On Near-Death Encounters, Being Robbed And Dry-Retching

13 May 2015 | 11:34 am | Brendan Crabb

"If I make my mum dry-retch I’m fucking happy"

More King Parrot More King Parrot

Among the sensations of this year’s Soundwave run were globe-trotting Melburnians King Parrot, whose thrashed-up grind/death/punk attracted significant crowds despite early timeslots. However, vocalist Matt Young nearly didn’t survive to enjoy it.

At the festival shows, the vocalist interactively incited “walls of death”, an activity since retired due to occupational hazards. “It probably wasn’t the smartest career move,” he laughs. “Obviously there’d been internet footage circulating... When we got to Brisbane, some little smart-arse dude just lined me up, took my legs out. I was in the wall of death, the wall of death crumbled and I was at the bottom of it. I actually thought I was going to die. Fortunately I went into beast mode, fucking started throwing people off me, and got the fuck out of there.”

"Fortunately I went into beast mode, fucking started throwing people off me"

It’s one of the few things that haven’t turned up trumps for the road-dogs lately, although a recent tour van break-in during yet another exhausting US jaunt tested their mettle. “We were in a real hurry that day and we’d had fuck-all sleep as you usually do. We had to park about a mile away from where we were playing... It was Chicago, a big fucking crazy city. We just made a mistake. We left the safe in there and we should have taken it,” Young sighs. “It really sucks, but we decided that after speaking with our manager that we would ask our fans how they felt about donating.

Don't miss a beat with our FREE daily newsletter

“People decided they wanted to help, and within about twenty-four hours we were so lucky that the money started trickling back. When we got to the point where we’d almost made the money back… Your faith in humanity has been restored. To go from the lowest of the low to having it completely restored within twenty-four hours was an incredible feeling.”

Also boosting morale is second album, Dead Set, recorded by former Pantera and Down vocalist Phil Anselmo at his New Orleans NODferatu’s Lair studio. They’re also signed to his Housecore label Stateside. “He doesn’t let you get away with any bullshit. He sat down with me and we went through pretty much every line, every word on the whole album. You try and get the best result; we wanted to work with the best people that we possibly could and Phil’s definitely that. It was cool for me to have someone like him advising me, pointing me in the right direction and saying, ‘That’s not cutting it, do it better, try doing it this way.’”

King Parrot have unleashed a clip for Home Is Where The Gutter Is. “I showed my mum this morning, and she was almost dry-retching. It was fucking hilarious.” Then, impersonating her. “‘Matthew, you didn’t do that?’ I’m like, ‘Yeah Mum, we did.’ So if I make my mum dry-retch I’m fucking happy.”