Proud Novocastrians Leroy Macqueen and Kat Friend – aka Gooch Palms – relocated to Los Angeles from their beloved Newcastle in March last year and have been taking America by storm, one show at a time.
Guitarist and vocalist Leroy says that while the move has paid off, their new home proved to be a bit of a shock for the duo who had become used to selling out national tours in Australia. “It was a shock to the ego at the beginning going from selling out headline shows just before we left and going back to being main support for other bands or opening for two, bigger bands.
“It was a reality shock at first but that’s what we had to do. We've just returned from our first-ever headline tour of America and it’s moved really quickly for us over here which has been awesome. “It’s pretty crazy over here,” he says of LA.
“There’s something to do every night and it’s hard to stay focussed sometimes. When we were in Newcastle there was nothing to do but do the Gooch Palms and record. But over here there’s so much going on. We’ve played 120 shows over here [in 2015], so we’ve hardly had a second to scratch our own heads; it’s been a huge shift.”
Gooch Palms released their debut album, 'Novo's', in 2013 and are set to unleash their sophomore LP, 'Introverted Extroverts', mid 2016.
While Leroy is clearly excited for the album to drop, he has already moved on to begin work on their third album in order to keep up in the ultra-competitive US market. “It’s so competitive over here,” he says, “so we’ve just finished recording our second album and I’ve already demoed eight more songs straight away.
“We’re only just putting out the first single and I’m already thinking of album number three just because over here people move so quickly and there’s so much competition.”
After the success of their US move, both Leroy and Kat are excited for their Australian tour in late January. “It's going to be great to hear everyone's accents and for everyone to be able to understand me when I'm on stage,” Leroy says with a hearty laugh. “I can’t wait to get back to Oz and see friends; we're having an endless summer.”
They may have hit the big time in the States, but Leroy and Kat haven’t lost their sense of where they came from, embracing their Newcastle upbringing to promote the city to the world in pure Gooch Palms-style. “We still come out every night and say: 'We're the Gooch Palms from the greatest city in the world of Newcastle, Australia'. Even over here [in the US],” Leroy says proudly.
“That stems from when I was a kid and watching Newcastle get ripped on by Silverchair, like they used to be so embarrassed by where they were from. The last show we played, we sold out the venue and when we walked on there were 300 people screaming 'New-cas-tle, New-cas-tle!' and a single tear rolled down my eye because it felt like an accomplishment.
“I want kids to be proud they're from there, be creative and know that just because you're from Newcastle, you're not a piece of shit.”
Gooch Palms Tour Dates
Fri 29 Jan - The Foundry (Brisbane)Sat 30 Jan - The Northern (Byron Bay)
Thu 4 Feb - The Eastern (Ballarat)
Fri 5 Feb - The Curtain Hotel (Melbourne)
Sat 6 Feb - The Phoenix (Canberra)
Fri 19 Feb - Rad (Wollongong)
Sat 20 Feb - The Cambridge (Newcastle)
Thu 25 Feb - Oxford Art Factory (Sydney)
