It’s easy to see why so many people have a music crush on NT band roymackonkey…

Not just because they’re sentimental faves from Darwin.. Or possess music talent in spades. Or are so committed to their music and the local music scene, that they nigh on burst every time they hit the stage.

It’s irrelevant whether you’d upload their music into your iPod or not; this is one band who knows how to win over an audience, whatever your taste. That takes skill. These guys are good at what they do.. Real good.

From John Coulehan’s giant heart-on-sleeve vocals and power-plaintive songwriting, Brian McLeod’s ‘more-Flea-than-Flea’ athletic bass, to Darryl Barba‘s insanely good guitar work and Fletcher Bowman’s unashamed ‘smack-my-kit-up’ drumming style.. These guys have a sound all their own, and boy do they own it on stage… 1000 per cent.

Anyone who’s ever seen them play – whether ‘unplugged’ acoustic shows or pedal-to-the-metal ‘electrified’ sets – walks away knowing who they just saw, and moreover, that they just saw a band who not only loves to play music, but their own music. Roymackonkey play killer live shows, possess tons of heart and a powerful sound.

Since forming in Darwin almost 15 years ago one cyclone season – with a couple of drummers over that time – roymackonkey have recorded several EPs, dipped in and out of national radio airplay, and played hundreds of gigs within and without the Territory.

With two band members now living interstate, maintaining momentum as a group can be ‘challenging’.

Yet roymackonkey endure, their big fan base intact.

With five new songs about to be released and their debut album on the way – due for release in  2012 – the four members of roymackonkey have a plan.

Armed with a new producer, a rejuventated aim towards finding their market – and being heard – across platforms, a digital distribution strategy, and squarely taking aim at commercial radio which, in spite of their distinct sound, has inexplicably eluded them…  The Roy Boys are having a ‘crack’. A big one.

Roymackonkey founding member Darryl Barba spent some time with Music NT to share some insight into what may very well just be roymackonkey’s breakthrough CD.

Music NT: When did you start writing songs for the new album? And how did it come about?

Darryl Barba: We had already written these songs years ago! And have been playing them live for a while now. It’s just that we have been waiting for the right time to record them the way we wanted.

When I heard the quality of the production on songs a mate of ours (Sam Korn from Erica Owns The Sky) was recording with Brisbane producer called ‘Stuart Stuart’, I was impressed! I sent some live recordings to Stuart and he got back to me saying he was keen to work with us.

The decision to record an album came about after we had finished recording the first five tracks, initially intended as an EP. Then we thought, “well, we already have two EPs which are a decade apart; there’s no point in rushing the release of these songs.. So we decided to go back next year to record more songs and choose which ones would sit well together as an album.

And considering we have been waiting a long time to produce an album we want them to be the best representation of the band as possible.

MuNT: What inspired the title, “Abandonment Issues’, if anything?!

DB: Abandonment Issues is the title of one of the songs! And it’s also a strong representation of the majority of John’s lyrical content!  About relationship breakdowns, self destruction, love and heartbreak in an industrial wasteland of depression and loneliness! The guy doesn’t like to paint a happy picture but he sings pretty songs : )

MuNT: What’s your exact CD release history to date?

DB: We have released two EPs ourselves but we have had a few songs included on compilation discs:

EP: 1998 Quality of Meat (self released)

CD: 2000 Zero Tolerance compilation (Bicuspid) MIDI NT

CD: 2004 Global Warning compilation (The Great Divide)

CD: 2008 Grow Your Own Upload Volume 12 compilation (The Fear) Foghorn Records

EP: 2008 Cassandra Never Lies (self released)

CD: 2012 Off The Record , Jack Jill & Coke Volume 4, 5 , 6 & 7 Compilation (Sleep Tonight) Jungle Studios Sydney to be released January 2012 – Distributed via Drum Media (NSW) , Inpress (vic) , Rip It Up (SA) & Time Off (QLD)

LP: 2012 Abandonment Issues to be released (August)

MuNT: Have you approached the recording/production/release differently with this new album? If so, how?

DB: We’re taking our time to choose the right songs and work them out structurally before we record them, and make sure they each flow together. We dont want to lay down 12 tracks and say “there ya go!” We want to make sure each song is strong enough to be on the album e.g. one of the 5 tracks we recorded in May probably won’t make the final cut, because structurally it’s not as strong as the other songs.

We have released Sleep Tonight as a single from the forthcoming album already and expect to release a couple more singles before the album comes out, in the hope that it will generate some interest and anticipation from our fans. We have had some great feedback and support already from our fans and radio support from 104.1 Territory FM and interstate community radio stations as well.

Once we have the right songs together we will do the hard sell to labels and management.

MuNT: Who are the key players who have worked on this album with you?

DB: Stuart Stuart is the guy behind the quality and production of the latest recordings. He was signed with Mushroom back in the 90s and has strong connections in the industry due to his skill and dedication.

He has worked with The Veronicas and Small Mercies in the past and most recently to his credit Roymackonkey!

Stuart’s main goal is to take the songs you have and rebuild them to mould them into something better. The guy has a great ear for phrasing and tuning. If a note is only slightly out, he will notice! And if I play chords a lil’ differently than before he notices – and makes sure you get it right.

MuNT: What’s changed between the release of your last CD Cassandra Never Lies and this one, to make the approach to releasing it different than before?

DB: We have taken advantage of digital release and promotion a lot more than we have with the last release. With Cassandra Never Lies we recorded, printed and released with little-to-no promotion aside from AMRAP mail outs to radio stations, and some word-of-mouth.

This time we have used the social media platforms to our advantage and are constantly reminding our fans and friends of what we are doing, so they don’t forget we are here. And it works! If you’re always present then people take notice…

MuNT: How do you go about managing the band? Can you give us a bit of insight into how that works, specially with 2 of the members living away from Darwin?

DB: It’s completely DIY for us at the moment! We have had help from friends in the past and we greatly appreciate their time and commitment to us. But there is only so much people can do to help when they too have their own lives to live, and jobs to work.

We’re happy running our own show for now but would love to one day find a solid management company pushing us in the right direction. Having two members living away isn’t as much of a problem as you might think. Bands do this all the time! Plus at the moment, seeing as we are working towards an album, we all need to work to support the project and each person needs to be where they are right now.

MuNT: What do you want to get out of the release of this new album? And what are the plans for next year with it – touring? With distribution?

DB: We’re expecting this album to open some doors regarding recognition by A&R and management, also with booking agents and festival organizers.

I am already lining up connections for touring late 2012 and have sent a few emails out to distribution companies to find out who would be interested in taking us on.

MuNT: You guys have been together for a long time.. What keeps you together, strong as a unit?

DB: I think we all realize that we really enjoy playing and creating music together, and even though we endure our own personal struggles within our own lives, we look forward to the times when we get together for a show or a rehearsal.

Because it’s an outlet that gives each of us an opportunity to express our feelings through music.

MuNT: Does this album differ in sound than previous releases? If so, how?

DB: Totally! This album is going to blow anything we have done in the past right out of the water! Already you can hear it in our current single Sleep Tonight.

It’s big, it’s clear, it’s tight and it’s quality!

The reason behind the difference is we actually sat down with a producer and re-worked the songs to bring new life to them. Stuart said to us, “change the key or change the chorus or change the chords here and there, and add something different to the melody”, which made a huge difference in the end.

We never did that with the previous EP. We just went in and recorded the songs as is. Although there are some great songs on Cassandra Never Lies, they lacked clarity and direction production-wise..

We actually re-worked the song Go Steady to give it a rockier vibe. The words are the same but we completely changed the feel of the song. (We’ll release both versions).

Actually I would love to re-record all those songs with Stuart just to see how much bigger we could make them but we have a lot of other songs that need to be brought to life instead.

MuNT: I found your new song Sleep Tonight under ‘Indigenous releases’ on the AirIt charts.. This is a new aspect to Roymackonkey that people may not yet be familiar with yet – care to fill them in? It’s a great extra layer to the band’s story – and to yours Darryl..

DB: Yes it is! But, not a direct decision to play the Indigenous card! It’s just a personal decision to acknowledge my own heritage for myself.

When I submitted our songs to AirIt Radio Project, I filled in the Indigenous Artist application because I had a moment of declaration as to who I am – not who the band is.

Roymackonkey is an extension of who I am, and who my band mates are, and how we feel musically. And what we bring personally to the band reflects through our music. Ergo, I am an Indigenous guitarist for a rock band called Roymackonkey.

MuNT: You’re on AirIt and also Songpier – you seem to be more actively exploring online ways of distributing your music. Has this been a conscious decision? And what plans do you have for the distribution of the album?

DB: AirtIt, SongPier, Facebook , Myspace , Twitte , Mp3.com… All these social media platforms are there and ready to be used to our advantage. If somebody somewhere is at anytime on one of these sites clicking on our links to Roymackonkey then that’s a good thing!

These networking outlets are all about promoting and marketing yourself, or your project. So we are going to use it as much as we can to get our music out into the world onto your computer and into your head. The new album will be available on as many of these online distribution sites as possible! Why go fishing with one line and get one bite when you can use 10 lines and catch many fish!

MuNT: Your music seems to sit in that position of being halfway between ‘commercial radio friendly’ and ‘heavy’.. Which is where a lot of radio bands sit these day (on triple j and commercial). Do you think you will have a better chance at cracking that market with your new CD?

DB: Most definitely! With the new sound and direction we are going in, we are sure to make an impact! Once all the songs are together then it’s about choosing the right campaign to market the CD to the right people

MuNT: And have you had feedback from radio about your new album?

DB: We’re getting positive feedback already with Sleep Tonight being played on 104.1 Territory FM under their New Music playlist, which is once a day since the 29th November, 2011.

MuNT: What plans or ambitions does roymackonkey have?

DB: Once the album is ready we will be touring nationally to promote it and also heading back overseas. Since playing at the 2010 Indie Week Music Festival in Canada, we have some contacts now in Canada and the States so we’ll make sure we use them in a good way.

MuNT: Would you all ‘reconvene’ in one city again if the new album ‘called’ you to?

DB: Of course! We already have shows booked in Melbourne this January, supporting The Neo @ Revolver Upstairs in Prahran, which gives us an opportunity to promote the new songs. And also a show at Pure Pop Records in St. Kilda.

MuNT: What have been some of the highlights for 2011?

DB: Apart from recording and releasing the new songs, it’s all been a blur of logistics and organization of getting the boys to Darwin for photo shoots and gigs, in between our day-to-day schedules of work and personal lives.

John has just become an uncle for the first time, and I have just bought a house off the back of our first single! Haha only kidding! I did buy a house thankfully, but sadly from an inheritance. Brian shouted me dinner at Bahn Thai the other week and Fletcher.. Ummm Fletcher is in all kinds of situations that I shouldn’t even talk about! Haha! Facebook the guy and you’ll know what he’s up to at any time of the day : )

MuNT: Please finish this sentence: “In five years’ time Roymackonkey will be…”

DB: “…On your TV, stereo, iPod, iPhone, radio, street pole, car’s bumper, CD rack, tee-shirt, Soundwave ticket, Big Day Out ticket and 2016 ‘Band To See’ list!” Fingers crossed huh?!

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  Abandonment Issues artwork.

  Read more about roymackonkey here and here.

• Visit roymackonkey on Facebook
• Twitter
• Reverbnation
• Songpier
• MySpace
• Find single ‘Sleep Tonight on iTunes.
  

Words: Megan Spencer. Thanks to Darryl Barba for the great interview!