King Gizzard Interview

King Gizzard are one of the foremost musical acts. Over their 25-year existence, they’ve released 25 albums.

They have been on an endless tour, performing at venues like Baby’s All Right in Brooklyn, N.Y.

KGLW have also recently established their own label to self-release their music.

Stu Mackenzie

Mackenzie mentions during his interview that King Gizzard are working on “a heap of stuff”. Indeed, they currently have several albums in production.

Gizzard have spent the past two years refining hours-long jam sessions into songs with clear structures and distinctive instrumental flavours, producing songs which are like lava flows bursting with musical soundscapes.

From chugging guitars of “Cyboogie” to drum machine bangers on “Gondii,” their 23rd studio album offers no shortage of eccentric moments. Through it all, Gizzverse seamlessly merges heavy metal with synth-pop. In order to show their appreciation for their audience they created live shows, full length feature films and created music videos for every track on Butterfly 3000.

Ambrose Kenny-Smith

After the release of 12 Bar Bruise in 2016, Fishing for Fishies saw their return in 2019. This album brought more funk-filled tracks for fans to enjoy!

Ambrose Kenny-Smith brought a fresh perspective to King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard’s music with this album, providing them with some funky blues-influenced sounds to complement their existing repertoire.

On this record, the band also experimented with Microtonal music for the first time – this would become their signature style over subsequent albums like Flying Microtonal Banana and Butterfly 3000. Such experimentation kept the band fresh with diverse tunes. They recently established (p)doom records as their own label to release both new and archived releases moving forward.

Tim Kenny-Smith

Technical wizardry is on full display here: members play multiple instruments and the group can transition seamlessly from indie rock to blues-rock, jazz and other influences seamlessly. Mackenzie plays drums, bass guitar, keyboards, sitar flute and zurna (Central Asian wind reed instrument).

King Gizzard embrace a variety of aesthetics on each album they release, such as Flight b741 which pays a heartfelt ode to classic 1970s rock with its stomping guitar riffs, harmonica solos, and upbeat vocal whooping; yet its lyrics tackle 21st century reality head-on.

Luke Kenny-Smith

Luke Kenny-Smith is a self-professed nerd with an in-depth knowledge of pop culture. He loves sci-fi and fantasy television and movie viewing as well as attending comic conventions. Additionally, Luke plays guitar at School of Rock Bella Vista while teaching music lessons himself. Luke hopes one day to live abroad where he can visit metal festivals and explore castles.

The show began with an exhilarating array of microtonal hits from Flying Microtonal Banana Vol 1’s “Doom City.” Soon thereafter, “Automation” and then the K.G.L.W (Outro), which took inspiration from Black Sabbath for an electric finish, followed.

“Gila Monster” and “Converge” followed, both slower headbangers that seemed much more at home in this setting than they did at The Caverns.

Matt Kenny-Smith

King Gizzard shows draw crowds of superfans eager for all that their expansive repertoire offers – be it dystopian ragers and trash metal from Infest the Rats’ Nest, laid-back, acoustic microtonal folk from Paper Mache Dream Balloon or even boogie and blues rock from Fishing for Fishies.

Even after 26 albums, the band feels restless and adventurous. Their approach is exploratory yet serious about translating studio recordings into live performances.

King Gizzard performances are an explosion of spontaneity. Their musical styles range from Television-influenced postpunk to last year’s country, progressive rock and psych-rock experiment 3D Country; each show is different; set lists often change and improvisation has become common.