OF LIMBO:Unplugged

How many times a day do you get shown ads in your social media feed?

One? Two? Five Hundred?

Now, how many times do those ads resonate with you?

Five percent? One percent? Zero? However, there are rare instances when an ad pops up and grabs you. Well, not literally, but it hooks you, and in this case, hooks you sonically. This is exactly what happened when OF LIMBO popped up on my feed.

They were promoting their new stripped back unplugged version of Radiohead’s “Street Spirit”. I mean, cmon, how could I not be interested. After all, Street Spirit is a track from The Bends, which is the first Radiohead album I ever purchased. So I dug a little deeper and found myself enjoying a bevy of unplugged tracks. It reminded me of why I loved the 1990s MTV Unplugged sessions and I was enjoying each and every nostalgic minute of it.

So who are OF LIMBO? Well I am glad you asked:

Raised in Melbourne, baked in Long Beach, and bonded by blood, OF LIMBO isn’t just a band—it’s a lifelong pact between brothers Jake and Luke Davies to chase the wild, loud, and soulful sides of rock and roll. Known for their punch-you-in-the-gut live shows, the band made their name turning every gig into a party and every track into a war cry.

Their latest release, Unplugged, reveals a different weapon in their arsenal: restraint. A reflective, stripped-back LP tracked in their home studio, Unplugged trades distortion for depth without losing an ounce of intensity. Anchored by covers like Radiohead’s “Street Spirit” and Alice In Chains’ “Down In A Hole,” the album pulses with raw vulnerability and a surprising clarity of craft.

Jake’s vocals hit harder when paired with silence while Luke’s guitar work pulls melody from muscle memory. Even when they turn the volume down, OF LIMBO never stop going for the throat. And whether it’s a dive bar or a beach in Belmont Shore, their mission remains the same: light a fuse, invite everyone in, and see who’s still standing when the dust clears.

We chatted with Jake Davies from OF LIMBO to learn more!

SNQLX: You’ve been a band for years now. What part of OF LIMBO still feels like day one—and what part feels unrecognizable?

JAKE: The satisfaction Luke and I still feel coming up with new riffs and songs together with nothing but a couple guitars, and a few drinks still feels new and fresh. Might not feel quite as bright as that first year together, but it’s the same feeling, just a little more opaque.

SNQLX: You’ve been called “the last dangerous rock band.” What does dangerous mean to you—and how do you protect it from becoming an act?

JAKE: Kevin Martin of Candlebox said that to the crowd during their set after we had opened for them a couple of years ago. He said “How about OF LIMBO? That’s the last dangerous rock band you fuckers will ever see”. I think he meant it as a compliment – because we let loose during our live shows and you never know what might happen… We certainly don’t!

SNQLX: You’re brothers, bandmates, and business partners. What’s something about that dynamic that fuels the music—and what nearly destroys it?

JAKE: It’s easy to get down at times – comparison is the thief of joy as they say. This is a really tough business and you have to be persistent. But having each other’s back, luckily when one of us starts to stumble or fall into self-doubt, the other is there to pick him up.

SNQLX: What keeps you in Long Beach? How has the city shaped your sound or spirit in ways Melbourne never could?

JAKE: We have a place that we live in that allows us the freedom to create/practice/record in, right near downtown Long Beach. We have never had the cops come by to tell us to turn it down – even though we blast away at all hours of the day and night. Having a bar right around the corner is convenient; I’m not sure if that’s helped or hurt, but “what we can’t remember we can never regret”!

As far as how it differs from Melbourne – I feel we have been able to find a great community of like-minded fun people across Los Angeles, Orange County, and Long Beach. I’m not saying it’s impossible to have done that in Melbourne, but we certainly love everyone in our extended OF LIMBO family here in Southern California.

SNQLX: You’ve played 100+ shows a year. What have you learned about people—crowds, strangers, fans—from being in front of them night after night?

JAKE: That people are not going to a rock show for a passive night of one sided “entertainment”. They want a fun interactive experience. A moment in time that they are a part of. A night that their energy played a pivotal part of creating. The best nights of my life have been shared through the love rock n roll with people. Often people I’ve never met before that night, and may never see again. And that’s fucking beautiful.

SNQLX: Who do you write for when no one’s watching? Who is the imaginary person, dead or alive, that every OF LIMBO song is secretly meant for?

JAKE: Us. We make the music we want to hear. I guess there is a part of us that does want the sick satisfaction of proving anyone who has ever doubted us wrong.

SNQLX: If someone could only see one show, one song, one moment to get OF LIMBO—what would you show them?

JAKE: Our next show! The moment they realize they are free to have fun, completely unashamed or embarrassed or repressed or afraid of someone’s judgement. That moment they feel “something real” with us. What song is that going to be? Hard to say. Some nuts take more or less pressure to crack.

SNQLX: What does it actually feel like when a song clicks for you in the studio or rehearsal room? Can you describe the moment the lights turn on?

JAKE: It’s the best feeling in the world. It’s more like the lights turn off… and we just get inside of the riff. Playing it over and over and living in that moment of pure creation. A moment that always feels like we have cracked a new code. A moment that feels like something new has been born that has limitless potential just like all its brother and sister riffs have had before it.

SNQLX: Is there a philosophy or belief that guides how you make music—or is it more instinct than intention?

JAKE: The number one thing is to do what makes you happy. There might have been a time where people created this or that for money, or for fame, or to leave a legacy. All of those things are gone now. All that is left is the moment we are in and extracting as much joy from it as possible.

Creating brings us joy.

Sharing our creations with people brings us, and hopefully them joy too. Especially when it’s a shared in-person experience rather than through a screen. That’s the inspiration for “Something Real”

SNQLX: What scares you more: people not listening, or people misunderstanding what you’re trying to say?

JAKE: We have never been that abstract with our lyrics. I honestly personally think it’s a cop-out to just write random words that you think sound cool but mean nothing and tell no story. “A milato, an albino, a mosquito, my libido.. yeah”. But we did hear someone misunderstand the chorus in our song “Something Real” recently. And thought we said “Cause I feel like a woman, feel with it all” hahaha! Made me laugh and think of that Shania Twain song.

SNQLX: What’s the hill you’re willing to die on as a band—even if it costs you a bigger audience?

JAKE: I imagine when you ask this question you probably get “We will never play with backing tracks” as the most common answer. We have never played with backing tracks. But I guess if we have a full orchestral instrumentation on a song in the future, then we are going to have to decide how to pack the orchestra on stage with us every night, or play a stripped down version, or play with those parts as a backing track. We’ll cross that bridge when we get there, I suppose. But I certainly personally lose a lot of interest in a band when I notice they are playing along to guitar tracks. The Millie Vanilli thing is very weird to me and goes against what I feel as being the soul of Rock N’ Roll. Does that make me an old man shaking his fist at a cloud?

SNQLX: You’ve built your reputation on loud, high-octane live shows. What made you want to go acoustic for Unplugged?

JAKE: There is a real romance to playing unplugged. We grew up on the various MTV Unplugged sessions of the 90s. Obviously some are much better than others. But one thing that always struck me about some of the best ones, Alice In Chains or Nirvana, is how much more the emotion has room to breathe in the vocals. Almost all of our songs have started on an acoustic guitar with a riff. So if anything it’s just stripping a song back to its most pure incarnation.

SNQLX: “Street Spirit” is sacred ground for a lot of people. What made you bold enough to take it on—and how did you make it your own?

JAKE: I love the simple A minor riff. The chorus lyric, “fade out agaaaaaain” always struck me as a beautiful line. As far as how we made it our own – Luke’s guitar harmonies that he created and added to the song take it to a very different place for me. And Lucas Holter of Whiskey & The Wolves, who sang guest vocals – absolutely knocked it out of the park with a dramatically different, powerful take on the original vocals.

SNQLX: You tracked and mixed Unplugged yourselves at home. How did being in that environment shape what ended up on the record?

JAKE: Instead of being a process of making a demo at our home studio, then recreating everything piece by piece in a proper studio, we were able to do things much more organically. Often the very first takes of ideas are what you hear on the recordings. And we were able to take it song by song. We put all of ourselves into the emotion of each song one at a time, rather than having to jump back and forth like in a “big boy” studio. The way that usually goes is much less organic because you are trying to save time/money and track all guitars for all songs one day, all vocals another day. It allowed us to be able to get into the same zone together on one song at a time. That was a really great aspect of this Unplugged experience for us.

SNQLX: There’s something almost defiant about choosing quiet in a genre that’s supposed to be loud. Did making this record challenge your identity as a band?

JAKE: We definitely knew this was for us and largely for the fans who are already on board. We didn’t have any delusions that this was going on heavy rotation on Octane. I honestly thing the largest motivator is just our need to get songs out of us. We felt this would be the quickest way to purge them, to birth them. But it ended up taking a hell of a lot longer than we intended in the end, Haha.

SNQLX: You’ve said before that live shows should feel like a party. How does that philosophy translate to an unplugged set—if it does at all?

JAKE: I would have thought it doesn’t at all. Unplugged shows should be a much more intimate and emotional connecting experience. But I tell you what… we have been playing a cover of Pantera’s I’m Broken and that has been getting people rocking the F out. It isn’t for us to dictate how the audience reacts.

SNQLX: What’s something you learned about each other during the making of Unplugged that surprised you?

JAKE: You really don’t need distortion of electric guitars to sound heavy. A good riff should sound hard as F**k even on an acoustic guitar.

SNQLX: How do you keep pushing forward when the algorithm favors the same 10 sounds over and over?

JAKE: I’m not sure what the algorithm favors, but it doesn’t seem to be any kind of music “content”. We see band after band attempting to be sketch comedy creators/actors. If that’s what gives you joy dudes.. more power to you. Personally makes me cringe and lose any respect I had for your music with every new skit reel. How do we keep going? Focus on what makes us happy in the moment – at every moment. Likes and view counts wouldn’t make me happier than a new riff would. So I’d rather pump out a new riff than prostitute myself for numbers on a screen. I’d rather feel Something Real.

SNQLX: You’ve got a cover of “Down In A Hole” recorded live. How did it feel tapping into that song in front of an audience?

JAKE: We love playing that one to a live audience. Pretty much anyone who likes our band loves Alice In Chains. So it always goes over great from the moment we start it. But that one and Little Darlin’ were not recorded in front of an audience. They were just recorded live in our practice room in one take. Rather than piece by piece, layer by layer – building studio tracked recordings.

SNQLX: Paint a picture: what does the ultimate OF LIMBO show feel like?

JAKE: From the moment the house lights go out to the final note. A night you wish you remember more of the next day. But you woke up with a clear feeling that you have a fucking blast and a hangover to prove it! 🤘

Whether they’re ripping through a wall of sound onstage or stripping it all back to let the emotion breathe, OF LIMBO plays with no filter and no apologies. If you haven’t already, dive into Unplugged, catch a show, and get a little reckless with them while you still can.

Follow OF LIMBO on social media to stay plugged in. Tour dates, new drops, behind-the-scenes madness — it’s all there.