New Zealand’s most rocking exports, Black Smoke Trigger have today announced the release of their explosive new single “Proof of Life“, accompanied by a high-octane music video that captures the band’s raw performance energy.
Speaking on the the inspiration behind “Proof of Life”, guitarist and band leader, Charlie Wallace shares “This track came together really fast, I was playing around with an alternate tuning I had never written in before and the main riff just arrived in my hands almost instantly. I took it into the jam room with the guys and very soon we had the first demo done. In the studio with producer Nick Raskulinecz, we played around with lots of guitars to find the right tone, and I think we nailed it. Proof Of Life is about how we often hold ourselves ransom in our mind, and the inner battles a lot of us face daily without realizing we are in control the whole time. It’s about pushing through and breaking yourself free from things that are holding you back, whatever they may be,”
The music video for “Proof of Life” strips back the frills to showcase what Black Smoke Trigger does best — deliver a fervent and energetic rock performance. “For the music video, we wanted it to be a raw and energetic performance of the song, it was a lot of fun to film as all we did was get in the weird room we created to set the vibe and go hard,” Wallace continues, emphasizing the pure adrenaline rush the video conveys.
As Black Smoke Trigger prepares to hit the road with Filter and Bruce Dickinson, “Proof of Life” sets the perfect tone for what fans can expect from their live shows — an unbridled celebration of rock that’s both cathartic and liberating.
Black Smoke Trigger continues to ride the high of their dynamic rock, anchored by the distinctive guitar work of Wallace and the commanding vocals of Baldrick combined with their pummelling rhythm section courtesy of bassist Dan Fulton, and drummer Josh Te Maro. Fast becoming known for not only churning out certified 10/10, arena ready rock bangers, Black Smoke Trigger are also quickly garnering a reputation for creating incendiary and often death defying music videos.
“Proof of Life” follows the release of their previous singles, “Perfect Torture” and “The Way Down”, the video for which saw the band perform atop the tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere whilst Wallace jumped off the edge, shredding a guitar solo whilst plummeting 630ft and has clocked up over 1.3 million views on YouTube. Prior to that, the band put out track “Caught In The Undertow”, the video for which was also a feat of extreme conditions. Filmed at Muriwai beach in Auckland, New Zealand and at a helicopter crash testing facility in a 3.6M deep pool, the whole band performed much of the song underwater creating a stunning visual that has clocked up 3.2 million Youtube views and highlighting the band’s dedication to creating unforgettable visual accompaniments for their hard-hitting rock anthems.
Black Smoke Trigger will be supporting Filter on the Australia and New Zealand leg of their Algorithm World Tour this April and will be hitting the road to support Bruce Dickinson in the UK this May.
With their debut, full length album set for release this May, the horizon shines bright for these Kiwi rock trailblazers. Stay tuned for much more to come.
ABOUT BLACK SMOKE TRIGGER
Black Smoke Trigger are led by Wallace (creator of the hugely successful Guitar Mastery Method) whose insane talent provides everything from delicate melodic motifs to face-melting shred solos and stadium-conquering riffs. They are fronted by incendiary vocalist Baldrick, whose impressive vocal abilities provide that indefinable, timeless rock n roll soul to the Black Smoke Trigger sound. Bassist Dan Fulton, and drummer Josh Te Maro round out the line-up, joining forces to create a powerhouse rhythmic backbone and one of the most bombastic and inventive rhythm sections of recent years.
With a rapidly growing fanbase, millions of streams, a reputation for raucous live shows and irrepressibly fearless approach to their craft, Black Smoke Trigger are poised to be the biggest and most thrilling entity to come from New Zealand since the Lord of The Rings movies. Just with more rock n roll and less hobbits.