A lot has happened for King Stingray since the release of their 2022 debut self-titled album. There have been awards, sold out headline tours, festival slots, radio support and landmark international shows – more on all that later – jettisoning the quintet from what guitarist and producer Roy Kellaway calls “a pretty sleepy, rural lifestyle in the bush” to one of constant movement, countless gigs and the rush of being a band on the rise.
“With one album we ticked off so many of the bucket list things I had as an aspiring musician,” he smiles.
Not surprisingly, those experiences inform For The Dreams, King Stingray’s melodically rich second LP. Don’t, however, expect a weary account of the rigours of life on the road and the pressures of fame – as with their debut, For The Dreams is a joyous celebration of life and the planet on which we live that oozes optimism from its every note.
But where some of the songs on that debut stretched as far back as high school in the Northern Territory – where childhood friends Kellaway, Yirrŋa Yunupiŋu (vocals) and Dimathaya Burarrwanga (guitar/vocals) began jamming (the quintet is completed by drummer Lewis Stiles and bassist Campbell Messer) – For The Dreams is a snapshot of the past few years in the members’ lives.
“Nothing’s changed in the sense that we’re still who we are, we’re still playing music and enjoying things,” says Kellaway. “But what I think is different about this one is there’s a little bit more lived experience, and we’re singing about different things.”
That lived experience is encapsulated in several themes that recur throughout the album. The golden glow of nostalgia amidst the whirlwind of success and life on the road informs “Nostalgic” and “Southerly”; the awe-inducing grandeur of nature and the joy of simple living in a digital age propel “Best Bits” and “Lookin’ Out”; “Soon As” and “What’s The Hurry?” sum up the rush of the past few years and the bliss of slowing down and returning home to Country; while optimism in challenging times (with an undercurrent of climate change commentary) sends the album out on a high with “Cat Five (Cyclone)”. “It might feel like a bit of a cyclone at the moment, but there’s blue skies up ahead,” explains Kellaway of the song. Adds Burarrwanga, who sings its second verse, “On the surface the water is calm and glassy and there is a light breeze. The land and water are quiet, all the birds are still except the eagle soaring on thermals. Beneath the surface is a strong current running out to the horizon; it’s a time to reflect.”
“We’re from a small place but we’re singing about big things,” says Kellaway. “That’s what this record is encompassing.”
Kellaway (who, as with the band’s debut, produced For The Dreams) began writing and demoing the album in his bedroom in between tours. “My cup was completely full with the biggest vibes from touring and these dreams coming true,” he offers.
The early songwriting goals were to “level up” rather than reinvent the group’s sound. While the songs continue to incorporate and celebrate Yunupiŋu’s and Burarrwanga’s ancestral Yolŋu language, this time the choruses are sung entirely in English “so everyone can participate”. “We wanted a lot of singalong moments, we really wanted to have repeated hooks,” says Kellaway. “We were thinking a little bit more about getting everyone in on the party.”
Synths add fresh sonic textures in “Southerly” and “Soon As”, offering new melodic possibilities without diluting the band’s trademark brand of edgy, uplifting rock’n’roll (or Yolŋu Surf Rock, as it’s been dubbed). “I really wanted the album to be easily translated into an epic live show,” says Kellaway.
The group’s mantra when it came to recording the album was “Yaka Muckaround!”, meaning “We’re not mucking around!” Studio sessions were booked around Australia so that any downtime between gigs could be used to flesh out the songs and harness the energy of an act with hundreds of shows under their belt. The end result moves from the desert-dry driving rock of “Through The Trees” and the climactic din of distorted guitars, didgeridoo and clapping sticks in “What’s The Hurry?” to self-empowerment anthem “Light Up The Path” and the more measured, melodic “Southerly” and “Nostalgic”.
The album’s title offers an insight into the band’s sense of humour. A favourite saying of Yunupiŋu’s, it has a double meaning. “We’re doing this because we’re trying to live the dream,” explains Kellaway. “And then Yirrŋa also uses it as an excuse to try and keep you up and hanging out with him when everyone’s tired. He’ll be like, ‘Come on, for the dreams!’ That concept of living the dream is something we’re advocates for.”
More than just advocates, King Stingray really are living their dreams. Just look at some of their achievements: a Top 10 debut album that earned five ARIA nominations (including Album of the Year and Best Group; they won the Michael Gudinski Breakthrough Artist gong); took out the coveted Australian Music Prize; and won the Album of the Year and Best Independent Rock Album or EP at the 2023 AIR Awards. Then there were the US tours and much-talked about performances at high profile events such as South by Southwest, not to mention multiple headline runs around Australia, taking in landmark shows such as their performance at the 100,000-capacity Melbourne Cricket Ground as part of the AFL’s ‘Dreamtime at the ’G’.
Impressive for an act fashioning a unique blend of raucous rock’n’roll and the ancient Indigenous tradition of manikay (song/songlines), that cut their teeth playing to sparsely populated pubs around Australia, organically building a fanbase and perfecting their wild live show until the momentum became unstoppable. As Yunupiŋu sings in “Southerly”, “We were just a couple of kids/With a couple of big ideas”.
With For The Dreams, those ideas are only getting bigger.
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