Amyl And The Sniffers recently won $30,000 in the latest round of the Levi's Music Prize, continuing the momentum that propelled them through a standout 2018.
The Melbourne four-piece have enjoyed a meteoric rise since releasing their first EP, 'Giddy Up', in 2016. Landing aurally somewhere between Rancid and Courtney Barnett, their debut was, according to the band’s own legend, written and recorded in one night.
The Levi’s Prize, which shares $100,000 between 4 acts each year, will allow Amyl And The Sniffers to capitalise on their talent. They’re in good company: previous winners include Victorian dole-wavers Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever and indie pop’s eternal optimist Alex Lahey.
But have Amy Taylor (vocals), Dec Martens (guitar), Bryce Wilson (drums), and Gus Romer (bass) had a chance to pause and revel in their success? Not according to drummer Bryce. “It's pretty unreal.”
But there's been no celebrating. “All the money's going back into the band.”
Amyl And The Sniffers – the name is a reflection of their proclivity for the leather cleaning fluid at the time of the band's inception - combine a '70s aesthetic with a Protestant work ethic.
Not only did they smash out their first EP in 12 hours, they followed it up a year later with another, 'Big Attraction'. 2018 saw the release of singles 'Cup Of Destiny' and 'Some Mutts (Can't Be Muzzled)', as well as a double-sided vinyl of both EPs.
More new music is imminent. “We went to Sheffield in England last November, with a producer called Ross Orson and recorded 12 or 13 songs. We should be putting out some singles in a month or two and an album around May.”
This time, they're taking days, rather than hours, over their output. “We can't really do that now. We have to work a bit harder for it.”
And work hard they do. 2018, their break-out year, saw the band secure contracts in Australia, North America and the rest of the world.
Between inking deals, they took their “energetic live show” on the road – headlining their own national tour, before electrifying audiences in Europe, and supporting King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard across the USA. They played the year out with performances at Falls Festival.
With the cash injection of the Levi’s Prize, 2019 looks sets to be even bigger. On the back of their successful American tour, the band will be “heading over to the States for SXSW [held in Austin, Texas] and a few shows around that” in March.
Before then, they can be found a little closer to home playing the Farmer & The Owl Festival in Wollongong, alongside Beach House and local heroes Hockey Dad. Curated by the Farmer & The Owl label, the festival showcases artists from their own stable like Totally Unicorn and The Pinheads, alongside upcoming talent.
“We've never played that festival before but the line-up is pretty good. We did something like ten festivals last year on our European tour. We played a festival with Gorillaz which was cool, one of the highlights.”
From there, the sky’s the limit for Amyl And The Sniffers. “I don't think any of us have a goal in mind, to be honest, other than to keep playing shows to bigger audiences and different audiences as well. Hopefully we'll start making some money as well because we're still not making any profit ourselves yet.”
That $30,000 will come in handy.
