But I suppose the number one priority at this stage is Gizzard,’ Moore says. ‘It seems to work out well because we can juggle our schedules and calendars around each other’s bands. Moore also founded the three bands’ record label, Flightless, leaving him with a lot on his plate. With Moore and Walker a part of Love Migrate and singer and harmonica extraordinaire Ambrose Kenny-Smith fronting The Murlocs, there is a great potential for a scheduling disaster. With a low-key beginning yielding little expectations from the band themselves, a few had their fingers in musically-similar pies. ‘Our single, ‘Dead Beat,’ getting playlisted for high rotation on Triple J and being booked for Meredith really early on … whipped us into line.’ ‘The first six months or so were tough to keep everyone interested and together, but once we started booking more shows and people started rocking up we realised we had something good going on. ‘We we’re all playing in different bands at the time and I think Stu had the idea of making a big rotating band of all our mates that was kind of loose and crazy,’ Moore says.Īrranging times and places to meet and practice that suited everyone presented problems in itself. The early days began with Moore, singer Stu Mackenzie and guitarist Joe Walker meeting at RMIT in Melbourne, studying the same degree. The quality of their music is not lost on the audience, even for the first-time observer distracted by the hoopla and bedlam that inevitably transpires. It is seven mates thrashing out tunes that easily please. This band has a knack for putting on a show, though their performance is far too unorganised to be staged. We all understand each other and have been playing together for years so it sort of comes naturally.’

‘There is certainly a method to the chaos, but I wouldn’t say it’s pre-planned or anything,’ Moore says. The band’s frantic nature draws a crowd not for the faint-hearted or those easily bruised.

There is a reason the growing base of fans come back each night. This is what generally separates the best from the rest. They reek of an outfit thriving on an appreciative audience.Īrguably, the band’s trademark is their on-stage performance. It’s hard to fathom that the band might not consider themselves suitably equipped for a three-month gig-playing bender. ‘I think it would be a lot different for the heavy touring US and European bands who play every night for three months straight. ‘We basically booked shows every weekend for two months and would come home during the weeks,” Moore says. Now it’s the song people talk about the most.’įollowing the recent release of their debut album, the band hit the road with shows announced in Brisbane, Sydney, Hobart, Adelaide and their base, Melbourne. ‘Once we mixed it properly and got it mastered it didn’t actually sound that different sonically to the others, so we added it on. ‘We basically recorded the song as an experiment and thought it sounded really cool, then for ages we were like “we can’t put this on the record, it’s absurd,”‘ drummer Eric Moore says.

Wizards lizard go back to town