All My Friends Are in Bar Bands

With a blend of psychedelia, pop, folk, jangle, indie, shoegaze and rock & roll, RAT!Hammock have assembled and curated a sound that is irresistible and wholly endearing. It's made them a lot of friends and fans along the way, which is always a plus - but this band, like most their age, started out with no loftier ambitions in mind. They're suburban kids, ranging from aspiring metalheads to ba...

Fresh out of rock & roll high school, LA's Starcrawler wasted little time in delivering their punchy blend of glam, punk and rock & roll to an unsuspecting but entirely appreciative audience. It's turned their late teens and early 20s into a dazzling melee of sold-out shows and jaw-dropping accomplishments, receiving recognition from industry giants like Dave Grohl and Sir Elton John along...

It wouldn't matter if Newton Faulkner had one hit or not - he'd still be a wonder. Whether it's his inventive and dizzying guitar playing or his stirring, emotive voice, Faulkner has remained one of the more charming and entertaining prospects of the singer-songwriter circuit - both in his native UK and abroad. He's spent most of the last decade working on his terms, outside of the structure of ma...

Here he is. The mayor of Goodtown. The king at the top of the Tower of Song. The alt-country frontman's alt-country frontman. Better at bingo! Better at chess! He even beat you on the NAPLAN test! That's right folks, Henry fucking Wagons is here. In a  Bar Bands  first, we're speaking from hundreds of kilometres away - David in Wollongong, Henry in the wild west of Victoria. Don't think...

What started in a bedroom on the south coast of New South Wales has now spread its wings and traversed the country - singing songs, sharing stories and exploring a wide spectrum of musical ideas. Sean Conran was synonymous with Obscura Hail from his teens and well into his 20s before the moniker expanded to include other people. In 2019, this included bassist/vocalist Tamara Issa and drummer/percu...

https://www.gofundme.com/f/justice-for-yuendumu-inquiry-on-police-shooting https://www.gofundme.com/f/bfvnvt-freethepeople https://www.gofundme.com/f/d9qkb6-justice-for-david https://secure.everyaction.com/zae4prEeKESHBy0MKXTIcQ2 https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yLWGTQIe3967hdc9RSxBq5s6KKZHe-3_mWp5oemd7OA/edit Support David on Patreon: http://patreon.com/davidjamesyoung See omnystudio.com/liste...

Canada's Cancer Bats never formed out of any grand ambitions to change the world - indeed, it began as little more than a side project for Liam Cormier and Scott Middleton. Even so, the next 15 years saw the riff-loving Canucks take their love of punk, hardcore and rock & roll to a global stage. No matter what has come their way, the band has made a point to never lose sight of their roots. Th...

There was never a universe in which such a strange band with such a strange sound and an unmentionable name would be successful. Except, of course, this one. A wholly DIY freak-folk expedition, Crywank have been streamed millions of times and faced a fervent cult fanbase wherever they would show their faces. How exactly did two working-class English punks make such a considerable dent? Vocalist/gu...

Sasami Ashworth grew up as a quiet achiever. She pursued music only on her own terms, and even when she ended up in a touring band it was as a side player. It's only in the last 18 months that Sasami has finally emerged in the spotlight as a singer-songwriter in her own right. Her debut self-titled album is a thing of vulnerability and resplendent indie-rock beauty, indebted to the likes of Liz Ph...

Damian Abraham never wanted to be in a band or be involved with music above simply appreciating it. Whatever happenstance allowed it to happen, however, the man who would later become known as Pink Eyes eventually evolved into one of the scene's most passionate creatives. Whether he's at the helm of Fucked Up, hosting his own podcast or sharing his love of wrestling and weed to a global audience,...

As a belated bonus, here is a two-parter in which David goes through his 100 favourite songs of 2019. New episodes soon! Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4NL8fwsr1rgIx3DGS0EBeb?si=56CydFIYRB6U9zpyrkKUDg Support David on Patreon: www.patreon.com/davidjamesyoung Support David on Patreon: http://patreon.com/davidjamesyoung See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As a belated bonus, here is a two-parter in which David goes through his 100 favourite songs of 2019. New episodes soon! Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4NL8fwsr1rgIx3DGS0EBeb?si=56CydFIYRB6U9zpyrkKUDg Support David on Patreon: www.patreon.com/davidjamesyoung Support David on Patreon: http://patreon.com/davidjamesyoung See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In November 2019, Gang of Four toured Australian to commemorate the 40th anniversary of their debut album, . This would end up being the final ever Gang of Four tour, as guitarist and founding member Andy Gill tragically passed away in late January 2020. This marks one of his final-ever interviews, and here he details his remarkable career as a part of one of the greatest rock bands of all time. E...

Mia Dyson, Liz Stringer and Jen Cloher first joined forces in 2013 after nearly a decade of friendship and travelling up and down the east coast together. Between the three of them are ARIA nominations, sold-out shows and a set in just about every bar and club around the country - and yet, when they convened as Dyson Stringer Cloher, they'd never felt stronger. Over a few chai teas in their Zetlan...

Amanda Palmer has never been the kind of artist that bows to the status quo. Existing outside the conventions of rock, folk, punk and cabaret, she's been making music that provokes, intrigues and entertains for some 20 years now. Whether it's part of The Dresden Dolls, the Grand Theft Orchestra or under her own name, Palmer has always been creating and performing. It's not come without its controv...

Growing up amidst the hustle and bustle of Los Angeles, Cleo Tucker and Harmony Tividad found both a lifeline and an escape through music. Encouraged by their families and their peers, they each kicked around teenage garage-rock outfits before forging their own path as Girlpool. With the release of their debut album, 2015's , the duo clicked on an international level and ended up with a cult follo...

As a scrawny little teen playing Red Hot Chili Peppers covers, a young June Jones could have never seen the person that she'd end up becoming. In her late 20s, she now stands as one of the country's most promising and captivating singer-songwriters, thanks to both her solo debut as well as two modern-classic LPs with previous band Two Steps On The Water. In September 2019, Jones was part of a nati...

They may be tiny dots on an endless timeline, but La Dispute have made their time together count. Over 15 years and four studio albums, plus a dozen EPs and countless tours, the band's unique and poetic take on post-hardcore has endeared them to a global audience. Theirs is the definition of a cult following - they may not pack arenas, but everyone at a La Dispute show will scream every last word...

From the depths of small-town Oklahoma, garage rockers Broncho (rhymes with 'poncho') have spent the 2010s crafting a compelling and unique niche within their genre. It's a band unlike anything its members have worked on in the past, whose origins range from sibling rock duos to bedroom acoustic projects. On the back of their fourth album, Bad Behaviour, Broncho toured Australia for the first time...

On paper, the two members of Cry Club couldn't be more different. Guitarist Jono Tooke, for instance, has been playing in bands for over a decade despite not even being 30 yet - from big-swinging indie to freaky math-metal and back. Vocalist Heather Riley, on the other hand, has never been in a band before. Their mind was always on the theatre (dahling), and that's where it would have stayed had t...

Georgia Mooney was a shy, awkward kid with Backstreet Boys posters on her wall and a dream of one day being a singer. Not only has she become one of the most celebrated folk artists in the country as a part of All Our Exes Live In Texas, she's even been able to perform alongside her childhood crushes - and plenty of others where that came from. The multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter's jou...

Are they the most punk band in power-pop or the most power-pop band in punk? Really, it doesn't matter - any way you cut it, Joyce Manor have been one of the most consistent and engaging bands in rock throughout the 2010s. Never quite settling, and constantly switching things up, the band has found a cult following that's lead to sold-out shows and deafening sing-alongs in just about every corner...

A quiet kid from suburban Adelaide, Sione Teumohenga always kept their passion for music private and locked away. Bit by bit and song by song, however, saw them unravel that shyness and insecurity to ultimately reveal a blooming, blossoming and creative songwriter. The last few years has seen Teumohenga at the helm of Lonelyspeck, creating some of the most unique and immersive experimental/electro...

The sun is out, the guitars are plugged in and the gates are open... Yours & Owls Festival is a go for yet another year. For the fourth year in a row, stuck the mic into the face of some of the festival's biggest names to spin a few quick yarns about the first show, worst show and best show that these artists have ever played. This year, we went around the horn with Vera Blue, Odette, Sneaky S...

In 2005, Karnivool became an overnight success story in Australian heavy music - and all it took was nearly a decade of pushing the band to get there. Nearly 15 years on, the Perth five-piece have lost none of their drive or motivation - even if we don't hear new music for years at a time. There's a method to the madness, and the band's approach to progressive alt-metal has kept them in consistent...