With promises of summer in the warmer air, you’ll be needing a soundtrack for all the sunshine.
Look no further than the latest single from Brisbane’s CKNU. There’s no better way to describe ‘Plus One’ other than hip-shaking goodness. It’s bright and it’s fun. “We try to keep things up,” Sah Ghee says, the band’s lead vocalist.
“There’s a lot of people doing ballads and that, and us coming up, we’re a fun group anyway and try and do what we love, keep everyone up on a good level, try to have fun.”
When CKNU released their debut EP 'Louder' last year, CKNU shared the love on a massive regional Queensland tour and it was good vibes all around. “It was a really, really good tour,” Sah agrees. “We’re doing the right things which is good.”
It’s been a pretty quiet year for the group so far, but with this fun, little number under their belts, Sah says CKNU will venture out with a South East Queensland tour. “We want to tour after the single is released,” he says.
“We just finished shooting our video film clip which will be released, then a little tour up and down the coast; Byron Bay, Great Keppel Island and others.”
Though CKNU have mastered the fusion of reggae with hip hop and R&B, you can’t help but hone in on the '90s boy-band vibe in their sound and set-up. Laughing, Sah agrees. “There’s definitely [the] influence of '90s boy band in there.
“We grew up on Michal Jackson, Stevie Wonder, all the greats. We try and keep that old-school '90s line with a bit of a new mix in there. We get around on stage as well.”
With the promise of excitement as well as chilled vibes with a CKNU performance, it’s a little surprising the group don’t take their tour to the rest of the east coast. “We just want to pick up some momentum first,” Sah explains.
“We even want to go over to Perth, Broome, Darwin, Alice Springs. We really wanna get Australia covered.
“Last year was our first international experience and that was great for us, but we wanted to go home and get that covered, get a bit of success there before going overseas again.”
CKNU’s overseas experience was one of representation and education in culture. As Torres Strait Islanders, CKNU were invited last year to perform at the Canadian Music Week in Toronto, sharing the stage with First Nation peoples and other indigenous talent.
Ultimately however, though it’s their proudest achievement to date and has left them with a taste for more international appearances, Sah prefers to think of the group as Queenslanders. “We want people to know we’re indigenous but not be pigeonholed,” he says.
“It was a struggle to define the lines between the break. We’re a Brisbane band, there’s not many big bands that come out of here in this style.”
The audiences to which CKNU perform are as diverse as their sound. When they last toured Queensland, Sah says the group were really surprised and very pleased by the range of people coming to their shows. “[It was] a mix of ages, cultures, genders. When I see about ten or twelve little toddlers bopping around to our music, it’s awesome. And old people sitting on their chairs tapping along,” he says, laughing.
“We have people in their 80s come up to say, ‘Oh we don’t usually like that type of music but you guys give a good performance’, and it’s like, ‘Oh, awesome man!’. People all the way from the US to Germany, a different range of people come to us who say that they can relate to the music.”
'Plus One' is available now.
CKNU Tour Dates
Sat 21 Oct - Solbar (Sunshine Coast)Sat 28 Oct - Treehouse On Belongil (Byron Bay)
Fri 10 Nov - Lefty's Old Time Music Hall (Brisbane)
