King Stingray: Making a Big Noise
Starting as mates from North East Arnhem land, King Stingray have been on a wild ride since sharing their sun-soaked yolŋu surf rock with Australia in 2020. Ahead of their Hindley Street Music Hall show, guitarist Roy Kellaway chats about the band’s new album, putting culture in the spotlight and becoming rock ‘n’ roll stars.
Words by Zara Richards // Image by Sam Brumby
You’re hitting the road this June for your biggest tour yet. Where’s your head at before a trip like this?
We’re getting in as much sleep as possible. The headspace is ‘excited’ – we’re pumped. There’s so much preparation that goes into a tour like this. It’s been in the pipeline for probably a year now. We try and bring something different and fresh to each tour.
Your tour is called That’s Where I Want To Be. What can punters expect from it?
Firstly, we’ve got new [music]. We’ve been working on the new record and we’ve got a song coming out in a few weeks. We’re also having a lot of fun with the lights. We’ve got a touring light guy this time, so that’s a level up for us!
We’re piecing together a show that’s not just music – it’s the whole performance. We’ve gigged a lot around Australia in the last year so we want to keep our fans frothing.
Tell us more about making another record after such a successful debut.
We didn’t expect [the first album] to make such a big noise around the country. When you’re making songs, it doesn’t matter if people like them or not. But when they do, damn, it feels cool! It makes you excited to get back in the studio.
We wrote some of the songs on the first album in high school. [Now], we’re expanding… musically and lyrically without changing the organic energy of King Stingray.
You guys have won an ARIA Award, placed four times in the Hottest 100 and toured extensively in the last two years. How has the rapid rise of King Stingray been for you as a band – and as mates?
Getting out on the road and touring frequently was the biggest learning curve. It’s a hard slog, but we love it so much. We have such a good relationship together as mates. When you’re staying in a hotel with your friends, it feels like a holiday. And then you get to play music on top of that, so it’s the ultimate holiday. Having strangers enjoying your music and feeling something that you’re feeling on stage is pretty damn cool.
When did it click that King Stingray was taking off?
We played this gig in Brisbane at The Brightside. It was our first headline tour and we’d just released ‘Get Me Out’. There was a moment when the crowd were stamping their feet and making this big thump. It was a packed little venue and everyone was making so much noise.
We couldn’t play our instruments… it was louder than the PA! It was pretty surreal. We had to wait for everyone to calm down to play the next song, so we were standing there, grinning ear to ear, lapping it up. But it also felt a bit awkward, like when someone sings you ‘Happy Birthday’ and you don’t know what to do!
You’ve known each other since you were kids, in fact some of you even lived on the same street. How did you start making music as King Stingray?
Yirrŋa [Yunupiŋu], Yimila [Gurruwiwi], Dimathaya [Burarrwanga] and I grew up in Yirrkala in Northeast Arnhem Land. We loved music and always looked up to what our parents did in their rock band, Yothu Yindi. We’re always inspired by [them] and sharing culture, music and messages with the world. We got an Australian Arts Council grant to record three songs in a studio in Brisbane and that’s where we pulled in Lewis [Stiles] and Cam [Messer]. Then, we got a support slot for The Chats in 2020 and played our first gig in Ipswich. We felt like a fun jam band. It was a lot rougher, but that was King Stingray. We just kept gigging after that.
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King Stingray’s music is often about stories, sometimes drawing from Northeast Arnhem Land songlines (Manikay). How does Yolŋu culture underpin the band’s sound?
It’s a pretty unique singing Yolŋu Manikay. It also makes us a really hard band to cover! Not many people can sing in Yolŋu Matha! But it’s part of our sound. These melodies are ancient. We love incorporating them, and it’s important for the Yolŋu fellas in the band because they’re practising culture and keeping it strong. Now, the generation [below] us are listening to our songs and getting inspired [from] singing in language and celebrating culture.
Tell me more about your songwriting process…
We definitely start with a good time. It’s key to our process. When we record and make songs, we’re inspired by our environment, the place and the people around us. Going for a swim in the ocean, going for a fish and getting outdoors really charges our batteries. We’re always moving the body [to get] those endorphins and the good energy going so we can put that into songwriting or recording. We want people to feel something when they listen to our [music]. We love giving a shit about our songs and we love having fun with it. If we’re not putting too much effort into the way we feel, it reflects in the songs.
Your music is also a platform for sharing and celebrating culture and tradition. Tell me more about your experience sharing this with the wider Australian population.
It’s been awesome. For me, as a white fella growing up in an Aboriginal community, it’s interesting because I’m always learning from my Yolŋu family about the balancing act and how Indigenous populations walk in two worlds – one foot in their culture and one foot in the Western society. Having seen people in Australia really get around King Stingray tells me that there’s this curiosity to learn about a very unique culture. You can see it because you’re hearing kids singing [our] songs, trying to sing Yolŋu Matha and learning all the words.
Do you feel a lot of pressure to be political?
We love integrating culture, not separating it. I think there’s a keen curiosity in Australia at the moment to learn about First Nations people and the black history of Australia, which isn’t taught in schools a lot of the time. But we don’t tend to get too political. It’s funny: just because we have black people and white people in a band, everyone gets all political on us. Mandawuy [Yunupingu] from Yothu Yindi once said, in simple terms, that being black is political. It’s an interesting concept. But at the end of the day, we’re just a big family band. We’re making songs and having fun. People can see that, we hope.
It makes for a great new story, so everyone wants to talk about that. We – as young people and musicians – love talking about our music. Yet, somehow, interviewers tend to ask questions that relate to the colour of our skin, which is a bit weird. But it also has to be said, we understand that because Australia has a long way to go.
That’s where it comes down to our thing… we’re celebrating [something] freakin’ awesome, which is coming together and celebrating culture and friendship.
So, you’re recording your next album now. Are you hoping for an even bigger 2023?
We’re not stopping, that’s for sure! We’re kids from a remote place but we’ve proven that we love to rock, we love to make music and we love to have fun. Going into album number two, we’ve got some killer songs that we feel really passionate about. We feel we’re writing our best music. There’s big stuff coming in from the King Stingray.
See King Stingray perform at Hindley Street Music Hall this June 30. Tickets on sale now.
