Australia’s The Teskey Brothers are gearing up for one hell of an end of year with the recent release of their second album ‘Run Home Slow’ and a swag of shows on the horizon that will bring the bands’ new groove and chops to the fore. Forget the notion of the difficult second album; these lads have nailed it which will please their growing fan base.
Having formed in 2008, the band has risen quickly to become one of Australia’s most respected and dynamic bands, with a great live show and a super groove that harks back to the 1960s and 70s and an era of great rock. Those early influences says drummer Liam Gough have shaped the band and his own musical stylings.
“I wanted to study music but there weren’t enough students who wanted to. I was always playing in bands and around music. The other boys in the band had jobs and were playing music at night. We all had the dream to play music. We’d play pubs and clubs on weekends and spent a lot of time working on our craft.”
Some of Liam’s early influences like Santana and Peter Green can be heard throughout the new album. “We love early Blues like Otis Redding and BB King. Early Santana… My parents had a solid record collection and all genres were in there like soul, blues, reggae and rock.”
With the new album, Run Home Slow, the band was more than ready to step things up musically and playing wise. “There’s a more polished higher production. We’ve taken it up a notch. More variants in style to keep things fresh. The feedback has been really good. We’ve worked day and night and it’s been hard.”
But nothing that ends up awesome is ever easy it seems. With all the hard work the band have put in shows, they’ve managed to get a better understanding of when they work best together to create vibrant music with soul.
“We figured out that through collaboration we can make the best album. With the four of us coming together amazing things can happen. This new album was written on the road mainly while touring the first record. We all have different writing styles and the songs all happen in different ways. Being good friends for over 15 years we try and be democratic because we all respect each other so much.”
With the album out, the lads are all geared up for the inevitable time away from Victoria over the next 12 months. And with more popularity and acclaim comes bigger, higher-end venues which excites Liam and the band more than anything.
“In the US we’ll be playing some amazing venues like Red Rocks and the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville.” Considering the group started out playing street or house parties, the step-up is incredible.
With good humour, a solid-as-a-rock bond and awesome chops The Teskey Brothers are set for a big end to 2019 and an even bigger 2020.
Release: Run Home Slow is out.
When & Where: Forum, Melbourne – November 15 & 16
Written by Chris Michaels
Photo by Nick McKinlay