Fun Lovers

“When we started the band we thought, 'When we go to shows, what do we like to see, what do we like to experience?'” Kilroy says. “And I sort of thought that I didn't want to be in a band that you walked away from a show thinking, 'Aww'. I didn't want anyone to feel down about anything. I wanted them to walk away thinking, 'Oh geez that was fun, I had a good time there.' And that may seem sort of simple, but that's what motivates our songwriting and that's how we go about it. And it was very deliberate and it will keep continuing to be that way, because there are lots of bands out there that play the sort of down stuff – the really emotional, deep stuff – and we figured there's also room for bands on the other end of the scale as well. The other number one rule is that it can't be in any way naff or contrived. And we reckon we tick that box too, because I don't think it falls into those categories.”

The band's first film clip, an Angry Birds and cat meme inspired video, has seen the band mentioned in international press and has so far garnered over 800,000 views on YouTube. It's part of what Kilroy sees as a changing method of promotion for bands.

“Even the video clip, it was made for the Internet, it wasn't made for TV,” he states. “And that might sound like a weird thing but, you get it on Rage or Channel [V] and you might get a month of good play and then it's forgotten, but on the Internet it's there for years. It's there for as long as YouTube is a company, so that's kind of the way I think about it. It's so competitive, so doing the little things to make you stand out, it's essential really; it's not really an option if you want to succeed.”

Kilroy shot and produced the video clip himself, along with a friend of his, Luke Constable, and reflects that it's a common and even necessary part of the industry in Australia for musicians to take on multiple roles.

“I was talking to a dude from England at the BIGSOUND conference, and he was like, 'I'm really surprised that in Australia everyone has a few jobs'. No one does just one thing, and he couldn't really wrap his head around it,” Kilroy recalls. “I think it's just a case of trying to be pragmatic, you know. I don't think that I'm going to make a lot of money out of being in an indie band, so I've got to have another job, I've got to do other stuff and I happen to be a film maker or do marketing or stuff like that. And these days you can do that other stuff. Technology allows people to be photographers and make films, whereas in the past, you wouldn't have been able to afford an editing rig, you'd have to work for an actual film company to do that.”

After a great set at BIGSOUND to a packed out Zoo, Kilroy says he's hopeful that the rest of the tour will match the experience.

“If you look into the crowd and everyone's having a good time, it just blows you away so much. It peps you up more, which then they feed off and it's just like this sort of perpetual machine of emotion that just builds and builds and builds. And that's what we're aiming for: we just want people to have a good