Mighty Melbourne seven-piece King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard have had a very busy 2014.
In the last six months they’ve released a new album, rocked a national tour, blasted crowds at Golden Plains and The Gum Ball, escaped a stage collapse, and snatched victory from a dreadful laptop robbery.
But before all that, King Gizzard became $50,000 richer after winning the inaugural Carlton Dry Global Music Grant at the 2013 AIR Awards last October, and now the band have detailed just how they plan to spend their well-deserved prize money: in short, they’re ready to boost their international profiled and begin work on more new material in a unique location.
“We plan to make several international trips in the next 12 months to help establish our career globally,” says King Gizzard drummer and multi-instrumentalist Eric Moore. “Our first trip is to the USA and Canada in May which will be our first performances outside of Australia.”
Kicking off their American itinerary is a performance at Austin Psych Fest in four days time, where King Gizzard will perform on the same main stage as Black Lips, The Zombies, The Dandy Warhols, and The Black Angels (the hometown heroes behind the psychedelic specialty event). “Having the opportunity to travel and perform overseas will be a huge help to our band.”
Additionally, King Gizzard will also use the prize money to help fund tour dates in Dallas, Chicago, Washington, and Canada – with dates and details to be confirmed – as well towards renting a ranch in upstate New York, where the band will take a month-long “writing sabbatical” to begin work on a new album. Given the group’s prolific and speedy recording output, the touted follow-up to this year’s Oddments could be the band’s fifth LP in under two years.
“Having the opportunity to travel and perform overseas will be a huge help to our band,” says Moore, who administers King Gizzard’s indie label Flightless Records. “We are a self-sufficient seven piece that has a lot of expenses. Without the grant I’m not sure we would be able to take the wonderful opportunities that have been offered to us.”
Moore also sung the praises of the Carlton Dry Music Grant, developed with the Australian Independent Record Labels Association as part of the brewers’ sponsorship of the annual AIR awards ceremony.
“This grant is an incredible opportunity for any young Australian band trying to build an international career,” he declares. “There are so many world-class independent bands in this country that just don’t have the financial resources to tour extensively and play in different markets. This grant makes that possible.” “This grant is an incredible opportunity for any young Australian band trying to build an international career.”
King Gizzard are also in match-fit form for their grant-backed overseas trip, having just completed a national tour of what Moore calls “weird shows in each city so [we] could get used to playing several nights in a row,” including five sold-out dates at venues in Melbourne.
Our Tone Deaf reviewer at King Gizz’s Old Bar gig had high praise to spare, particularly for their marathon 16-minute head-trip ‘Head On/Pill’, “an engaging, versatile, musical grab bag, much like King Gizzard themselves.”
It’s also the same tune that was featured on a limited edition Record Store Day exclusive release that landed the band on a top 10 list of this year’s highest re-sold RSD items on eBay, the 12” vinyl selling for an outrageous US$ 381.93 – much to the dismay of the septet. “This makes us sad,” remarked the band on their Facebook page; “we do not condone this, if you have a copy keep it and enjoy it!!”
On the bright side, it at least demonstrates that demand for King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard’s music in the US is on the rise, making it no better time than now to strike for their $50k-funded American invasion.
