ABOUT
King Stingray is a story of lifelong friendship.
On King Stingray’s self-titled debut, across 10 tracks, the NT band have announced their mission statement – to open the eyes of a nation while simultaneously rocking its socks off.
King Stingray’s self-titled debut album is a revelation. An awakening. But at the same time, it’s everything the world has come to love from this five-piece Yolŋu surf rock combo, who have been ripping Australian stages and airwaves apart since 2020. Hailing from the Northern Territory and Queensland, the tight-knit crew of Yolŋu (Aboriginal people of northeast Arnhem Land) and balanda (non-Indigenous) musicians have produced 2 studio albums. Think Warumpi Band’s Big Name, No Blankets. Tame Impala’s Innerspeaker. The Chats’ High Risk Behaviour. Then add an ancient tradition of manikay (song/songlines) that dates back tens of thousands of years, and a profound love of country and Mother Earth, and there sits King Stingray. Raw, wild and free. A roadtrip into northeast Arnhem Land, stringybark trees flying past the window, surrounded by mates and with the stereo blasting.
King Stingray’s do-it-yourself ethos and connection to home and family resonates through every song, from the funk-laden joy of Milkumana, to the soaring Malk Mirri Wayin, the sweet melancholy of triple j favourite Get Me Out, the boppy fun of Camp Dog, the punk rock thrash of Raypirri. Recorded and produced between the NT, Brisbane and the Byron Bay hinterland, King Stingray rocks vibrant and colourful like a great glowing djäpana (sunset) through the East Arnhem Land sky. The album is a vital entry to Australian music and cements the band’s status as one of the most exciting acts to burst out of the NT in years.
A lot has happened for King Stingray since they released their 2022 debut self-titled album, which took the group from what guitarist/producer Roy Kellaway calls “a pretty sleepy, rural lifestyle in the bush” to one of epic touring and the excitement of being a band on the rise.
Not surprisingly, those experiences inform the new album. For The Dreams is a joyous celebration of life and the planet on which we live that oozes optimism from its every note.
But where some of the songs on the debut dated as far back as high school in the Northern Territory, where the band began, For The Dreams is a snapshot of the past few years in the members’ lives.
“Nothing’s changed in the sense that we’re still who we are, we’re still playing music and enjoying things,” says Kellaway. “But what I think is different about this one is there’s a little bit more lived experience, and we’re singing about different things.”
That lived experience is encapsulated in several themes that recur throughout the album. The golden glow of nostalgia amidst the whirlwind of success and life on the road informs “Nostalgic” and “Southerly”; the awe-inducing grandeur of nature and the joy of simple living in a digital age propel “Best Bits” and “Lookin’ Out”; “Soon As” and “What’s The Hurry?” sum up the rush of the past few years and the bliss of slowing down and returning home to Country; while optimism in challenging times (with an undercurrent of climate change commentary) sends the album out on a high with “Cat Five (Cyclone)”. “It might feel like a bit of a cyclone at the moment, but there’s blue skies up ahead,” explains Kellaway of the song. Adds Burarrwanga, who sings its second verse, “On the surface the water is calm and glassy and there is a light breeze. The land and water are quiet, all the birds are still except the eagle soaring on thermals. Beneath the surface is a strong current running out to the horizon; it’s a time to reflect.”
“We’re from a small place but we’re singing about big things,” says Kellaway. “That’s what this record is encompassing.”
Kellaway (who, as with the band’s debut, produced For The Dreams) began writing and demoing the album in his bedroom in between tours. “My cup was completely full with the biggest vibes from touring and these dreams coming true,” he offers.
Synths add fresh sonic textures in “Southerly” and “Soon As”, offering new melodic possibilities without diluting the band’s trademark brand of edgy, uplifting rock’n’roll (or Yolŋu Surf Rock, as it’s been dubbed). “I really wanted the album to be easily translated into an epic live show,” says Kellaway.
The group’s mantra when it came to recording the album was “Yaka Muckaround!”, meaning “We’re not mucking around!” Studio sessions were booked around Australia so that any downtime between gigs could be used to flesh out the songs and harness the energy of an act with hundreds of shows under their belt. The end result moves from the desert-dry driving rock of “Through The Trees” and the climactic din of distorted guitars, Yidaki and clap sticks in “What’s The Hurry?” to self-empowerment anthem “Light Up The Path” and the more measured, melodic “Southerly” and “Nostalgic”.
“Nothing’s changed in the sense that we’re still who we are, we’re still playing music and enjoying things,” says Kellaway. “But what I think is different about this one is there’s a little bit more lived experience, and we’re singing about different things.”
Impressive for an act fashioning a unique blend of raucous rock’n’roll and the ancient Indigenous tradition of manikay (song/songlines), that cut their teeth playing to sparsely populated pubs around Australia, organically building a fanbase and perfecting their wild live show until the momentum became unstoppable. As sung in “Southerly”, “We were just a couple of kids/With a couple of big ideas”.
With For The Dreams, those ideas are only getting bigger.
Contact
Shopify order enquires (merch, CD’s, vinyl ect) kingstingrayshop@gmail.com
Management: kingstingraymusic@gmail.com fiftyriffs@gmail.com
Label: brit@cookingvinylaustralia.com
Booking Agents
Australia/NZ Select Music: casey@selectmusic.com.au
Europe ATC LIVE: skully@atc-live.com steve@atc-live.com
North America, Canada and Mexico: phil@partisanarts.com
