Melbourne thrashers King Parrot don’t do anything by halves.
Their songs are furious and they push themselves in their hilariously twisted music videos. Vocalist Matt Young proved unrecognisable in the ‘Piss Wreck’ video under a wig, fake moustache and splashes of vomit.
“That’s me and my f#$%ing phenomenal acting skills. When I showed my Mum, she didn’t realise it was me. She was like, ‘Why aren’t you in this video?!’ I’m like, ‘Mum! C’mon! Have a f#$%ing look!’” he laughs.
2017 proved to be a blast for the band. They released their ARIA-charting third album ‘Ugly Produce’, toured the US, the UK and Japan, and finished the year with an Australian tour.
King Parrot’s mammoth schedule last year would tire any mere mortal, but after a short break the band are ready to tackle 2018. Their year kicks off with a co-headlining set at Thrashville, the heavy music festival located in the bushlands of the Hunter Valley.
“We’ve been speaking to the guys at Thrashville for a couple of years and it’s great to be able to finally be available to get up there,” Matt says.
“I’ve only heard positive things about it, by all reports. We’ve played a lot up there over the years around Maitland and Newcastle, and it’s always a really receptive and supportive audiences.
"So getting the opportunity to co-headline with a band like Frenzal Rhomb, play to a wider audience and hopefully the locals get behind it because it is a killer line-up; it's a really great way to kick off the year.”
Matt is also excited by the rest of the line-up, which is made up of some incredible bands he calls friends. “The line-up this year is really killer, it’s really diverse. The guys from Frenzal are playing, who are awesome.
"[They're] probably worlds apart from what we do musically, but for some reason it kind of works. We’ve also got a couple of friends’ bands coming up like Batpiss, Frankenbok and Gay Paris, so it’ll be great to catch-up with everyone and spend the night camping out in the bush.”
The band has gained a reputation for very loose and energetic shows. Along with a raging show, fans can expect to hear tracks from ‘Ugly Produce’, which Matt says has improved their shows. “We feel like it’s our best [album] to date,” Matt says.
“It’s got some of our strongest material that we’ve ever written. I think it’s really bolstered the live set as well, and I think we saw that when bringing the songs home and bringing this new live stuff home to the Aussie audiences, we really saw the response was mental.”
Thrashville is only the beginning of King Parrot’s year. The band also have plans for a Tasmanian tour, a regional Australia tour, and will also be performing at the very first Australian Download Festival alongside Korn, Limp Bizkit and Prophets Of Rage.
With King Parrot there, it should be a real party. “I don’t know if what King Parrot does will float their boat, but they’re welcome to the party if they want to come. Send them to YouTube just to give them a bit of a warm-up.”
