Biography

Armed In Advance are a heavy rock trio from Auckland with a penchant for ruthlessly efficient, hard hitting post-grunge songs laced with pop sensibilities and thought provoking undertones. Hailing from Auckland New Zealand, the band is made up of JP Carroll (guitar and vocals), Hugh Hokopaura (bass) and Ryan Thomas (drums). Since starting out in 2013 under the moniker of Stitches, AIA have released an EP (‘Stitches’ EP, 2014) and a full length (‘Change/Evolve’, 2016), and have subsequently had the honor of 5 songs gracing the nz rock radiowaves over that time. The most recent success of rotation play for single ‘Same Old Story’ on the country’s biggest rock radio station, the Rock FM, paved the way for a debut full length album described as “refreshing… modern hard rock with a point of difference.” (Muzic.net.nz) ‘Change/Evolve’ reached #9 on the NZ album charts, and was accompanied by a sold out Auckland release show. Two tracks from ‘Change/Evolve’ were deemed worthy of NZ On Air funded music video grants (Same Old Story, Running You Down). Having opened for US Rock heavy weights Drowning Pool, as well as I Am Giant, These Four Walls and many more goliaths of the New Zealand rock scene, Armed In Advance have worked tirelessly to build a loyal following of their own. The band has toured nationally 8 times, played events such as the NZ Tattoo and Arts festival, and relentlessly crafted their particular brand of driving rock, to win the admiration of live music fans the country over. Armed In Advance is not limited to a local audience, and 2014’s critically acclaimed ‘Stitches EP’ spawned a lead single in Blood On Your Harem that has since clocked up in excess of 350,000 plays on Spotify as of June ‘17, and earned the band thousands of online followers, from Russia to Brazil. 2017 sees Armed in Advance step it up a notch further, with writing for album number two well and truly under way. Having combined efforts with legendary producer Greg Haver (Manic Street Preachers,Opshop, The Feelers) in the recording studio, AIA is set to offer up their first effort from the new body of work, lead single Pain. Short and sour, Pain wastes no time in pummelling its point home to the listener, at once low down and grimey, while uptempo and uncompromising. Pain is set for release this August, catch it live at the Auckland City Rock Fest August 19.