Sounds Like Chicken
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Sounds Like Chicken | |
|---|---|
| Country | Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
| Years active | 2000 – Present |
| Genres | Ska Punk, Rock, Reggae |
| Labels | Boomtown Records |
| Members | Nyall Dawson Nat Kitingan Dave Powys Natalie Parker Joel Dawson Ben Hobson Mike Haydon |
Sounds Like Chicken is a band from Melbourne, Australia released on Boomtown Records. The band plays a unique blend of ska, rock and hardcore punk. They places a high emphasis on touring to show off their famously high energy live performances.
Sounds Like Chicken have shared the stage with bands as Reel Big Fish (USA), Mad Caddies (USA), The O.C. Supertones (USA), Killing Heidi, Bodyjar, 28 Days, Crowned King (CAN), Gyroscope, Area 7, Hilltop Hoods, Antiskeptic and many more. Sounds like Chicken also have rotation on the radio station Triple J, mainly with their double A-side single Take a Bullet to the Grave/El Chupanebre and their other single Global Domination.
Contents |
[edit] History
The story of Sounds Like Chicken started back in 1999 when Nathanael (Nat) Kitingan met Nyall Dawson at Monash University in Melbourne. They became friends and together with friends Michael and Aaron Elbourne hosted a radio show on student radio. That year they also met Hugh Ogilvy and decided to start a band. Early attempts at a band featured Nyall on electric violin, Hugh on guitar and Nat on drums. Needless to say this trio never really got off the ground. Nyall's brothers joined the band, Elliot on drums and Joel on saxophone. They decided to start a ska band, taking influences from Voodoo Glow Skulls, The O.C. Supertones, The Insyderz and Five Iron Frenzy. The name 'sounds like chicken' came from the fact that everything 'tastes like chicken', and they sounded like lots of things, so they effectively 'sound like chicken'. This early lineup was Nyall (vocals), Nat (bass/vocals), Elliot (drums), Joel (sax) and Hugh (guitar).
Sounds Like Chicken's first show was at Joel's 21st birthday party in mid-2000. Video footage reveals that they were extremely nervous and stood as straight as statues throughout the performance. Hugh left the band at the end of 2000 due to other commitments and was replaced by Tom Dowding on guitar. Tom was an extremely accomplished bass player though and so Nat decided to swap to guitar so that Tom's talent could be fully utilised. The band decided they needed another horn and so after a couple of unsuccessful audition attempts, in 2001 Nat met Natalie Parker at university and invited her to a practice. She was apprehensive and unsure at first but the boys convinced her to join and sure enough, at her second practice she was already laying down trumpet tracks on their first demo recording which ended up becoming the band's self-made demo EP, "Slowly Going the Way of the Chicken".
Sounds Like Chicken toured interstate for the first time under this lineup in September 2001, playing in Sydney and Canberra (minus Natalie), and also at the Black Stump Music Festival. That first tour gave the band a taste of the road and since then the band has toured Australia numerous times and continue to do so. In 2002, Tom called it quits and departed from Sounds like Chicken. Joshua Diemar then joined on bass. It was in this year that sLc released their first studio EP, "I Am Gibbon, Hear Me Roar", produced by David Carr (Antiskeptic, Taxiride). That EP took the band to another level, gaining airplay on community radio, Christian radio and even on Triple J. The band's roster became busier with more interstate touring which proved a juggling act for the boys and girl as they were all studying at university or working day jobs.
In early 2004, the band were signed to Boomtown Records, a Melbourne-based indie record label. Sounds like Chicken decided they needed a fuller sound and so asked long-time friend Dave Powys (ex Staff Discount and Never In Doubt) to join on second guitar, making them a 7-piece band. Dave moved down from Canberra and recorded on the single Global Domination, their first release with Boomtown and distributed through MGM. The single received national airplay and spot airplay on Triple J. It was shortly after this that Josh decided it was time to move on and the band was without a bass-player. They were booked in to record an album and so asked if Carlos Echeverria (ex Know Exit and Wishful Thinking) would fill in and record bass for them. Their first full-length album, "...Like a Cannonball to the Ocean Floor" was released late that year through Boomtown, also doing well on the airwaves. Sounds Like Chicken did a joint national tour with label-mates Wishful Thinking to launch the album. Carlos officially joined shortly after the album's release.
2004 saw Sounds Like Chicken's drummer, manager and founding member Elliot Dawson leave, citing that he wished to pursue other things. For a while the band were without a drummer, but Mike "Carcass" Haydon (The Knockabouts), only 17 at the time, was able to fill his shoes as drummer. Mike had been a tour roadie for the band for the past 3 years and so was already well-acquainted with their songs. That year Sounds Like Chicken released the second double-A side single off the album, "Take a Bullet to the Grave/El Chupanebre" through Boomtown Records, and completed a national tour over 3 months to launch it.
Mid 2006 saw the band commence writing new material for their sophomore album rumoured to be called “Sink The Pork Sword”. The 2007 release will also feature As Iron Sharpens Iron and Carla Forsees a Bleak Future, a demo of which was released in 2005 as a B-side for the "Take a Bullet to the Grave/El Chupanebre" single.
On November 3, 2006, founding member, Nyall Dawson, announced his decision to depart the band early in 2007.
Sounds Like Chicken have played and toured with numerous well-known Australian and international acts and have been featured on various international and Australian compilations and soundtracks such as Turn the Other Cheek Volume 1. The band are still based in Melbourne and continue to tour and make music.
[edit] Members
[edit] Present
- Natalie Parker - Trumpet/Vocals
- Joel Dawson - Tenor Saxophone
- Nyall Dawson - Trombone/"Thrashcore" vocals
- Dave Powys - Guitar/Vocals
- Nat Kitingan - Guitar/Vocals
- Ben Hobson - Bass Guitar
- Mike Haydon - Drums
[edit] Past members
- Carlos Echeverria - Bass Guitar
- Josh Diemar - Bass Guitar
- Elliot Dawson - Drums
- Tom Dowding - Bass Guitar
- Hugh Ogilvy - Guitar
[edit] Discography
[edit] Singles & EPs
- Slowly Going the Way of the Chicken
- Slowly Going the Way of the Stump
- I Am Gibbon, Hear Me Roar
- Global Domination
- Take a Bullet to the Grave/El Chupanebre
