I am James Lavel, I play bass for Pistonfist. I also play bass for The Automaton and I play lead guitar for Swamp Gully Howlers. I have been playing live for around 11 years, playing for close to 20.

My dream rider would be:

A masseuse. Touring in Australia is essentially just driving for 16hrs to play a 30min set and then doing it again. Cramps are very, very real.
A nine volt battery, strings and a spare of all the things I always forget to bring with me. Food that isn’t from a pub or servo. The diet on the road isn’t usually glamorous.

A place to warm up that doesn’t have 16 other people tuning their guitars. Beers, for .. after the show..
Plenty of water.
Both of my Cats for emotional support before each show.

We just dropped our debut album Redline and we are about to hit the road!

https://open.spotify.com/album/3YFctkZLiW2S2wDB6XTNdb?si=M054pl30Qo68_ypTm7hxJA
pistonfistmerch.bigcartel.com
linktr.ee/pistonfist

Starting September 30 we are at Bundaberg at the Sugarland Tavern with Exotic Potion Cookies; Masters of Mayhem; INEFFIGY and Stroidz. We are stoked to get back up north and play a show for you legends! Then in October we hit the road for the New Metal Mayhem tour. We are cruising around Australia and New Zealand with Waylon Reavis (A Killer’s Confession, ex-Mushroomhead) and Anders Colsefni (ex-Slipknot). We will also be sharing the road with all round legends Kaosis and Sin Soto. Pumped to be a part of this tour, it’s going to be absolutely mental. Stacks of shows so drag your mum along and go wreck your neck in the mosh pit. Look out for ya mates and we’ll see you at the bar.

Check out our upcoming tour dates:

September 30 – Sugarland Tavern Bundaberg October 11 – Crowbar Sydney
October 12 – Enigma Bar Adelaide
October 13 – Bendigo Hotel Melbourne
October 14 – Mansfield Tavern – Brisbane
October 15 – Mo’s Desert Clubhouse – Gold Coast 
October 16 – Irish Club Hotel – Toowoomba 
October 18 – Neck Of The Woods Auckland 
October 19 – 8 Bar Pool and Darts Taranaki 
October 20 – Valhalla Wellington
October 21 – The Embankment Christchurch 
October 22 – Yonder Queenstown
October 23 – Drive Dunedin