Breaking Bands: Guineafowl

10 May 2010

by Nathan Jolly

There are quick rises, and then there’s Guineafowl. In the last half of 2009, a 22-year-old Sydney musician recorded a bunch of demos into his laptop’s inbuilt microphone, using drum machines and layering vocals to fill out the sound. He uploaded one of these tracks, the Talking Heads-esque Botanist, on triple j’s unearthed website, which scored rotation on Unearthed digital station, and regular airplay on FBi. After performing live at a few parties, Guineafowl quickly realised he would need a band to replace his series of pedals if he was to take it to the next level.

“After playing a few shows, and one in someone’s kitchen, I realised I needed a band to actually perform these songs properly. “I began working with an old muso friend Lachlan who had been in a few Sydney bands and he put me in touch with a fleet of musicians to create a live act. Soon there were six of us, sometimes even seven [including four guitarists!], all great musicians from diverse backgrounds. So really we are a pretty young band.“

But young should not be confused with green. Although the band is relatively new to the live scene, they were quickly snapped up by Major Label, a General Pants Co. singles only label, which garnered Guineafowl a great deal of exposure while maintaining copyright and 100% ownership of the track, as well as keeping all the royalties. The label’s approach seems perfectly in line with Guineafowl’s own outlook on the music industry.

“I believe the Australian music industry needs to take lessons from the artists who are recording, producing and distributing their music without the help of giant conglomerate labels. The Australian industry needs to be more guerrilla, more adventurous, more renegade and funky.”

The approach seems to be working, with Guineafowl quickly being earmarked as an act to watch. This increased profile has been a double-edged sword, as more exposure means the untested live act has been thrown in the deep end.

“We played the launch of a new night at a bar in Sydney’s Kings Cross. The room we played had a capacity of 100 people, but we played to almost 200,” he recalls. “The gig was bad because we could not hear ourselves at all due to the room and people. My lead guitarist was playing so deep into the actual crowd that we could not see him. But the gig was so jumping, and people were having so much fun that apparently the staff thought the floor would give way, and people were listening to us down two flights of stairs.”

Although the band have only played a handful of live shows (six at last count), it’s clear that Guineafowl have their sights set on larger rooms that can hold their rapidly expanding fan base.

“First step in world domination is clearly to get two pet mice, one super intelligent, the other not so much and let them plot it for me. Other than that, write the best music I can possibly write and wear nice shoes,” he jokes, when asked about his future plans. “I do think a band needs to leave Australia to achieve success, because the rest of the world has a bit of an attitude about flying all the way over here to see local talent. Which is fair,” he reasons. “It’s a really long flight from the UK or US.

For now Guineafowl are staying local, with a run of Sydney shows throughout May. The debut single, In Our Circles is available for digital download at generalpants.com.au/major-label.html