Life Sentence

ORIGINS: Campbelltown, NSW
GENRE: Hardcore
YEARS ACTIVE: 2004-2008

 

MEMBERS:

• Eoin McKenzie - Vocals
• Aaron Griggs - Guitar
• Adam Gallaty - Bass
• Luke Griggs - Drums

RELEASES:

• Demo EP (2005)
• 1. Racial Tension
• 2. Proud
• 3. Reality Check
• 4. Opposition Defiant
• 5. Big Brother
• 6. Unity

• Self-Titled (2007) - Download Here.
• 1. Endless Lies and Broken Ties
• 2. Blood or Oil
• 3. My Promise
• 4. Hunt or Be Hunted

• Unreleased Demo (2008)
• 1. High Beam
• 2. Opposition Defiant II
• 3. New Song
• 4. Falace in a Sheepskin
• 5. Complacent Workers Sydnrome

SUMMARY: Life Sentence were a Campbelltown-based hardcore band known for their activity in the mid-2000s and their connection to fellow hardcore band Standing Eight Count. They released two EPs before finishing up in 2008. Guitarist Aaron Griggs is now better-known as the hip hop artist Rates. 

 

SHOWS: 

• Moruya Golf Club, Moruya - 21st January, 2006
• Bar Broadway, Sydney - 25th March, 2006
• Oxford Tavern, Wollongong - 27th May, 2006
• Campbelltown Arts Centre, Campbelltown - 20th October, 2006
• Vic on the Park, Marrickville - 9th February, 2007
• Skate4Leukemia, Port Macquarie Skate Park, Port Macquarie - 10th February, 2007
• Vic on the Park, Marrickville - 3rd November, 2007

ORAL HISTORY:

LUKE: My ears got interested in hardcore/punk from early skateboard and surf videos. I just loved the raw energy it gave. A lot of influences came from skateboarding around Campbelltown, Ingleburn, and Macquarie Fields' crews back in the mid to late-'90s. It just grew from there. I'd always had a thing for tempo and beat in music. Just always looked at it as a really cool thing as a kid. Always had music around me at home, so I taught myself and then later got drum lessons in Year 8. I was listening to lots of stuff back then... anything from Pantera to No Fun At All. I remember always just being so focused on the drummer rather than the actual songs at times. 

Luke Griggs (Drums), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026

AARON: For years growing up I had loved punk and hardcore and was heavily influenced by my older cousin Luke. He used to teach me to try and play the fast beat, always making a point to play faster. I wanted to be a drummer like him - I just couldn't get the speed or precision that he could. I started teaching myself guitar and within a couple of years I had written a couple of riffs and songs. On a family visit to my cousin's house I decided to take my guitar and small amp. Luke had his Tama kit set up in his room, and straight away he pretty much said, "Let's jam". We had a 40 minute jam on some fast riffs I had written and decided that we were going to start a band. 

Aaron Griggs (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026

LUKE: My cousin Aaron was playing a bit of guitar and I hit him up to jam. I always loved how Adam played bass, we'd been in a school band together at high school called Parasympathetic. So I hit him up to jam as well. 

Luke Griggs (Drums), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026

AARON: Around this time there was a local band, Primary Urge, who I'd been watching for year. I had admired the songwriting style of melodic hardcore and punk and was always blown away at the guitar and basslines played by Adam and Danny from that band. I heard Primary Urge had taken a break and Luke and Adam (the bassplayer from Primary Urge) actually used to be in a high school band together called Parasympathetic. So Luke hit Adam up and we organised a jam at a local Campbelltown studio, which was known to be pretty loose, haha. 

Aaron Griggs (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026

ADAM: Luke and Aaron wanted to start a band and were looking for a bassplayer and a singer. I'd played with Luke in a high school band and he asked me to play. Aaron was young and friendly and had only just started playing guitar but he picked it up super fast, even if he didn't know what notes were on what fret at the start. Left-handed Luke had been playing a while and could keep a beat - the faster the better. At that point Primary Urge was on hiatus and I liked the idea of jamming again.

Adam Gallaty (Bass), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026

LUKE: We didn't have a vocalist for a bit... but I remember a few lads saying to me, there is a guy named Eoin that would sound good with you guys. Eoin turned up for a session and we never looked back. We practiced at Campbelltown Rehearsal Studios. 

Luke Griggs (Drums), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026

ADAM: Eoin was at the rehearsal studio one day watching a mate's band and we recruited him. He was a chatty, charismatic bloke and not scared to belt out a tune. 

Adam Gallaty (Bass), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026

AARON: After searching for vocalists and writing and completing a handful of songs, we heard that Eoin from a local band, Short Changed, was keen. Luke and Adam were both older than me but Eoin and me were close in age, even sharing a birthday a year apart. Everything just clicked, he was into the same style, had a wicked delivery and flow for writing sections and I always suspected a slight hip hop influence in his vocals. This worked well for what we were going for. Everyone was doing metalcore and heaps were good at it, but we loved that '90s European hardcore punk sound and stuck to that. 

Aaron Griggs (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026

ADAM: The songs were more hardcore and a bit straight verse-chorus-verse to begin with. Primary Urge was quite technical and complex after having played several years. Compared to Primary Urge, Life Sentence was fun and easy to play and I had a bit more input into the songwriting.

Adam Gallaty (Bass), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026

LUKE: Our first shows were at the Youth Centre and around the Campbelltown area with a few bands we used to hang out with - Feskit, etc. The best local show we did was at The Cube with The Dead Walk. Good show that. I remember our set we played... it felt good. The Dead Walk were sick! We played a Within Blood cover - so fun to play.

Luke Griggs (Drums), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026

ADAM: We played The Harp Hotel in Tempe about 8 weeks after forming. I played a Paul McCartney-style bass for a song or two. Life Sentence gigs were a bit crazy and unpredictable - we did a few shows with Luke's brother's band, Standing Eight Count, who were from Wollongong.

Adam Gallaty (Bass), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026

AARON: We knocked out a demo in 2005 at Zen Studios. It was a real, raw, punk-sounding demo and had 6 tracks on it, one of which was also featured on the Skate 4 Leukaemia comp later in 2007.

Aaron Griggs (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026

ADAM: The first time we recorded was a six song EP of our first few songs.

Adam Gallaty (Bass), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026

LUKE: Recording was such a crazy experience. We were at Zen Studios and it was a really cool experience. I learnt so many little things during that time about drums and tuning - just really perfecting drum tuning. I've always had a really picky thing with snares. Still to this day, an album can sound amazing but if the snare ain't right, I'm not into it. Anyway, we all got along so well and really grew as a band during recording. Looking back at it now, it was without a doubt some of the best memories of my life. 

Luke Griggs (Drums), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026

ADAM: We were playing a lot of shows around the time of and in the aftermath of the Cronulla Riots. One of our songs, 'Racial Tension', we would always introduce it and use it to call our racism. Sometimes the crowd would get offended, sometimes the security guards would get offended. I am half-Lebanese and spent a lot of time growing up surfing in Cronulla so I thought both sides were stupid and wrong. The song's lyrics were Eoin's and they weren't specifically directed at the riots - more so just racism in general. Otherwise., shows were loud and fast with lots of energy from both the band and the supporters. We played a show at Ingleburn Hotel once and came out on stage immediately after some bloke had just gotten his head kicked in at the front of the stage. Tension was high and we worried that things might escalate... but in the end, Ozzy got his brown M&M's and we went on to do a great show.

Adam Gallaty (Bass), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026

AARON: We played a lot of shows around Sydney, and a few down the South coast and also up in the mid-North coast. In 2007, we travelled to Port Macquarie to play the Skate 4 Leukaemia show with our friends Standing Eight Count.

Aaron Griggs (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026

LUKE: The bus up to Port Macquarie and back was all time... my brother in Standing Eight Count swore on stage and got hooked, which was memorable, but the bus ride was the funniest trip I've ever had. A fair few beers and a fair bit of weed smoked. Me and Codz drove the whole trip. It just Life Sentence and Standing Eight Count up to no good.

Luke Griggs (Drums), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026

ADAM: We would do road trips with Standing Eight Count. A couple down to Moruya to play with a local band and also up to Port Macquarie. Sometimes we did in a convoy, other times we'd all pile into a rented van. The Port Mac gig was at a youth centre/skate park that was run by a Christian group. The Standing Eight Count boys got cancelled two songs into their set for swearing... after a 6 hour trip in a crowded van!

Adam Gallaty (Bass), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026

AARON: In 2007 we recorded an EP, which was much heavier and going in a solid direction for us as songwriters.

Aaron Griggs (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026

LUKE: Recording the second EP was even more fun than the first. It was insane, in Sydney with Beau. Much cleaner production and the boys were tight as. We did it all in one weekend.

Luke Griggs (Drums), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026

ADAM: The second time we recorded was four songs - this was done in the city somewhere, just off Oxford Street.

Adam Gallaty (Bass), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026

AARON: We were in a funny spot in this era - we would cover Raised Fist and 59 Times the Pain, and we loved the Geelong band Voice of Dissent, but metalcore was starting to become huge. Our friends around us at the time went on to play in some of the biggest bands on Earth now by being successful with that new metalcore sound, and rightfully so - some were extremely good at it. It was around this time that I started to experiment with this fun little thing called Australian hip hop. It felt raw. Real. Exciting. I was never a metalcore guy - I wanted fast drums, dirty riffs with a touch of melody, and soaring vocals. Everywhere I turned by 2008, the punk sound I loved was disappearing and was being replaced by tight jeans and guys who were hell-sleazy to all the younger girls coming to shows. These guys weren't 'street' or 'tough'... they were too cool for school, and this new scene respected them. I could sense some of my band members (who were all older than me, were guys I looked up to all my life) also felt the same. Hardcore in 2008 wasn't what I expected after I'd grown up seeing bands like Cronulla's Throwdown, and Toe to Toe, who'd played in Ambarvale. 

Aaron Griggs (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026

ADAM: I remember watching the scene change a bit. As one of the older members in Life Sentence, playing with younger bands was different - youthful energy and such. But later on, a new wave of screamo and emo kids were coming to shows with super-tight jeans, teased and coloured hair, and make-up. That made me feel old (and glad my generation didn't do that!), haha. 

Adam Gallaty (Bass), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026

LUKE: We had plans for a third recording and had been talking about towards the end of the band - we had so many more songs but time and a bit of life stuff got us, so we never got there. I'm kinda spewin' about it because - to me - the last two songs we ever made as a band were personally my favourites. Just solid hardcore songs. I really wish we could have got into the studio and recorded them.

Luke Griggs (Drums), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026

AARON: Unfortunately, around 2008, I had a lot of personal struggles, and my career with underground hip hop in Australia was becoming quite demanding with recording and schedules. I unfortunately ended up in the system throughout my 20s and early 30s - it was all over the place; jails and psych wards entered my world. This ultimately led to me regrettably leaving the band and focusing on my other music endeavours, as they were strangely more controllable than being in a support network or band with friends and family. I do look back with regrets, but if I changed anything who knows how things would have turned out. My love for hardcore and punk never died. I spent the next 20 years learning every instrument I could, learning time signatures, writing songs for other popular artists, of all genres, travelling and performing my style of hip hop all around Australia but secretly perfecting my own creative, melodic hardcore songs.

Aaron Griggs (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026

LUKE: A few things went down and we just stopped rehearsing. Everyone had a chat and we all said: let's have a break. It's still a long break, ha. We all went and did our little things for a while... me and Eoin did a little band that was fun. Adam did his thing. Obviously Aaron and his hip hop went huge, the lad is just dope as fuck and so fucking talented at music. He's got an incredible ear for it. I went on and played drums in a few bands and had more fun and success in Never Right with Brett Eberhard, Mick, and Beau. 

Luke Griggs (Drums), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026

AARON: I still have a huge love for the fellas, and punk and hardcore, and still believe the other Life Sentence guys are the most energetic, creative bunch of blokes I've ever made music with. We are all in ours 40s now, with kids and jobs and shit, so life naturally makes things difficult and distant. I'm working on an EP, for the love of that style, and hopefully will get the boys involved in one way or another.

Aaron Griggs (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026

RELATED BANDS: Parasympathetic, Short Changed, Rates, ABK225, Never Right, Primary Urge, Boedy Zaphfa