King Parrot are thrashy, naughty, ugly, rough as guts and on a regional rampage

If you haven’t noticed, metal music within Australia has been on a prominent rise in popularity over the last ten years. While genres such as ‘metalcore’ have seen an increase in radio play, it’s the heavier sounds such as ‘grindcore’ and ‘thrash metal’ that are really making a stand to international audiences… that’s where King Parrot comes in.
Releasing three albums of sheer brutality, the Melbourne larrikins have carved an incredibly impressive name for themselves that has seen the band be nominated for ARIA’s, as well as reigning supreme with international fans. But how did it all start?
“I think initially we were just going to try to do a more extreme sound,” responds the groups lead vocalist Matthew ‘Youngy’ Young. “There were no real aspirations for the kind of stuff we have been doing now; touring internationally and extensively in Australia and releasing three albums.
“We were just a bunch of dudes who just wanted to go out and have some fun on stage, then the ball got rolling a bit and the first record really got good traction,” he continues. “There are a lot of different elements to the band that really work so we have been able to carve a bit of a niche for ourselves and have gotten to the point were we are established enough to tour a lot and that’s what we love doing.
“We are massively influenced by a lot of the Aussie bands to come through in the 90’s and 2000’s, so its great to be in a band that’s influenced by all that stuff and for us to be able to push it out and play it on an international level, it’s been amazing.”
And touring is exactly what King Parrot has done. The release of their third LP ‘Ugly Produce’ has seen the band head overseas for tours of Japan and Europe, as well as building up their following within Australia with impressive slots at both UNIFY and Download Festival this year.
Speaking of the Japanese tour in particular, Youngy commented: “It was awesome man, we played some other Asian countries, but Japan was like nothing else I’ve ever seen. The audiences there are really cool and really polite, so it was a bit weird for a band like us – who have the mentality of ‘fuck you, fuck everything’ – to go to a country were everyone is so polite.
“We were expecting them to heckle us,” he continues. “They were always really quiet and polite in between songs which was a bit weird for us because we are used to pretty aggressive audiences, so we were laughing to ourselves a bit, but it was an incredible experience.”

This is a clear contrast to the Australian metal crowds, which is who the band is currently playing for alongside US pals in Child Bite on their ‘Regional Rampage Tour.’
“Both bands are signed with Housecore Records in the US. I met Shaun, the vocalist of Child Bite, on our first ever American tour and then the next time we were doing a tour they ended up getting in on a few of our shows and then a few tours where we toured together.
“I think both bands are unique in what we do and that we both have distinct sounds, so, even though genre wise we aren’t exactly the same, there is definitely a solid connection there,” he says. “Neither of us exactly fit into any specific category, so it’s nice to tour with guys on the same page as us and doing their own thing, which is what we do as well.
“We’ve been having an absolute blast. It’s always great to get back to some smaller cities that we don’t get to play that often, so it’s been great to go see all the fans out there.”
With regional metal shows having a name for being some of the most crazy sets that you can attend, Youngy makes mention of who has been the most ‘next level crowd’ on the tour so far.
“There are a few definitely,” he laughs, “Canberra and Wollongong have both been highlights on this tour so far. They are places we have played a lot in the last five to six years, and in the last year or two we haven’t as much, so it was amazing to see how many people came out to support us. They definitely stand out as highlights of the tour so far, but there are 18 more shows to go so at this point, so it could be anyone’s game!”
When & Where: Music Man Megastore, Bendigo – April 24, Karova Lounge, Ballarat – April 25 & The Barwon Club, Geelong – April 26.
Written by Alex Callan