Like the car they take their name from, Kingwood are a band that have been full pedal-to-the-metal since day one.
Their last twelve months have seen the fuel of their tour engine full to the brim with 180 shows jammed into the tank. Across six months the band loaded up a different vehicle, a bus named Peggy that they built and decked out to play 110 shows in Australia.
“Peggy is a part of the industry now, she goes around Australia all the time with bands. Our original tour van was named Peggy from way back in the day and we thought about calling her Peggy Two or Peggy Sue, and we just settled on reincarnating Peggy into the bus,” says frontman Fergus Linacre.
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Trading in Peggy for a plane for a mighty two months, the band jetted over to Europe to play another 70 shows. Chugging away to the end, the band crossed the finish line but were met with a second-wind upon their return.
“You’ve probably heard about post-tour blues before when you come off the road and get back to a normal life and it’s a strange adjustment. This was kind of the same. The week after we finished the tour, we wanted to play. It is a readjustment period from the chaos and the madness – there’s just so much going on whilst touring, to coming home and trying to relate to normal life again, especially after being away for such a long time. It’s a really difficult thing to do,” he says.
It’s this renewed energy that has seen them jump back into the studio for their highly-anticipated sixth album. The dynamic band have been chameleon-like throughout their catalogue with the adaptability to genre-jump. On this new record, there is some surprise inspiration that never would have typically been synonymous with the Kingswood name.
“We’re really happy with the music. We’ve never been more prepared. We have songs that are written really, really well, there’s no fluff. Every song is deliberate and we’re really proud of them. We have our own studio so we’re taking our own time. We’re feeling very, very excited for it. We think it’s going to be a great record. Inspiration can be linked to Tom Petty at times, it gets a little bit country – maybe Shania Twain is an influence that we’ve been leaning into but it also has some big anthemic guitar moments that we can’t wait to play live.”
In addition to the album making, the band cannot stay far away from the stage for long, embarking on a national tour in celebration of their debut album Microscopic Wars as it hits the big double-digit milestone. Microscopic Wars is worlds apart from the new album with a ferocity and intensity that landed the band into the rock space in a significant way.
“Diving back into the old songs – some of them we still play but – it’s going to be a pretty heavy set. If you’re looking for ‘Big City’ or ‘Golden’, we’re not going to do it. We’re going to play all era appropriate heavy music. We’re honouring our Frogstompers – the people that fell in love with that record [Microscopic Wars], and because we’re a very diverse band that changes where people might not like this stuff or that stuff, that’s totally fine – we’re not a band that repeats. We’re just going to be bringing a bunch of nostalgia for the crowd and hopefully bring back some memories and feelings,” says Linacre.
The tour which takes off through Melbourne, Gold Coast, Brisbane, Sydney, Newcastle, Adelaide, Bunbury, and Perth from 2 August through 18 August has the band playing with supports, The Delta Riggs, Death By Denim, Jacob Fitzgerald & The Electric City and Molly Rocket. That’s not all of the special guests.
“I can throw a little rumour in that there might be some OG Kingswood lineup happening. The whole gang has been chatting and there might be some appearances I think at some shows which will be excellent,” the frontman teases.
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This celebratory concert not only transports the audience back to 2014, it brings the songs back to Kingswood; a band who have levelled up significantly in 10 years across production, playing and performance.
“Alex [Laska – Kingswood lead guitarist ] said the same thing this morning along the lines of “we’re going to give the people that love that album the best version of the album they’ve ever heard”. It’s going to be way better than it was back then – it’s more well considered, we’re better players, best performers. We’re going to turn it up!”
The Microscopic Wars tour is unmissable for those who fell in love with the heavier side of a young Kingswood. Tickets are on sale now via Destroy All Lines.
