In the quiet town of Ceduna on the far west coast of the Eyre Peninsula, the beating of drums and scream of guitars echoes throughout the old Scout and Guide Hall.

Sitting across the road from a cemetery, the hall serves as a rehearsal space for the town’s only heavy metal band, KNAW.

The band is gearing up for its first capital city show in Adelaide, which will involve a 16-hour round trip for the chance to play a 40-minute set.

A man wearing a yellow cap screams into a microphone.

Robert Pav belts out a scream. (ABC Eyre Peninsula: Emma Pedler)

Lead guitarist Callan Slattery, 20, said it might seem “a little extreme”.

“But for us, it’s a thing we’ve got to do,” he said.

“Bands from cities won’t come out to regional areas like this often.”

The band has big dreams of playing on a festival stage one day.

But being so isolated from the heavy metal community creates unique roadblocks.

A heavy metal band plays on stage inside an old community hall.

KNAW rehearse in the town’s old Scouts hall. (ABC Eyre Peninsula: Emma Pedler)

“We’ve talked to a few festivals and put our names out there,” Slattery said.

“I think because they see we’re from the middle of nowhere … I don’t think it excites them for whatever reason, it seems to be a bit of a thing with small bands, especially from rural areas like this.”

With limited venues to play at in Ceduna, the band will play anywhere that lets them — often for free.

“You might get a tab on the bar, but we get up there and make our noise,” Slattery said.

A man plays a guitar in a heavy metal band.

Makenzi Harrison plays some heavy riffs during a rehearsal session.  (ABC Eyre Peninsula: Emma Pedler)

“That’s the hardest thing; finding places that are happy to have such extreme music and such energetic and loud shows.

“There is a fair bit of music [in Ceduna] but it’s more so around the poppy, country stuff. 

“It’s hard to end up on the same bill as that sort of thing.”

Breaking through

In the Melbourne triple j studio, Jack Bergin pores over the latest alternative music coming in from across the country.

After more than a decade touring as the vocalist for hardcore outfit Void of Vision, Bergin is the host of the station’s flagship heavy music program, CORE.

A man in a black shirt and cap stands next to a triple J microphone smiling.

Jack Bergin says he has seen a shift in heavy bands playing more in the regions.  (ABC News: Billy Draper)

He said it could be hard for regional bands to find their audience. 

“It’s very limited to what you can do in a regional town; I dare say it’s quite a niche genre, especially in heavy music where you can only meet a handful of people,” he said.

“And you’ve reached your ceiling quite early on in terms of that.”

While many bands from regional towns hope to move to a major city to record and play bigger capacity venues, Bergin said cost-of-living pressures often made that unrealistic.

“It’s a very tricky situation for a lot of regional acts that they find themselves in at the moment,” he said.

While capital city shows were needed for exposure, Bergin said he had seen renewed interest in regional touring from heavier bands.

“I think we’re starting to see a bit of a change, I know regional touring in a larger aspect for some of our more household names is coming back big,” Bergin said.

Outside the front of a community hall building.

KNAW members meet to rehearse at the former Guides and Scouts hall in Ceduna. (ABC Eyre Peninsula: Emma Pedler)

“If we can keep continuing to reintroduce these smaller towns and have more of these flagship acts come through, a lot of the locals will see that and they will respond to that.”

A nursery for the music industry

Four hundred kilometres south of Ceduna in Port Lincoln, Sound City owner Mike Pearson has been gearing up for a busy summer of hosting shows.

A man stands behind a bar with his arms folded on the table.

Mike Pearson says local venues across Australia are struggling with rising insurance costs.  (ABC Eyre Peninsula: Duncan Bailey)

He said alternative music venues were needed to showcase different genres.

“It’s the nursery for the whole music industry … reducing the number of venues that alternative bands can play in, they’ve got nowhere to play and have to invent their own gigs,” Pearson said.

“The flow-on effect is to the wider music industry. 

“Without alternative music venues and places for artists to express different types of music, it threatens the whole industry.”

Pearson said the challenges faced by live music venues were not exclusive to the regions. 

Three men hanging out in a community hall.

Juran Miller, Robert Pav and Callan Slattery hang out in their Ceduna rehearsal space. (ABC Eyre Peninsula: Emma Pedler)

“Live music venues are struggling everywhere; there’s a multitude of reasons for that,” he said.

He said costs such as insurance had become out of reach for a lot of venues.

“But with a struggle comes an opportunity that forces venues to be a point of difference and offer things that people want to see and hear and do,” he said.

Slattery said KNAW had no plans of giving up anytime soon.

A man plays guitar. His long hair obscures his face.

Callan Slattery says the band will not throw in the towel just because of the long distances. (ABC Eyre Peninsula: Emma Pedler)

“I don’t think there is really much that would stop us,” he said.

“We all really want to do it and will jump at any chance we get to do something like this.

“We would really love to have more heavy music festivals close to home … that’s the hardest thing, finding the places that will want to have you there.”