Creative Conversations 074: Before The King - Australia’s answer to the arctic monkeys
Words by Patrick Staveley.
Indie Rock band Before The King have got everything about them which makes an Australian act great - the swagger, the charm, the humour, the talent - while they might also be Australia’s answer to Indie icons such as the Arctic Monkeys. They’ve recently released their first full-length album and they prepare to welcome a new EP into the world in August as they aim to show everyone that they’re here to stay and conquer.
FMM: Can you give me an introduction to the band and a bit of info into how the band came together?
BTK: Before the King is made up of Gabe ‘the hands’ Jammy, who loudly and proudly plays the drums; Dan ‘Mutton’ Radomsky who plays the bass; Oscar ‘the Snake’ Dalkin on the lead guitar and myself, ‘Green’ Dean Smusko on vocal and rhythm guitar. We see the band as a pretty socialist enterprise, so all the responsibilities are shared but we’re all keenos so we share the load based on our individual strengths. As the most egocentric band member, I usually gravitate towards any responsibility that will allow me to be perceived by strangers.
FMM: A lot of your sound feels like it’s derived from 2000s indie/punk. Arctic Monkeys are a band that comes to mind when I hear your music. Who are some of the band’s musical inspirations:
BTK: The naughties indie canon is basically our New Testament, with Arctic Monkeys as the son, the Strokes as the father and Interpol as the Holy Ghost. Outside of that, our influences are actually quite diverse. At the moment we’re big fans of Geese and Black Country, New Road, but random things like Wisconsin folk or Latin Jazz always seem to creep their way in to what we do. Outside of music, we’re all huge fans of the comedy trio Aunty Donna which actually also functions as a huge influence for some reason.
FMM: You released your first full-length album this year. How much of an achievement was this for the band?
BTK: Although we choose to see it as more of an EP, it’s hard to overstate just how huge of a milestone it was to finally put a full stop to the first chapter of our band. The songs you hear on that EP tell a pretty cohesive musical story about the first six to seven years of Before the King, from formation to now and every speed bump, pothole and wrong turn in between. We went back and forth for ages debating whether or not we should put it out but in the end we just kind of said “fuck it!”
FMM: You also have a new EP coming out in August with new single Cold Shoulder also coming out recently. It’s exciting times for the band. Did the lockdowns allow for more time to write more material?
BTK: Yeah we do! The EP is called All That You Know, after the penultimate track on the EP. I don’t know if more songs came from lockdown than would have come otherwise. Since most of our material was written collaboratively between the four of us, if anything lockdown made it more difficult to come up with band material. I think the biggest impact that lockdown had on us was the change in the songwriting practice that followed, having to lean more on songs written by individuals. The experience of lockdown also definitely had an impact on the nature of the songs written, as it’s such a distinctive experience - it would have been impossible to write the songs born out of lockdown in any other timeline.
FMM: Producing a lot of material in a short of space of time can be exhausting. Did it take a bit of a tough toll on you all working so hard on all this music?
BTK: While you’re completely right that needing to get material on the table while the clock is ticking is a taxing process, thankfully with this material, that wasn’t our experience. Because of this strict ‘collaboration only’ rule we enforced on ourselves for such a long time, we built up a pretty large bank of songs written by individuals that we’re now free to use - which definitely helps to take the pressure off. In addition, we have made a pact with a demon for the gift of fluid songwriting in exchange for Dan’s spot in Heaven, which definitely helps. You got to hand it to him - he’s a real team-player.
FMM: What do you make of the current indie scene in Australia? How’ve you found it as a band trying to work your way through the crowd to make a name for yourselves?
BTK: I think as an indie band, you couldn’t ask to be in a better place than Australia. With Triple J, the culture of Indie music is so deep here that it’s really our main musical export. On the flip side, because it’s so much the zeitgeist, there’s A LOT of artists competing to be heard. It also doesn’t help that there’s a lot of really good competition. To be recognised here, you really have to be doing almost everything right, which is obviously a difficult thing to do and even then it’s not a guarantee. Salarymen are an example that comes to mind when thinking of a band that should already be packing out the Enmore Theatre.
FMM: The band has a gig on the 27th of August at The Lansdowne Hotel in launch of your EP. Can we expect more gigs to follow?
BTK: Oh my dear, sweet Futuremag - you can definitely expect more gigs. If I’m not mistaken, we have an eight-show NSW tour booked for August that will end with the Lansdowne on the 27th. You’re coming to all of them. right? We’ve already saved you a seat on the tour bus.