopping my voice and getting better as a singer. It felt like the right time to shift and challenge myself to do what I really love to do, even though it’s nerve-wracking to put myself out there as a melodic vocalist. It’s revealing a different side of myself, I’m having to hit melodies and notes and it feels a little more personal if people don’t like it, so I’m getting used to that and building some armour up.”
Jonny’s voice is an important part of the Soft Curse story. You may recognise three-quarters of the bands members of screamo veterans State Faults, whose last release came in the form of 2024s Children of the Moon. Making the change to singing and embracing his own tastes and influences were two important driving forces behind this new project. “This band took form in February 2025. I’ve been a musician since high school and I’ve always played in bands, and I had been writing music constantly between writing Children of the Moon and it coming out in 2024, and I wanted to sing more but it didn’t seem to fit State Faults.
Jared (drummer of State Faults) had to take a step back from music to focus on his tattooing career and encouraged us to use our ideas for another project., and State Faults at its core will always be a project between Jared and I. There’s a lot of emotion and friendship tied into it, and around the time Jared stepped back my Mom passed away and it felt like time to put State Faults to rest and try something else.”
Once the seeds of a new band were planted, it didn’t take long for Soft Curse to come into being. Freed from the weight of expectations and the sometimes suffocating template of screamo, Jonny describes the experience of starting again as liberating. “I didn’t want to do another screamo thing because to be honest I don’t listen to that music often at all and haven’t done so for years. I forgot how fun it could be starting something new! I was afraid of going back to the beginning, but it turned out to be even better because we’ve learned so much, we’re older and more mature and we don’t fight or argue. It’s super cool how much of a connection we have.”
“The first time we got into a room and played Lunar Hymn together, it was like lightning struck the room. ”
Musically, Soft Curse occupy the dark corners and thickly cobwebbed rooms of an abandoned manor. The visuals and lyrics are sprinkled with the occult, and we spend a lot of time in darkness and despair with the band swinging a pendulum between doomy post-metal riffs and atmospheric, occasionally uplifting soundscapes.
The extremes of the record are the standouts, with ‘Marasmus’ and ‘In the Night’ boasting enormous sludgy riffs that wouldn’t sound out of place on a post-metal record (and in the former the album’s only screams, which sound almost out of place given how well the clean vocals match the vibe). It’s a brand of metal that transcends what we’d expect from a heavy record, with a finely-tuned balance between sharp, purposeful songwriting and hypnotic, patient repetition.
On the other end of the scale, album closer ‘Weight of the Sky’ opens with some gorgeously scuzzy chords and soars ever upwards, striking a perfect balance between euphoria and helplessness. It’s not a huge reach to describe this track as a ballad, and we’re taken back to a time when perhaps metal didn’t take itself so seriously and choruses weren’t something to be embarrassed about. It’s a song that manages to be touching, triumphant and desperately sad all at once.
Throughout the record, Jonny shows that he isn’t afraid to bust out of the murk with a guitar solo, and this is another element that sets Soft Curse apart from their contemporaries, occupying a world where such rock excesses might more often be shunned or sheepishly tucked away on a deep cut. “I love rock guitar, I love all that shreddy stuff, so I’m finally getting to let loose and play expressively and emotively with my guitar, it’s super fun. It’s a different approach to State Faults – the guitar playing for that band was more physical, Soft Curse is more about groove and feel. This band still has the same sense of melody that I’ve always reached for but recontextualised through the lens of heavy metal guitar playing. It’s an extension of what we’ve done already, while also being a new journey and a new path.”
It’s remarkable how locked in and authentic the band sound on their debut release – but it turns out there’s a hidden history behind some of the material. “I had been writing music constantly between writing Children of the Moonand it coming out in 2024. Me and Michael (Weldon, guitar) had a short lived band called Ghost Witch years ago which we used to explore our metal side, and that’s the music I listen to most of all so it made sense to pursue that. We brought a song (Lunar Hymn) directly over from Ghost Witch. We knew we wanted to keep playing together with Jef (Overns. bass player) and luckily he knew Dan (Ford, drums) from a previous band. I knew he was a great drummer and I was stoked to play with him. The first time we got into a room and played Lunar Hymn together, it was like lightning struck the room.”
“This is not a side project; this is our centre now”
Accompanying singles ‘Ghost Prism’ and ‘Lunar Hymn’ are videos created by bassist Jef. Freed from labels, preconceptions and any outside influence, the band are thriving in their newly independent state. “It just feels cool to go back to being a DIY band. It’s stressful and it costs hella money, between recording and the pressing, it was over $4,000 which is not easy for 4 dudes living in the most expensive place in the world! But we did it because it’s proof of our labour of love. We’re doing this because we love it and it lights our souls up – and you hear that in our playing together on the record. There are so many little nuances to how we play the songs, little drum parts that accentuate what I’m doing vocally, moments where the bass plays a little counter melody, and you can’t get that without everyone in the band feeling the same passion and love for the music. We’re all adding a piece of our soul to every song.”
We’ve learned how to present ourselves in a more professional way from our past but we’re keeping it all DIY. Our friend Sarah shot our promos and Jef edits them at home, he created our album artwork without even knowing it. He just set up a photoshoot with this skull and it’s incredible that it just flowed from him as an art piece without thinking of the band at all. It’s really cool that we’re getting to express ourselves so freely not just in the band but in other ways too.
Jef literally made our two music videos with iPhones! We cleared out the warehouse where he works, bought a $30 roll of plastic and some curtains, and he somehow made two videos that have a completely different vibe. Then he takes the footage home and within days he has them fully edited and ready to go. He has such incredible talent and passion”.
The way that Soft Curse is being presented to the world leaves us in no doubt that it’s overtaken State Faults as the group’s primary focus, and Jonny doesn’t mince words when we voice this observation. “This is not a side project; this is our centre now. It makes sense for us to be presenting it front and centre because this is who we are now and this is what lights me up. The old stuff is still there for people who want to listen to it, it’s never going away, but the ideas I’m coming up with now have me stoked to see what develops and continue exploring this genre and direction. We already have 12 nuggets of ideas for new songs, so I’m excited to keep developing this side of me that I haven’t gotten to showcase before. I know it’s different than what people are used to from me and the dudes, but it’s an extension of what we’ve done before, and a new journey, and a new path.”
“I’ve always thought that State Faults was a pretty different sounding screamo band, and I think Soft Curse is also going to be a different sounding metal band. I’ve always just wanted to mash together different parts of my favourite songs and artists and try to make it work, and that’s the same philosophy that I’ve always used to write. I’m just going to keep mashing things together in my studio like a madman and see what comes out! The other guys will cram their ideas in too, and it’s exciting to see what comes out – we all love metal, but we also love Depeche Mode and Prince, so why not see what other textures we can fit in? I want to incorporate more percussion into this band, we’re playing an acoustic set at our record release show and Dan plays conga, so why not try that out on the next record? Let’s do what lights us up and lets us have fun, and anything that we don’t enjoy or stresses us out we just don’t do!”