Royal Headache | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Origin | Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |
Genres | Punk rock, pub rock, garage punk, garage rock |
Years active | 2008-2013, 2014-2017 |
Labels | What's Your Rupture? |
Past members |
|
Website | Official site |
Royal Headache was an Australian punk rock and garage band from Sydney. The band was formed in 2008 and was composed of Tim "Shogun" Wall (vocals), Lawrence "Law" Hall (guitar), Joseph "Joe" Sukit (bass), Chris "Shortty" Shortt (drums) and Gabrielle de Giorgio (keyboards, organ, percussion, vocals). [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]
The band released two albums, Royal Headache (2011) and High (2015), both of which earned critical acclaim, and toured the US and Europe.
In June 2018, the band announced its dissolution via a post on their Facebook page. [7]
Royal Headache was born in 2008 in a boat shed in Putney, a suburb of Sydney, on the banks of the Parramatta River. It was here that Shortty and Law started jamming. "We just wanted to do something more stripped back," said Shortty of the band's beginnings. He also described it as "[a] back-to-basics rock and roll sensibility". [8]
On a trip to Melbourne's Flip Out festival, they handed out copies of their rough instrumental demo hoping to find a singer, which piqued the interest of Shogun who had known Shortty from the Sydney punk and hardcore scene. Royal Headache's first show was in late January 2009, at a warehouse space called Maggotville. [8]
Royal Headache's first single, "Eloise", was released in 2010. [9] Prior to its release, the track was featured on Pitchfork, who said the song "recalls the fuzz and stomp of the Buzzcocks." [10]
The group's 2011 self-titled debut album was a big word-of-mouth success for an independent Sydney band not backed by a major label subsidiary. [9] The album earned rave reviews [11] from critics, particularly for Shogun's vocals, which were often compared to soul singers. As one review said, Royal Headache "infus[ed] a vibrant, Motown-indebted charm to raucous punk rock." [12] In 2012, the band toured the US in support of the album, selling out shows in Chicago and New York City. [9] At the AIR Awards of 2012, they were nominated for three awards, winning Best Independent Album. [13] [14] That fall, they played several arena shows in Australia as the opening act for the Black Keys.
In 2013, the band released the single "Stand and Stare." [15] Although seemingly poised for greater success, the band split abruptly shortly afterward when Shogun left the band. In an interview with Mess+Noise, he said "We were a pretty dysfunctional band, mostly because of me. I was drinking a lot and being an asshole, and I was never happy with anything." [16] Despite breaking up, Shogun indicated that the band planned to finish recording their second album.
After not playing live for nearly a year and a half, the band reformed in November 2014 for a gig at Maggot Fest in Melbourne, and went on to play a handful of sold out shows. [8] Keyboardist Gabrielle de Giorgio joined the band around this time and the band completed recording their second album.
Royal Headache was well known for their unpredictable live shows. During a performance at the Sydney Opera House, during the Vivid Sydney Festival in May 2015, the band forced to end a performance early after 60 fans stormed the stage and were dispersed by police and security guards. An Opera House spokesperson said "Towards the end of the Royal Headache performance, some members of the audience made their way up on stage. Security attended and assisted patrons back to their seats. The performance resumed and the band completed their set." [17] The incident resulted in widespread news coverage.
In August 2015, the group released their second studio album High . Vice Magazine said "In just under 30-minutes the record is short but full of joy and hopelessness with touches of sadness." [8] In response to Vice Magazine's review, lead singer Shogun said "To be honest, they are all sad songs. There's no other reason to write a song. A song for me is someone trying to deal with a rift between themselves and reality. Singing a traditional love ballad to a bunch of Sydney punk kids is one of the most hardcore things you could do. Sing a pretty song to an Australian set of heteronormative people. Miss the mark and you're really in deep shit." [8] High was again critically acclaimed, and the band toured the US and Europe during 2015 and 2016, including an appearance at the Primavera Sound festival in Barcelona.
Despite the success of High, Sukit and Shortt quit the band in late 2016. Wall, Law, and de Giorgio continued the band with two session musicians completing the rhythm section. This lineup played several shows in Australia, including a sold out show at the Factory Theatre in Sydney, and toured the US and Canada in July 2017. At these shows, the band played several new Motown influenced songs and were very well received - a Washington Post review of their show at the 9:30 Club said "On Friday night, Royal Headache was the greatest band in the world." [18]
Those shows would prove to be the band's last - their final gig was on July 21, 2017 at the FYF Festival in Los Angeles. In June 2018, the band announced its dissolution via a post on their Facebook page, simply saying: "2008-2017". Shogun later described the group's twilight as an "emotional holocaust," and said he does not "talk to anyone from that period anymore." In 2018, he commenced work with a new band called Shogun & The Sheets. [7] Sukit played briefly with the Sydney garage punk group Bed Wettin' Bad Boys; Hall, Shortt, and de Giorgio have left the music industry.
Title | Details |
---|---|
Royal Headache |
|
High |
|
Live in America |
|
Title | Details |
---|---|
Royal Headache |
|
Launch Show Tape |
|
2010 Winter Tour |
|
Year | Title | Album |
---|---|---|
2010 | "Eloise" [9] | Royal Headache (EP) |
2011 | "Surprise" | Royal Headache |
2013 | "Stand and Stare"/"Give it All to Me" [19] | non album single |
2015 | "Carolina" [20] | High |
The Australian Independent Record Awards (commonly known informally as AIR Awards) is an annual awards night to recognise, promote and celebrate the success of Australia's Independent Music sector.
Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
---|---|---|---|
2012 [13] [14] | Royal Headache (themselves) | Best Independent Artist | Nominated |
Breakthrough Independent Artist | Nominated | ||
Royal Headache | Best Independent Album | Won |
The Australian Music Prize (the AMP) is an annual award of $30,000 given to an Australian band or solo artist in recognition of the merit of an album released during the year of award. The commenced in 2005.
Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
---|---|---|---|
2015 | High | Australian Music Prize | Nominated |
The EG Awards (known as Music Victoria Awards since 2013) are an annual awards night celebrating Victorian music. They commenced in 2006.
Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
---|---|---|---|
2011 [21] [22] | Royal Headache | Best New Talent | Won |
Daft Punk were a French electronic music duo formed in 1993 in Paris by Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo. They achieved early popularity in the late 1990s as part of the French house movement, combining elements of house music with funk, disco, techno, rock and synth-pop. The duo garnered further acclaim and commercial success and are now regarded as one of the most influential acts in dance music history.
Karnivool is an Australian progressive metal band formed in Perth, Western Australia in 1998. The group currently consists of Ian Kenny on vocals, Drew Goddard and Mark Hosking on guitar, Jon Stockman on bass, and Steve Judd on drums. Karnivool emerged from a band Kenny and Goddard formed during high school. They have released three studio albums to date, the most recent of which (Asymmetry) was released in 2013.
Clare Bowditch is an Australian musician, author, and sometimes-actress.
PVT are an experimental band based between London and Sydney. Band members are Richard Pike, Laurence Pike and Dave Miller. Brothers Richard and Laurence grew up in Sydney, later meeting Dave Miller who originally comes from Perth, Australia. The band have released five albums.
WouterAndré "Wally" De Backer, known professionally as Gotye, is an Australian singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. His 2011 single "Somebody That I Used to Know", reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and became the best-selling song of 2012. This made him the fifth Australian-based artist to top the chart and the second born in Belgium.
Like Drawing Blood is the second studio album by Belgian-Australian singer-songwriter Gotye. All the sounds on the album were collected and assembled or performed by Wally De Backer in bedrooms around Melbourne between 2003 and 2005, and the record was mixed and mastered by François Tétaz. It was featured heavily by Triple J in May 2006. At the J Award of 2006, the album was nominated for Australian Album of the Year.
Vampire Weekend is an American rock band from New York City, formed in 2006 and currently signed to Columbia Records. The band was formed by lead vocalist and guitarist Ezra Koenig, multi-instrumentalist Rostam Batmanglij, drummer Chris Tomson, and bassist Chris Baio. Batmanglij departed the group in early 2016 but has continued to occasionally contribute to subsequent albums as a songwriter, producer, and musician.
Alive 2007 is the second live album by the French electronic music duo Daft Punk, released on 19 November 2007 by Virgin Records. It features Daft Punk's performance at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy arena in Paris on 14 June 2007 during their Alive tour. The set features an assortment of Daft Punk's music, incorporated with synthesisers, mixers and live effects.
Sleigh Bells are an American musical duo based in Brooklyn, New York, formed in 2008 and consisting of vocalist Alexis Krauss and guitarist/producer Derek E. Miller. They became known for their overdriven style of noise pop, which incorporates elements from various genres including pop, hip hop, metal, and punk.
Japandroids are a Canadian rock band from Vancouver, British Columbia, consisting of Brian King and David Prowse.
The Middle East are an Australian indie folk band that formed in Townsville, Queensland in 2005. The group garnered attention initially by playing small shows in their home town and quickly grew to national and international fame due to their rising popularity on music blogs and websites. In early 2008, the band released their home recorded first album called The Recordings of The Middle East. The band split up before reconvening in 2009 and signing to Australian indie label Spunk Records who re-issued 'The Recordings Of The Middle East' as an abridged EP.
Kimbra Lee Johnson, known mononymously as Kimbra, is a New Zealand singer and songwriter. Known for mixing pop with R&B, jazz and rock musical elements, her accolades include four ARIA Music Awards, two Grammy Awards and seven New Zealand Music Awards.
Making Mirrors is the third and most recent studio album by Australian singer-songwriter Gotye, released in Australia on 19 August 2011. In December 2011, it was announced that Making Mirrors was voted Triple J listeners' number-one album of 2011, making Gotye the first artist to win the Triple J album poll twice. It included the single "Somebody That I Used to Know", which reached and topped charts worldwide. In Poland, only one day after release, the album was certified platinum. The album won the 2013 Grammy for Best Alternative Music Album.
"Somebody That I Used to Know" is a song written, produced and performed by Australian musician and singer Gotye, featuring vocals from New Zealand singer Kimbra. The song samples Luiz Bonfá's 1967 instrumental song "Seville", with additional instrumentations of beats and a xylophone playing a melody based on "Baa, Baa, Black Sheep". The song was released in Australia and New Zealand through Eleven Music on 5 July 2011 as the second single from Gotye's third studio album, Making Mirrors (2011). It was later released by Universal Music in December 2011 in the United Kingdom, and 20 January 2012 in Ireland and the United States. "Somebody That I Used to Know" was written and recorded by Gotye at his parents' house on the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria, Australia, and is lyrically related to the experiences he has had with romantic relationships.
Random Access Memories is the fourth and final studio album by the French electronic duo Daft Punk, released on 17 May 2013 through Columbia Records. It pays tribute to late 1970s and early 1980s American music, particularly from Los Angeles. This theme is reflected in the album's packaging, as well as its promotional campaign, which included billboards, television advertisements and a web series. Recording sessions took place from 2008 to 2012 at Henson, Conway and Capitol Studios in California, Electric Lady Studios in New York City, and Gang Recording Studio in Paris, France.
Total Control is an Australian post-punk band that formed in Melbourne, Australia in 2008. The band's line-up includes Mikey Young, Dan Stewart (vocals), Al Montfort (guitar), Zephyr Pavey (bass), and James Vinciguerra (drums). After a series of singles, the band's debut album, Henge Beat, was released in August 2011. Their second album, Typical System, was released in June 2014.
The Peep Tempel was a punk rock band from Melbourne, Australia. The band's line-up for most of its tenure was Blake Scott, Steven Carter (drums) and Stewart Rayner. The band released three studio albums: The Peep Tempel (2012), Tales (2014) and Joy (2016).
High is the second and final studio album by Australian punk rock band Royal Headache, released on 21 August 2015 by What's Your Rupture?.
Camp Cope were an Australian alternative rock band formed in 2015 in Melbourne, Victoria. The group's lineup consisted of lead singer, songwriter and guitarist Georgia "Georgia Maq" McDonald, bassist Kelly-Dawn "Kelso" Hellmrich, and drummer Sarah "Thomo" Thompson. The band were signed with independent Melbourne label Poison City Records, where Thompson also works, and independent Boston label Run for Cover Records distributed their releases in North America and Europe. In February 2023, Camp Cope announced their imminent disbandment with a series of final performances.
A Hero's Death is the second studio album by Irish post-punk band Fontaines D.C. The album was released on 31 July 2020 through Partisan Records, less than 18 months after the release of their debut album Dogrel. The album received critical acclaim upon its release, signifying a partial departure from their bubbling and anxiety-inducing post-punk sound found on their first record to the incorporation of more dream-like and psychedelic aspects having taken inspiration from The Beach Boys, to name but one of many influences, during the writing of the record.