Wollongong/Sydney melodic metal band LORD have a unique motivation for hitting the road though; “stalking” their hero John Farnham. 

After seeing that Farnham was headlining a major show in Melbourne in late November, the group considered booking their own gig in the city the night prior as justification to head interstate to catch their idol in action. 

“We actually didn’t have any solid plans for touring this year, although we knew we’d probably have to get back out there to promote our current release (the What Tomorrow Brings EP),” front-man Tim Grose aka “Lord Tim” said. 

“In typical LORD fashion, one thing led to another and before we knew it, we had an entire tour (Playing To Win: The Road to Farnsy Tour) booked around this one crazy idea.

“Suddenly we had a theme and a great reason to get back out there.”

Grose isn’t counting on living out his dream and joining Farnham on-stage, though. 

“Oddly enough, we have links to people in John’s organisation and, in fact, our bassist Andy (Dowling) was backstage with him recently at the personal invite of one of those people,” Grose said. 

“As far as I’m aware, the invite was sent for him to come to our show in Melbourne, and it’s very likely he’s aware of our cover (of the Little River Band/Farnham hit Playing To Win), but whether anything comes from this is anyone’s guess.

“It seems pretty unlikely anything would happen, but we’d all be drooling, sobbing fanboys if it did,” he laughed. 

LORD is essentially a continuation of Dungeon, one of Australia’s longest-running heavy metal bands.

They began playing under the LORD banner in 2006. 

They have toured with international acts such as Saxon, Queensrÿche, Iced Earth, Nightwish, Helloween and Gamma Ray.

Vocalist/guitarist Grose said the members had never attempted to hide their devotion to non-metal music.

“Just speaking for myself, some of my favourite bands are stuff like Duran Duran, Pseudo Echo, Icehouse and a lot of other ‘80s pop.

“I know the other guys share similar tastes when it comes to non-metal music.

“Listening to what we do, you’d be forgiven for not really hearing the connection, aside from our cover versions of a lot of those songs, but at the core of a good bulk of our material, you can hear the same strong emphasis on melodies, big choruses, a lot of instrumental layering.

“Crank up the speed, the double-kick drums and guitars, and what we do is basically a loud and angry version of a-ha,” he laughed.  

LORD recently celebrated the band’s 25th anniversary via a limited edition four-disc box set, The Dungeon Era, comprising the Dungeon discography re-recorded by the current band. 

Continuing their momentum, LORD were recently announced to be part of the 2016 installment of the prestigious ProgPower USA festival in Atlanta, Georgia. 

The festival will mark their debut US appearance.

“We’ve had the resources to head over (to America) for the past few years, but money has been tied up with the last couple of releases, the Dungeon box set especially,” Grose said.

“We’ve (also) all personally had things which have limited the amount of time we could spend out of the country, like having kids or new day jobs. 

“I think we’re finally in the position where we’ll be able to get over and make a lot of long-standing plans happen from next year onwards.”

LORD will perform at Dicey Riley’s, Wollongong on Friday, November 27 with special guests Carbon Black, Saralisse, Under Nights Cover and Enfiled. 

Free entry.