RIAN KING of GOOD BOY: Shorts And Opinions
An interview by Sarah Kidd.
Rian King is a man who likes short shorts. He is also pretty darn handy with a bass guitar and has been blessed with a voice that is as engaging as it is unique. His band Good Boy began life as nothing more than a sunny afternoon jam on the couch, but when you know you have something special, you take it with both hands and run with it, which is exactly what these three Aussie lads did.
Now having released their third EP entitled Shirk Life featuring the brilliant single ‘A Waste of Approximately 122 Million Dollars (Taxpayer Funded)’ just last November, the three piece are embarking on their first international dates, winging their way over to New Zealand to support Hockey Dad on tour. I recently caught up with Rian to discuss the upcoming tour and just where some of Good Boy’s strongly opinionated lyrics come from. Oh and of course, his love of those short shorts…
So tell me, in all honesty when you first started jamming on the couch with Tom [Lindeman – guitarist], did you ever think it would actually result in a band being created or was it just a couple of mates having a muck around?
“Definitely just a couple of mates having a muck around; I was hesitant to start another band to begin with cause I already had two other bands happening at that time and I didn’t know if Tom was serious about it or not. So no, we never really expected to be like touring and stuff!”
So how did the band’s name come about?
“Well … Tom’s Mum always used to call him a good boy; she was always like ‘Oh Tommy. You’re such a good boy! You’re such a good boy Tom’ and we found that hilarious so we thought it would be a bit of a fitting name for the band that Tom put together.”
Back in 2015 you won a competition to play Laneway 2016; how did that experience set the band up for the future? Did you learn anything that you then developed over the next few years?
“I can’t really say that I learnt anything from it, but the experience was great! I mean opening up that festival, we were very aware that you know people are pre-drinking up until about 5pm before they go in to that festival; and to have 400-500 people you know making an effort to come in early and see us, that meant a lot. And I think it was a bit of a pre-cursor for us as our shows definitely got bigger after that and I think maybe people took us a little more seriously.”
Well it certainly is a big thing, you are now officially a band that has played Laneway and for many it’s a case of ‘Well if you’re good enough to play Laneway…’
“Yeah! It’s like ‘Ta-da! You’re a festival band now!’”
And is it true? Did you wear really short shorts during that performance?
“I wear short shorts during every performance!”
Excellent!
“Nah, that’s a lie actually, I did wear short shorts during that performance but I’m slowly lengthening them out.”
Oh and why’s that then?
“Oh you know, it’s getting a bit cooler, maybe I have to get used to wearing shorts on stage by the time I get to New Zealand…which maybe I can ask you, is it going to be cold in a week or so?”
Yeah we’re starting to get that colder weather, Auckland you’ll be alright. But further down the line … you’re going to freeze [laughs]
“Well I’ll pack pants just in case ay?”
Pants might be sensible…
“Yeah I got a pair of ruggers, ‘stubbies’ as they call them from a mate and I have pretty much had them glued to me ever since.”
Brilliant!
Now Good Boy have three EP’s under their belt and you are currently working on your debut album this year; why did you decide to put three EP’s out first? Was it with the intention of getting new music out there on a more frequent basis or you just didn’t think it would get this far?
“I think the most honest answer is that it was our manager’s idea to do three EP’s; to be completely honest I have no opinion on any of it. I would have preferred to have gone straight to album but I mean you want that reach, you want that push, so I guess we have more music out there now so that when the album does come out, there will be more people to listen to it cause we have had that bit of a back catalogue to pre-cursor it.”
Your sound has been described as indie-garage-punk, do you agree? Or would you rather not be placed inside a genre-box?
“I actually completely disagree; I did have this conversation with my bandmates and manager the other day that we should change our bio and definitely not say ‘garage-punk’, because we may have been that once before but we’re not that now and yeah I’d rather just be like ‘alt-indie’ or something like that. I’d rather not have anything pinned to it, but yeah definitely not punk, at all.”
Yes genre boxes can be limiting, but unfortunately it is often part and parcel of being a band; as people will always ask ‘Well what kind of music are they?’
“And all I say to that is “Go watch them you noodle!’ I say don’t worry about the genre, just go watch the band!”
Yes! I’m exactly the same – I’m very genre-fluid! [laughs]
“Yes, yeah, yeah [laughs] definitely, and so everyone should be. Yeah so I’m trying to move away from that right now, I’m actually trying to move into sort of rock-funk.”
I love the fact that many of your tracks are quite opinionated pieces, such as ‘Poverty Line’ and of course ‘122 million’; is this a collaborative between the band members or personally driven from yourself to have these quite strong opinions coming through the songs?
“I will have to say that they mainly come from me, just because I don’t want to speak for Tom and Stu. I mean like all of the lyrics come from my head so most of those opinions come from my personal politic. Stu writes the drums, Tom writes the guitar and I write the bass and vocals and that’s about as collaborative as we get.”
Would you say that there have been over-arching themes with each of your EP’s and does the upcoming LP have one at the moment?
“Most of the time the instruments come first and then I write the lyrics later so I think you could be correct in saying there is an overlying theme depending on how I feel at the time of the vocals being recoded and written, but at this time we’re more or less working on instrumental for the album and I’ll probably just write all of the vocals when we’re in the studio.”
Speaking of vocals, your voice is actually quite unique, were you influenced by anyone in particular when you were developing your style or is that just all natural?
“I used to want to be a punk band for sure and one of my favourite Australian bands is Eddy Current Suppression Ring; I think a lot of my vocal sounds might come from that. But now definitely not, I am definitely working more on my own style now; especially in Shirk Life that’s more just me. I’ve no real interest in trying to emulate anything anymore.
I can’t really say there has been any pinpointed artist that I have tried to like be inspired by, at least no one comes to mind.”
With your upcoming dates in NZ – which are your first international shows – what can audiences expect? Will you be testing them out with some of your new upcoming material? Or will you be sticking to your EP’s? Are you the kind of band that chucks in a couple of covers here and there?
“No, we have never done a cover before and I can’t say that we will be playing any new material, just because it is our first international shows. We will definitely be back to New Zealand with new material as soon as it is ready to be shopped but no, it’s just a supporting tour, supporting Hockey Dad’s new album so really we’re just coming along to have some fun. You can definitely expect some short shorts, that’s pretty much it, that’s all you can pretty much expect. The rest of it … well you know, just have fun!”
As you just said you will be touring with Hockey Dad, but if you could play with any act, dead or alive – which three would you choose?
“Talking Heads, Ken – from Germany – and Eddy Current Suppression Ring.”
Interesting combination…
“I think that would be a good gig.”
Indeed!
Finally any message for your Kiwi fans…
“Ahhh…wwaahh…no! [mutual laughter] Please come along to the shows, and you know … take it easy!”
Good Boy are currently in the middle of supporting Hockey Dad on their New Zealand tour, with shows remaining in Auckland, Wellington, Tauranga and Raglan. Tickets are still available for all shows (except Auckland, which has sold out) from HockeyDadBand.com, but get in quick as they are selling FAST.
