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MUSIC FEATURE visit stack.com.au INTERVIEW ROY KELLAWAY KING STINGRAY King Stingray L - R: Lewis Stiles, Campbell Messer, Yirrŋa Yunupiŋu, Roy Kellaway, Dimathaya Burarrwanga You can tell there’s something special about King Stingray long before you learn of their bloodline – two band members descend from cofounders of Yothu Yindi – and the unabashed joy in their ”yolŋu surf-rock” is as apparent as summer’s first slap of salt water against your shins. We spoke to guitarist Roy Kellaway about the North-East Arnhem Land act’s irrepressible debut, Camp Dog. Words Zoë Radas T here are almost as many opportunities to lose yourself in Australia’s metropolises as there are in the country’s arid outback – and over the course of the 60 shows King Stingray have hurled themselves into over the last 18 months, the thriving five-piece are veterans of both kinds. In the city camp we have Get Me Out, on which lead singer Yirrŋa Yunupiŋu’s bright harmonies – layered and matched with sublime precision – cry: ”Now I’m lost in the city/ The colours are changing, djäpana/ I know my home is never far away.” In the country camp is buoyant earworm Let’s Go, on which Yirrŋa sing-songs:”Packing up, driving off, breaking down, getting lost,” accompanied by a video embodying all the dustchurning bliss of an adventure across the red earth. ”Oh, yeah – getting bogged, flat tyres – that’s just part of living in such a rugged area,” laughs guitarist Roy Kellaway. ”We’re getting lost all the time. But even moreso harmonies get dissonant with a traditional element that he adds: Yirrŋa uses songlines, called ’manikay’,” explains Roy. Remember Yolŋu artist Baker Boy’s line from Marryuna, ”I’m using my manikay”? ”So, for instance, in Hey Wanhaka, the manikay he sings there is the traditional songline about the white cockatoos. So you’ve got this awesome mix of when we’re in the city. something that’s really ancient, Sydney and Melbourne, the and then something that’s trams? It’s crazy!” really fresh. Get Me Out was just one ”We joke about how we’re of the band’s debut album playing the hits from the ’50s tracks written and recorded and 60 thousand years ago.” at Roy’s home. Alongside Roy and Yirrŋa’s musical bandmate Dimathaya journeys have unfolded in tandem Bururrwanga’s yidaki (who from childhood, alongside a deep Camp Dog by King Stingray is out makes the instrument friendship. As they grew up together Aug 5, including on sound almost like in the Yirrkala community of NT, Roy’s JB-exclusive opaque textured recordfather Stuart and Yirrŋa’s uncle Dr. yellow vinyl, via scratching) comes M Yunupiŋu began to make waves Cooking Vinyl. Yirrŋa’s vocals. in pop-rock behemoth Yothu Yindi – ”Yirrŋa something Roy attests he didn’t quite is such an comprehend as a kid. amazing singer – and he ”Growing up, we always had a balance of loves doing harmonies,” things,” he says. ”Music was a big part, but says Roy. ”His voice is his [my family] made sure it wasn’t all music. instrument, so he’s basically We’d go out bush, go fishing, go hunting, go riffing. He wanted to do enjoy life. one more, then one more... I ”The [Yothu Yindi band members] are such ended up having so many vocal humble, softly-spoken people. It wasn’t until I tracks. My computer is so old now, got older that I realised how monumental that I reckon if I opened up that session it band was, the conversations it sparked, and would probably blow it up.” Dr. M’s ideologies...” Yirrŋa’s knack for improvisation is woven Continue reading the full interview through with melodies which are not just in online at stack.com.au his head, they’re in his DNA. ”Some of his We joke about how we‘re playing hits from the ‘50s and 60 thousand years ago 4 AUGUST 2022 st214_097_MR1_KingStingray-PROOFED-AF.indd 1 jbhifi.com.au 25/7/2022 5:19 pm
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