Confessions: Northlane's Marcus Bridge

WHAT’S THE WORST DECISION YOU’VE MADE WHILE DRUNK?

“One time I was in Perth with an old band, doing a little festival, having a house party with some of the other bands. We played beer pong, and drank all the beer. So we got onto wine, and drank all the wine. We were out of alcohol. And then I just started eating leaves. I don’t know why – I was pretty far gone. Next morning was the actual day of the festival, and I woke up at four, went outside and started throwing up this green… not nice stuff. Very green. Yuck yuck. And that was bad – I’ll never eat leaves again!”

WHAT’S BEEN YOUR WEIRDEST EXPERIENCE IN THE BAND?

“I suppose the tour we did of the US a few months ago. We were there for three months, including going in the studio, and by the time we were done, we were just talking in our own gibberish language of nothing. When I got home, I actually couldn’t hold a conversation, and it took me a few weeks to get back to normal.”

DID YOU USE ANY PARTICULAR WORDS?

“No, just gibberish. Like, ‘Hep hep, hup, yip!’ I don’t know how you’re going to write that down… but we somehow still managed to understand each other!”

DO YOU HAVE ANY PHOBIAS?

“I’m pretty scared of the dark, but it’s more so just being alone in the dark. When I was younger, and no one was home, I wouldn’t leave my room because I was too frightened. Also, I’m really scared of bees. I’m deadly allergic to them, so if I get stung I need a shot very quickly. The other day I saw a giant bee – I’d never seen a bee that size, and I was so frightened… I will sprint in the other direction if I see a bee. I’m very careful.”

DO YOU MITIGATE YOUR FEAR OF DARKNESS NOW YOU’RE AN ADULT?

“Yeah, for the most part I’ll not have my curtains closed, or I’ll always have a light on. But if there is no light on, I’ll run down my hallways, ha ha ha!”

HHAVE YOU EVER BEEN STARSTRUCK?

“Yes, every day. Now that I’ve joined Northlane, everyone I meet is someone I’ve looked up to. My first Northlane tour was with Parkway Drive, and they’re pretty much the band that’s helped heavy music get out of Australia. I really want to fangirl hard, but I’d better not! I don’t want to be too unprofessional…”

YOU’VE GOT SOME SCARY ANIMALS IN AUSTRALIA - HAVE YOU EVER BEEN ATTACKED BY ONE?

“Well, they are scary, but not as present as everyone thinks they are. A lot of the scary things are in the centre of Australia, in the hot areas or more rural bushland areas. But crows swoop me a lot. I’m pretty sure there’s this crow in my front yard that has had it in for me for five years. I’ll be out front and it’ll start swooping me. Or come straight to my face and then just hang a left. They suck!”

This crow really hates Marcus.

This crow really hates Marcus.

WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE WRITTEN ON YOUR TOMBSTONE?

“My friends back home were randomly talking about this one day, and it was, ‘Olympic Medallist Ice Skater And World Number Two Table Tennis Player’. I don’t know why, but I’d like that to be on my tombstone, just for the sake of being gibberish.”

THAT’S PRETTY GREEDY, TO HAVE TWO SPORTING TITLES. WOULD IT SAY ANYTHING ELSE?

“Instead of my name, I’d have King Of Forry. Forry is where I’m from – Forestville back home – but I also use it as a way of saying something’s good or bad. So if something’s ‘forry’, it’s good, if it’s not forry, it’s bad. I’m trying to implement that into everyday vocabulary.”

HAS ANYONE EVER GIVEN YOU A NICKNAME?

“King Of Forry, I’ve just given to myself. I can’t really think of anything besides that. Carcass maybe, when I was younger, but nothing like that any more! It’s the only word that rhymes with Marcus.”

*Node* is out now via We Are Unified