Australian extreme metal veterans King Parrot return with A Young Person’s Guide To King Parrot—a ferocious, emotional tribute shaped by grief, humor, raw intensity, and the legacy of their fallen comrade.
1. “Get
What Ya Given” is a brutally emotional track. Can you talk more about the grief
and loss that inspired it and how it shaped the rest of the album?
One of our best friends and a big contributor to our band, Boyd Synnott
passed away in 2023. Boyd was our main artist, video collaborator and would
often come on tour to do merch and help out. He was like the 6th member of our
band. This song talks about some of the struggles we can all face. It's a
tribute to our friend and how much we miss him.
2. You
mentioned losing close friends, including longtime collaborator Boyd Synnott.
How did his creative legacy influence the visual or artistic direction of this
record?
Before he passed he designed the album cover that you see. It was his idea to
have this title and art, and we wanted to honour him in this way. Boyd's legacy
on everything we do will always be prevalent, and forefront in our minds. He
always had our best intentions front and center and would often help us steer
creative direction in all facets of the band. Anything we do from here on will
be in his honour.
3. The
new album is called A Young Person’s Guide To King Parrot. That title
seems a bit tongue-in-cheek. What’s the story behind it?
It's actually a tribute to the old prog rock band King Crimson and their album
of a similar title. We always like to do a bit of tongue in cheek stuff, so
there's no real big story behind it, it's just us having a bit of fun. The
artwork is so unassuming that we hope to blow some unsuspecting people's heads
off with it.
4. This
is your first full-length album in five years. What felt different this time
around, both personally and creatively?
We took a different approach in the studio and really honed in on sounds and
tones to get it to where we wanted it. We worked with Luke Walton at Dangertone
Studios which was a first for us. He is a great engineer and we really enjoyed
the process. I think it's our best album in every way, and I'd like to think
we've improved a lot over the years. Personally I got to explore my vocal range
a lot more, and work on different approaches and styles. We did that with
all the instruments, really took our time with it.
5.
You've been known for a raw, organic writing process. But this time the studio
approach was more meticulous—what prompted that change, and what impact did it
have?
A lot of it was to do with getting the drums right and having a solid base to
work from when layering guitars and vocals. Previously we had gone with a more
punk rock approach and no click track, this time we really wanted to tighten
everything up. I think you can hear it in the final mix that it is a much
bigger sounding record.
6.
Tracks like “Fuck You And The Horse You Rode In On” and “Look Away I’m Hideous”
are just as chaotic and confrontational as ever. How do you balance humor,
aggression, and commentary in your music?
We try not to overthink it too much, we just be ourselves and wear our hearts
on our sleeves. We can't and never would try to be anything we aren't. We just
bring everything of what we are to the table and hold nothing back. We think it
brings a pretty unique band to the table, and when you're Australian it's hard
to be anything but that!
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7.
Decibel called the new single “ugly, dirty, nasty, and full of rage-filled
angst.” Is that what you were aiming for—or does it just come naturally at this
point?
It's totally a natural thing at this point for sure. We have always been a
pretty ferocious band, especially in a live setting. We wanted to get better at
presenting that on record, and I think we have achieved it well on this album.
8.
You’ve toured with legends like Pantera and Power Trip, and soon with Acid
Bath, Pentagram, and Amon Amarth. How does it feel to share the stage with
those bands, and what have you learned from those experiences?
It's honestly more than we ever set out to do when we started this band
and it's been a pretty mind blowing experience for sure. We are incredibly
grateful for these opportunities and we never take it for granted. As a fan
it's brilliant to see the inner workings of these massive tours, and it shows
exactly what we need to do if we want to keep developing our band to the next
level.
9.
You’ve got a monster tour schedule coming up. What’s your favorite part of
taking King Parrot to international crowds, especially after a
longer break?
We really love playing to overseas audiences, that was our initial goal
with the band; to develop an Australian extreme metal act that is uniquely
ours, and take it to an international audience. We wanted to pay our respects
to all the Australian metal acts that influenced us and bring this type of
music to the world, kinda like an homage to our influences at home.
10. With
such an aggressive and cathartic sound, what does a typical writing session
look like for King Parrot? Is it chaos, therapy, or both?
It's definitely therapy I can assure you of that! It's a great release for me
personally to be able to get those lyrics and words out and have some killer
music to scream to. The writing sessions are pretty measured and considered, we
give each riff time and space to breath and find out how it can be best
utilised. We build the beats and then the vocals usually come after a feel has
been established.
11.
Grindcore and powerviolence influences seem more prominent this time. Was that
a deliberate evolution, or just a natural progression of your sound?
It definitely feels like we have gone more extreme this time around that's for
sure. It was just something we did naturally and wasn't really conscious. I
think a lot of that came down to the production and mixing process too. I
always listen to alot of this style of music, and have probably listened to
more power-violence bands than anything lately. I toured Despise You in
Australia a couple of years ago, and I really love that band, so they have
influenced me for sure.
12.
Finally—if a young person were to take this album as an actual “guide”
to King Parrot, what lesson do you hope they walk away with?
I'd hope they get a lesson in brutal and extreme Australian music, that is the
intention without any shadow of a doubt. If they can enjoy it and get a kick
out of it and pass it on then all the better. This kind of music shaped my
youth and captured my imagination, so I'm just here to keep flying the flag as
best I can.
King Parrot – Grindin’ Thrashin’ Punk Rock Wrecking Machine!
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