Meet the local rock trio making a grand entrance to the Brisbane music scene
Words and cover image by Nikita Oliver
It’s half past 10 on a Sunday night but the Valley is alive with people taking advantage of tomorrow’s public holiday. Every corner of Tomcat is crowded and the energy that the mass of head-banging folks on the bar’s dance floor is emitting is nothing short of electric.
Between the dancing bodies and fist-bumping, three blokes can be seen making big use of the small stage. The singer is having chats with the audience and bringing people up on stage while the drummer and bassist accept free beers from fans. It’s a lot of hype for a band performing their second ever live show.
With only two months of practice behind them, the QUT-born rock trio have already booked three gigs and recorded an EP. Not too shabby for a bunch of mates who are just happy to be making music together.
King George’s sound is a little fresher than today’s pop punk mixed with all the bits we miss from 90’s grunge rock. It’s upbeat, energising and lives up to their definition of the band’s music being “rock music you can dance too.”
After forming the band for his degree in music production at QUT in October of 2018, front–man Jacob found himself without a bassist and drummer only a few months later. Jacob saw this as a fresh start for King George rather than its end and immediately set out to find replacements. Despite being friends with fellow student Daniel Martinez-Lopez and QUT-graduate James Hurwood for years, Jacob wasn’t aware that the boys had any musical talent until now.
“We were working the same job together and in our break we went to Tym Guitars and Dan picked up a bass,” Jacob recalls. “I had no idea he played.”
After Dan had been integrated into the band as its new bass player, Jacob began asking around for drummers. During a catch-up chat at a party Jacob asked James if he knew of any to which he replied, “yes bitch, me!”
Fast track to March and King George had been transformed from a group of students looking for a good grade to three friends fueled by their passion for producing good music. Two months later and the band has played live shows at two of Brisbane’s more notable underground bars Greaser and Tomcat and are on track to releasing an EP full of original music.
“It’s been such a refreshing experience just playing with two really good mates,” Jacob said of his band–mates who nod in agreement.
Even with King George originally being formed as a requirement for completing his degree, making music and performing in a band always seemed inevitable to Jacob.
“Pretty much from day one I’ve just known I’m going to do music,” Jacob said. “You can only do so many years of writing songs before realising ‘yeah, I should actually play these songs for people.’”
Seeing a long-term goal finally come to fruition has been a gratifying experience for Jacob, one that has only been enhanced with having his good mates Dan and James involved.
With hopes of one day becoming what they describe as “Valley Famous” the boys are keeping busy writing new tunes and booking more local gigs. Follow them on Facebook to keep updated on their upcoming shows and EP.
