King Brown and their new era of Rock
Photo by: Tristan McKenzie
Somewhere in between suave and grit, WA rockers King Brown have returned with their latest single ‘My Love’. Pulling influence from The Black Keys, Verge Collection, and The Reubens, King Brown added their own accomplished style to make this Australian rock arena worthy. We got the chance to ask the King Brown lads about their new song, the pressures of doing everything “in-house” and where to from here for the talented Aussie Rock ‘n’ Rollers.
King Brown is described as "classic rock with a modern Indie sensibility" and "Rock n Roll from another era". How do those labels sit with you? How would you describe your sound?
A lot of our main influences are definitely classic rock sounds, with a sprinkle in of some newer indie rock artists. It’s cool to have our sound referred to as coming from that sort of era, because there were some really talented artists back then, but I would say we’ve really made this sound our own. It’s a current sound, we’re making our own Rock N Roll in this Era.
“We’ve turned a new page and we’re so excited to see where we can take it.”
Tell us about your new song, 'My Love', what does the song mean to you?
Thematically ‘My Love’ is a song about being completely lovesick towards someone. Feelings that are so intense that you’d do anything for them, but in the back of your mind being very insecure and jealous of anyone else because you’re afraid of losing them.
It’s a new era for us, there’s been some big changes over the past couple of months. We’ve completely changed the dynamic within the band. With Brendon stepping up from behind the drums to be the fulltime frontman, it’s enhanced our live shows phenomenally. There’s so much more energy on stage which gets the whole band going, and Brendon is able to fully let loose making the whole experience for the crowd 10x better. We welcomed Jake Coulter into the band (formerly Candy Guts/The Drools/ The Southern River Band). He’s an amazingly talented drummer and just fits in so well with us all. We’ve also had the chance to add more layers into our music with Brendon also playing keys up the front, along with a few other instruments here and there. We’ve turned a new page and we’re so excited to see where we can take it.
You chose not to do an accompanying video for 'My Love', an option a lot of bands are running with these days, why do you decide against it especially in the age of YouTube?
There is actually one in the works currently!
Can we expect an LP or an EP from King Brown soon?
There’s definitely something larger in the works, we have a bunch of new stuff on the way and few songs to record. We released our first EP last year and we all feel about ready to move onto something bigger, so keep your eyes peeled!
“It would be great to be able to pack up into a van and play show after show up and down the east coast! ”
You're based in Western Australia, what are the advantages and disadvantages of being based on the western side of the country?
We have such a great music scene over here with a lot of insanely talented artists coming through. Everyone supports each other grateley and gets around all the shows/new music coming out! However there are only a certain number of places to play, either around Perth or down south, so it would be great to be able to pack up into a van and play show after show up and down the east coast!
King Brown does everything "in house", from album artwork to mixing, does this give you more control on the bands future direction?
Yeah it does, artwork wise we can really express exactly how we want to be presented and how we want everything to come across, I feel like sometimes this gets lost a little when briefing someone else on the Job. It’s not a personal choice we just do it because we are able to as Shaun’s a graphic designer himself. Musically I would say the same, it allows us to be able to get in the studio and record whenever we want however we want.
“we’re just chugging along doing our own thing and it seems to be working out alright for us so far”
Does the "in house" add a pressure or expectation that you didn't foresee. especially now your star is on the rise?
I don’t think so, we’re just chugging along doing our own thing and it seems to be working out alright for us so far, we’ve got a fair bit of support behind us which we’re always very grateful for!
The band is receiving lots of praise and support from Radio Stations including Triple J, Double J and Rebel Fm. Did the enthusiasm of their support surprise you? Does this support give you validation of how good your music is?
It’s always surreal to hear your own music on the radio, so I think that’s something we’ll never get used to! We welcome praise but the validation comes from us, and if we love it then we hope our fans/critics will feed off that energy in the same way
Living or Dead , who would be the ultimate Collab Partner for King Brown ?
Individually we’ve got a lot of different influences so it’s hard to choose one! They vary from Slash, Gary Clark JR, Rick Rubin to even some local acts that we frequently play with like Humble Armada
Who in your crew or team deserves a shout out but never gets one? And what is it they do that keeps your world turning?
Ben does so much for the band recording/producing and mixing our music at his own studio which we are again forever grateful for! Shaun is also behind the scenes kind of like the manager pulling the strings to try and make things happen too.
What can King Brown fans look forward to from the band?
Plenty of more new music on the way!
Single Art by: Kennedy Design & Supply (Shaun Kennedy)
Interview by Michelle Symes
May 2022