In the world of children's entertainment, you can find almost anything. Anything, that is, apart from good old fashioned rock & roll.
King Bunny saw this unfortunate predicament and set off with his band Bunny Racket to change the world so kids everywhere can experience the power of rock.Heavily influenced by a youth filled with Ramones, Black Sabbath and The Muppets, King Bunny began crafting songs such as 'Chicken Is Not A Fruit' and 'Never Shake A Rattlesnake' to merge heavy riffs with life lessons for bunnies everywhere.
Bunny fever caught on and the call came in from Joshua Tree where Brant Bjork of Kyuss offered his services and studio to make Bunny Racket's debut album come to life.
After many gigs rocking across the world, King Bunny reflects on his beginnings. "I got into music as a young bunny going to a Ramones gig in Perth when I was 12. That was my first snapshot of rock & roll life. I fell in love.
"I was very lucky, a friend of mine was wearing a Ramones T-shirt in the street, and someone said, 'You like The Ramones little fella?' He was the manager of the venue putting the gig on, so he gave him a heap of tickets."
That kickstarted King Bunny's musical aspirations, beginning with instrument firmly in hand. "I picked up anything I could, went to as many gigs as I could, and snuck out of the house whenever I could. Carved a rock & roll existence."
The lack of rock in the children's music genre became apparent when King Bunny started having his own little bunnies. "I love kids. I have a lot of friends with kids. Being bunnies, you can imagine there's kids everywhere.
"All of us were listening to what kids music had to offer thinking, 'where's the party?' So we brought the party. I had a recording studio and I used to invite all sorts of musicians to come in and write funny songs. Sometimes those songs would be written by kids of the musicians or friends that were staying.
"If it was a kid's birthday, I'd write them a song, so it kicked off like that. I thought, life shouldn't be just dirty nappies and school lunches and soccer on Sundays and ABC channel. It should be full of wonder and excitement and sharp edges and rock & roll."
It's not just about games though. Bunny Racket songs like 'Chicken Is Not A Fruit' were born of necessity. "I've got a couple of little fellas, and that came from learning their ABCs and their fruit. A lot of the songs come from that fun way of teaching."
King Bunny picked up many friends along his musical journey, racing over to California to bring debut album 'Rock'n'Roll Animals' to life. "It was one of those great little things life throws at you.
"My friend Brant said, 'I love this idea, come over and let's see what we can do'. I was back and forth from California a lot at that point doing music stuff. I was like 'let's go over and put pen to paper'. So we wrote about 20 songs listening to a lot of KISS, Ramones and AC/DC, trying to keep it pretty simple.
"Our engineer at the time, Harper, passed the demo tapes along to Robby Krieger from The Doors and he listened to it and said, 'I wanna be part of that'. So on Monday, Harper said, 'Robby Krieger wants to play on your record, man'. And I was like, 'this sounds like LA talk'. But it was legit, and it came through. He put down all the guitar tracks and it was like living the dream. It was amazing."
Upon return to home shores, King Bunny recruited bunnies from The Vines, Goons of Doom and Wolfmother to complete the outfit. Bunny Racket have since grown a reputation for their shows getting a little hopping mad.
"We had a show at the Recital Centre in Sydney, and I said, 'who wants to get up on stage and do a song with us?' We got stormed by every kid in the audience and every parent joined them. We had the sound tech and the stage crew on the side going, 'No! No! No!' But we pushed through. There wasn't many people left in the audience, they were all onstage. It's a bit of a regular that one."
The mayhem is set to descend upon Brisbane with Bunny Racket hitting the iconic Tivoli in July for the School of Rock programme as part of Open Season.
"We've had the good fortune of rocking kids everywhere from Pennsylvania to Palm Desert and Timbuktu to Tasmania. It's Brisbane's turn next. Brisbane is the Australian punk capital and The Tivoli is Ground Zero.
"We're really excited to play. What a beautiful venue and a great venue for kids to have their foray into rock & roll. You can feel the gigs of the past in there.
"Brant and I played a gig there 15 years ago, when Kyuss reformed and they played The Tivoli. That was the last time I played there, so this is great to be doing Bunny Racket. Full circle."
King Bunny leaves us with one final carrot of knowledge. "The best piece of advice I could give about music is kids wanna rock and we all have the right to rock, so let's rock together. They can do anything. It's not just for the kids. We all get to party."
Bunny Racket play Open Season at The Tivoli (Brisbane) 2-3 July – shows start at 11am.
