The Foo Fighters Went Disco So We Took A Look At Artists With Some Unexpected Side Projects

Let's face it, there's nothing quite like a good old-fashioned "side"; side dishes, side hustles, side shows, sidebars (I've been watching way too much Law & Order SVU during lockdown, apologies). And, every now and then, a side project also sneaks up of the musical persuasion that pulls the rug square out from under you with a whiplash sonic sneak attack, much like the appearance of the Foo Fighters brand new sashay into disco territory this week. 

Just in time for Record Store Day this Saturday 17 July, Dave Grohl and co tweeted out the news of a new Foo Fighters album Hail Satin, which will cop its debut under the band's alter egos the Dee Gees this weekend. Promising an action-packed 10 tracks that covers everything from the Bee Gees to in-studio performances of the Fooeys' full length Medicine at Midnight released back in February, Hail Satin is certainly a shimmering change of pace from the typical riff-charged fare the sextet regularly dish up. 

Having previously covered Prince's Darling Nikki in 2003, the Dee Gees disco revolution earlier in the week may initially appear to be an unexpected cover for the iconic rockers - especially seeing how hard the Foo Fighters/Dee Gees embrace the jaunty vibes in the clip. But the Fooey's You Should Be Dancing certainly isn't the first time a band has flipped the switch and busted out an atypical cover, or just straight up entirely changed their style. And today, we take a look back at some of the well-known and not-so-well-known side projects and surprise genre diversions from a range of artists over the years. Rock goes disco, punk meets Mariachi, and rave tunes for kids... read on.

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Dee Gees - Foo Fighters

The disco-soaked catalyst for today's journey through unexpected side hustles, the Dee Gees are unapologetically stadium rock-gone-disco, with the namesake nodding to both Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl's initials and disco kings the Bee Gees.   

Previously offering fans a glimpse at the Fooeys' new direction, the Dee Gees busted out a sneaky glimpse of their best disco selves back in February, performing You Should Be Dancing on Jo Whiley, Sofa Sessions on BBC Radio 2. But, as of this week, the sequinned cat is entirely out of the bag - and you can grab a full gander at Grohl and the team going hell for leather on the disco classic below.

Mariachi El Bronx - The Bronx

Back in 2006, LA punk rockers The Bronx were approached to perform an acoustic set. Already renowned for their spitfire punk'n'roll wiles, it seemed a nondescript request in the grand scheme of things; but little did we all know, this moment would instigate a series of divergent musical events that absolutely no one could've predicted. 

Taking the occasion as a challenge to seismically shift their hardcore style into a whole new direction rather than just strip their tracks down for an acoustic setting, The Bronx veered headfirst into something so far outside their stylistic roots, that many around the scene simply chalked the whole thing up to a joke. A knee-jerk reaction to the 'unplugged' fascination of the '90s inadvertently paved the way for Mariachi El Bronx, with the group embracing traditional mariachi flavours with zero amounts of irony or farce.

Flexing exuberant horns, charro outfits, rhythmic swirls and the slightly softer side of frontman Matt Caughthran, Mariachi El Bronx couldn't, on the surface, be further from the raw ferocity The Bronx brings to the table. But the group bring as much pomp and vigour to one that they do the other, perhaps summed up best by the group themselves back in 2016: "The Bronx is like a gun... point, shoot, explode. Mariachi El Bronx is like a gun that shoots flowers."

Regurgitator's Pogogo Show - Regurgitator

As of 2021, you either know Regurgitator for their kooky pop and rock, or for their more recent foray into the world of children's entertainment. 

Back in 2019, the band announced their latest sonic experiment, launching the kids music project Regurgitator's Pogogo Show and an album titled The Really Really Really Really Boring Album. Recorded with children's instruments and proving to be entirely everything but its yawn-adjacent namesake, the debut release scooped up an ARIA Award nomination for Best Children's Album that same year; a fact made even more delightful by the addition of song names like Ghost Cat and, this writer's personal favourite, Mr Butt. 

With the group's stacked history for subverting stylistic parameters and flaunting their unique brew of nostalgic glee and modern quirks, it's not entirely out character for the Brissie bunch to flip the tables and set their sights on an entirely new age bracket. And for the parents out there, this barrelling union of pop, rock, hip hop and funk is the perfect combo of silliness and sharp delivery. From Polyester Girl to songs about pillow fights; I guess this is growing up ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

Simple Creatures - Mark Hoppus (blink-182) + Alex Gaskarth (All Time Low)

As many blink-182 fans know, co-founder and ex-vocalist Tom DeLonge is no stranger to a side project or two, with Angels & Airwaves and Box Car Racer sharing the trademark nasal vocals behind hits like Dammit, What's My Age Again and All The Small Things back in the day (and we won't go into the UFO stuff, but technically we may as well class that as a side project too).  

But while DeLonge's musical side hustles sit a fair bit closer to the trademark textures of the blink-182 repertoire, blink bassist and co-lead vocalist Mark Hoppus also recently took a step outside the more standard pop punk waters, diving head first into poppier territory with All Time Low's Alex Gaskarth for the project Simple Creatures springing to life back in 2019.

With Gaskarth previously admitting to having gone through a hardcore blink-182 fanboy phase back in the day, Simple Creatures offered a chance for Gaskarth to make many of his creative dreams come true; while also offering Hoppus a lifeline as well, following a depressive episode brought on by the completion of blink's California tour back in 2017. 

Simple Creatures embraces synths, guitars and programmed drums, alongside some darker themes woven into some straight up pop. With both artists stemming from a pop punk background, there's a unique and oddly alluring twist on the so-called "trash pop" label the band flung at themselves in the early days of the project. And after releasing two EPs back in 2019 (Strange Love and Everything Opposite) and even jumping up at the 2019 Aussie Good Things Festivals back when festivals were still a tangible thing, Simple Creatures may or may not continue the journey following the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. But regardless of the pair's collaborative future, this project ultimately offers a unique and enjoyable twist on both artist's backgrounds for those willing to join the journey. 

Phantastic Ferniture - Julia Jacklin

If you were wondering why back in 2018 the new tunes floating around the place from a group called Phantastic Ferniture sounded eerily familiar: it wouldn't have taken too long to narrow down the unmistakable vocals of indie folk darling Julia Jacklin fluttering away with friends Elizabeth Hughes, Ryan K Brennan and Tom Stephens rounding out the roll call.

Coming from busting out straight-up folk music as a soloist into a fully-fledged group endeavour, the road to Phantastic Ferniture's origin story can, in fact, be traced back to the rock'n'roll holy place that is Frankie's Pizza in Sydney, where a birthday party for Jacklin evolved into a group hug, pinball playing and a promise to form a band. Of the ten in attendance that evening, only four remembered the plan. And thus: the fun-soaked delights of Phantastic Ferniture was born.

While this entry is probably the least divergent from its original source, with Jacklin's vocals an unmistakable thread between both her solo project and group adventures, the driving factory behind Phantastic Ferniture diverges significantly from the starting point of Jacklin's overall journey: “I’d gone straight into folk music, so every experience I’d had on stage was playing sad music with a guitar in my hand. I thought, I would love to know what it’s like to make people feel good and dance.” 

Slipknot - Corey Taylor (Stone Sour)

Speaking of Frankie's Pizza, chances are, if you've ever wandered through those hallowed doors in Sydney over the years, you've come face to face, or perhaps slapped in the ears, with the tune Absolute Zero by Iowa rockers Stone Sour on more than one occasion. 

As fans of heavier persuasions out there would know all too well, after forming Stone Sour in the early '90s, frontman Corey Taylor would eventually go on to join metal giants Slipknot in 1997 as their lead vocalist, donning a series of masks throughout the years while wielding guttural growls amid a melodic moment or two. As detailed in Jason Arnopp's Slipknot biography, Stone Sour was all but abandoned during the recording of the group's demo album; but Taylor would eventually return to his rock roots and revive the project, resulting in Stone Sour's self-titled debut album in 2002. 

While Taylor has gone on to plateau creatively in some of his pursuits, with Stone Sour put on indefinite hiatus back in 2020, the contrast between Taylor's hard rock presence and ascent into mask-riddled metal infamy continues to showcase the supreme range Taylor truly possesses as a musician. Fans on either side of the Corey Taylor sonic bridge will vehemently back their preferred horse here, with many Slipknot fans not taking kindly to any of his other external pursuits. 

But if both Stone Sour and Slipknot are outside of your listening wheelhouse, a meme circulating around the place summed up the stark stylistic differences between the two, visually placing Corey as regular Barney the dinosaur fronting Stone Sour, and a jacked up T-Rex-adjacent version of Barney fronting Slipknot. 

Diver City - Matt Okine & Kristy Lee Peters (KLP)

When a comedian meets dreamy dance-pop; another journey into the kids genre is here, and this time from former triple j personalities and musicians Matt Okine and Kristy Lee Peters, aka KLP.

Launching last year with their debut album Welcome To Diver City busting out some feel-good tunes for the toddler set (as well as some nods to Okine's love of a good old fashioned rave via the kids bop Rave Cave), Diver City previously scooped up an ARIA Award nom for Best Children's Album and are now barrelling into the second half of 2021 with yet another offering to spice up any parent's playlist. 

The pair's second album DANCE SILLY is officially due out next month, with the criminally catchy lead single Dance Silly, written alongside electro wizards Art Vs Science, already giving a taste of what's in store. 

Ultimately, Diver City is a healthy mix of wacky themes, thumping beats and Okine's zesty wit fused with KLP's hypnotic whimsy. For those who grew up dreaming of cooler kids tunes than the same-old ones trotted out on Playschool (nothing but respect though Noni, I swear), Diver City is some straight-up dance-pop goodness for young and old. Definitely give Diver City a dive if you haven't already. 

Chick - Mariah Carey

Mariah Carey and grunge: undeniably two things you'd never expect to see written side-by-side; or at least, so it would seem. 

Fans of the pop diva and the industry at large were sent reeling late last year when Carey shared an excerpt from her memoir The Meaning Of Mariah Carey, tweeting that she had worked on and appeared uncredited on a grunge rock album back in the mid-'90s.

While conjuring her fifth full length Daydream in 1995, Carey recently revealed that her now-iconic pop album staple was created alongside producing and performing on an alternative album with the band Chick. And while her highly cultivated public image jars with the revelation, Carey relished in the raw irreverence and unruly nature the project offered her, stating in her Twitter post: "I wanted to break free, let loose, and express my misery — but I also wanted to laugh. I totally looked forward to doing my alter-ego band sessions after Daydream each night."

While Carey went on to say she found embracing her grunge "character" freeing, she was forced to bow out over concerns from record label executives and her then-husband Tommy Mottola that the project could damage her image and blossoming pop career. As a result, Carey's angsty adventures with Chick were over before they truly began, with the resulting album Someone's Ugly Daughter ultimately replacing Carey with her then-roommate Clarissa Dane on frontwoman duties - and the original mixes of the album with Carey's vocals seemingly lost in the void. 

Never fear, tough! The prolific popstar's voice can still be spied on snippets of the elusive album kicking around the interwebs, with Carey's backing vocals making the final cut as a hidden layer. While we can't quite imagine Mariah Carey donning flannel and smudged eyeliner at this point in time, it's peak '90s to know she had her own grunge moment back in the day. What might have been...

BlakRoc - The Black Keys

What happens when The Black Keys meets some of hip hop's biggest stars? Hello, BlackRoc, aka the rap-rock fusion album teaming up the bluesy pizzazz of The Black Keys with guest appearances from Mos Def, Ludacris, Wu-Tang Clan, A Tribe Called Quest and many others.

Already firmly established as a two-piece rock band, childhood friends Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney (aka The Black Keys) were raised on blues music - unsurprising news, we know, for a band who packed minimalist classic grooves and garage rock swoon into every square inch of their early material, before their commercial breakthrough in 2010 with the album Brothers, and three time Grammy Award-scooping tune Tighten Up. But the pair's sonic affinity didn't begin and end with the blues, with the duo also showcasing their equal love of hip hop on their first demo as The Black Keys; and, eventually, expanding into a full hip hop album released in 2009. 

The Dissociatives - Daniel Johns (Silverchair)

Silverchair fans will generally be the first to tell you that they can easily pinpoint what era a certain song hails from; whether it's the days of the Innocent Criminals, the abrasive snarl of Freak or the orchestral whimsy of Across The Night, the Newcastle trio's journey from alt rock wunderkinds to art rock and pop has not been equally without its detractors and defenders.

Amid a hiatus announced back in the early 2000s, Silverchair frontman Daniel Johns was in a world of hurt battling a rare form of arthritis, which left Johns, at times, unable to pick up his guitar due to his severely painful and swollen joints. 

But prior to the news of Johns and his debilitating affliction, he had previously collided with dance music producer Paul Mac on the Chair's fourth studio album Diorama, with the duo releasing an Internet-only (and entirely appropriately-titled) EP I Can't Believe It's Not Rock in 2000. 

From here, the pair embarked on a glossy adventure that whisked away the edges of Johns and his rock past, and instead presented a simplified amalgamation of electronic pop, with the pair's sole 2004 self-titled album under the name The Dissociatives ultimately proving inoffensive; that is, of course, unless you're a diehard early-era Silverchair fan. 

The early 2000s were a different time for us all, and I'll personally never forget the moment Johns bought Mac onstage with Silverchair at the 2008 Big Day Out on the Gold Coast; but that's largely because to this day I can't decipher if Johns was speaking with an American accent or not. Johns has since gone on to conjure new music, and it appears there is more to come from his new project Boom Tish. 

Donnie Trumpet & The Social Experiment - Chance The Rapper

Chance The Rapper took his touring band and spun things into a neo soul wonderland, with trumpeter Nico Segal, aka Donnie Trumpet, joining forces with Chance's band The Social Experiment for the 2015 album Surf. 

Labelled by Chance at the time as a "Social Experiment project" as opposed to a proper Chance The Rapper release, Surf hit iTunes as a free download, and marked a true divergence for many fans salivating for a follow-up to Chance's 2013 breakthrough album Acid Rap. 

While Chance is still a large part of Surf and its bewitching trappings, the true soul beating away throughout the 15 tracks belongs to Segal; a fact made more meaningful since the news that Segal has since officially dropped the Donnie Trumpet moniker. 

Bringing together the likes of Busta Rhymes, Janelle Monae, Erykah Badu and a searing display of jazz fusion, dance and soul, Surf was a true chance to see Chance The Rapper as a sum of his (mega) parts. Sure, he featured on the majority of the album, but this diverse and dazzling display ultimately gifted an even-keeled masterclass from an array of artists truly at the top of their game. 

City and Colour - Dallas Green (Alexisonfire)

Depending who you talk to, Dallas Green fans will generally rave about his shredding with post hardcore hell-raisers Alexisonfire, or his dappled magic acoustic folk magic under his alter ego City & Colour. And, more often than not: most fans will also rabidly adore both projects, no matter how distanced the two are on the genre scale.

A prime example of a heavy artist stepping outside the genre confines, Dallas Green strikes the ultimate balance between light and shade, with City & Colour providing a soothing balm for the soul alongside his scathing contributions as clean vocalist, songwriter and crushing rhythmic guitarist for Alexisonfire. 

Starting life in the heavier realms back in the early 2000s, Green's decision to solely pursue his more intimate endeavours instigated the breakup and farewell tour for Alexisonfire in 2011. But amid rumours circulating at the time that the breakup wasn't entirely amicable, in 2015 many prayers around the globe were answered, with Alexisonfire roaring back to life, and City & Colour still going strong with the project's 2019 album A Pill For Loneliness hitting #1 on Green's homeland Canadian charts; and news announced back in June this year that new material was on the way.

There's an almost cult-like esteem for Green and his projects amongst fans that carries both ways for anyone who's ever been fortunate to stand in a crowd and watch the man work; and Green's likening of music as a "pill for loneliness" may just be what the doctor ordered for those of us traversing lockdown right about now. 

Big Red Machine - Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) & Aaron Dessner (The National)

When you debut on the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time and are hotting up on the Aussie charts with a song featuring Taylor Swift, it's clear you're onto a good thing. But the duo behind Big Red Machine, aka Justin Vernon and Aaron Dessner, are certainly not strangers to the musical world.

What started off as a message from The National's Desser to Bon Iver's Vernon via Myspace has since catapulted the pair into indie folk and folktronica infamy, with their second album How Long Do You Think It's Gonna Last? due out next month following some indelible hype since the pair's 2018 debut self-titled album dropped into the world. 

The indie folk trappings are still alive and well on Big Red Machine, but rather than the sprawling beauty of one of Vernon's other side ventures, the swooning Volcano Choir, which sat markedly close to the original Bon Iver trappings, Big Red Machine seemingly dives stylistically further away from both Vernon and Desser's previous lives more than ever before with each passing release; and their impending release is just oozing with a who's who of collaborations from all over the genre shop, including Swift, Fleet Foxes, Ben Howard and Sharon Van Etten. 

Childish Gambino - Donald Glover

Grammy-winning rapper Donald Glover was still living in a college dorm room back in 2006 when he cut his teeth writing for Tina Fey's beloved SNL-inspired sitcom 30 Rock. 

And from leaping out of college straight into the writer's room, Glover has gone on to charm audiences and ignite beyond anything anyone could've predicted, from his fan-favourite turn as Troy Barnes in Community to creating and starring in the insanely powerful dramedy Atlanta. But, of course, he's also the brainchild behind Childish Gambino, with the legacy-cementing This Is America firmly embedding him in the cultural zeitgeist; and a multitude of other game-changing musical triumphs in his wake.  

Earlier this year it was revealed that Glover would return to the small screen alongside Fleabag creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge to reboot the Brangelina-spawning movie Mr & Mrs Smith as a TV series. And ever-the-tease musically, Glover did reveal via Twitter late last year that more magic was coming. 

Regardless of Glover's next move, his ability to amuse, amaze and downright astonish while actively rallying behind significant societal issues is a dizzying feat unto itself. But if the days of Childish Gambino are well and truly behind him now, there's no danger of Glover going gently into that good night. Something tells us, the best is only yet to come here. 

The Wiggles - Anthony Field, Jeff Fatt & Greg Page (The Cockroaches)

In an era when pub rock reigned supreme, who knew members of an international phenomenon would in fact be sharpening their wares wielding guitars and leather jackets in the '80s and '90s (and, as of 2013, would go on to form Australia's highest-earning band outside of AC/DC). 

Marking a prolific precursor to the international kids juggernaut that is The Wiggles, The Cockroaches saw future finger gun aficionados Anthony Field and Jeff Fatt playing lead guitar and keyboards respectively for the pop-ish rock group; and in a delightful twist of fate, future original Yellow Wiggle Greg Page was also the Cockroaches' roadie at the time. 

A case of right time and the extremely right place, this creative collision between Field, Fatt and Page would ultimately unknowingly kickstart the extremely colourful journey these gents would soon embark upon when The Wiggles erupted into the minds and ears of every parent and kid in the country in the early '90s. And inevitably, these days The Cockroaches may be more readily recalled as the unexpected stepping stone to much bigger and more skivvy-adjacent triumphs in the unending Wiggles success story continuing to delight children all over the world into a colourful and musical frenzy. 

Kunsthaus - Rick Astley

To round us out today in our list, we're reaching just a touch to try to team with a 'Christmas In July' theme here as we approach the middle of July. And while it's insanely hard to track down any further signs of life from the enigmatic project Kunsthaus that popped up last year; for your listening and viewing pleasure today, please enjoy the absolute beautiful mayhem of Rick Astley gifting Reddit a German metal beatdown one year ago, performing Farbe Ist Meine Welt (translating to: Colour Is My World) with the accompanying caption "Love you Reddit, Merry Christmas".

For anyone who's grown up adoring Rick Astley, or more recently became acquainted via some well-timed Rickrolls - well, we already knew the dude can sing like nobody's business. But who knew Mr Astley could growl and blergh like that? What can't the man do, honestly.

Happy Christmas in July, and Rick Astley for the love of all that is metal: give us more Kunsthaus.