If east-side eshays had a theme song, then Playlunch’s single Station Rat would be it: “Passed out at the station in Boronia / Goon on my breath and reeking of ammonia…” -
I mean, come on. What other band out there has combined Red Hot Chili Peppers-esque funk rap with a strong Aussie inflection and made it sound good?
Well, Playlunch certainly has nailed this niche genre they’ve dubbed ‘bogan funk’ and they’ll be bringing some bangers to St Kilda Festival this February.
Playlunch
- St Kilda Festival – Optus Stage
- Sunday, February 16, 8:20pm
- Entry is free
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With songs about the shenanigans of school athletics days, tributes to the beloved Kath Day-Knight and the envy of a girl who can afford Foxtel, Playlunch is unabashedly Australian.
Frontman Liam Bell says the band is “all about connecting as immediately and deeply as possible with the people in the room” through irresistibly groovy bass lines, anthemic horn riffs and bouncy drum beats. If going from writing songs about the ABC to being signed by the broadcasting corporation is a measure of success, then this band is undoubtedly doing well.
Underpinning Playlunch’s work is the desire to create a musical experience that’s as “dopamine-filled as possible”. Bell says he wants Playlunch to be a “party band”, so it’s no wonder their gigs are rowdy and exciting.
Take the song Athletics Day for example: when played live, the bustling crowd is divided into four and plays a house athletics-style game, with each quarter being named after famous Australian TV presenters.
But Bell has a lot on his plate; though the band has seven members, he does most of the work. He doesn’t just write the band’s songs and play guitar. He also handles social media, music production and brand design, all while working part-time jobs on the side.
“I think the workload is a lot, and it’s no secret that having a project like this is an absolute death sentence for your bank account,” says Bell. The large number of members also means it’s more difficult to coordinate things.
“The comms, the purely logistical and financial things… It’s really expensive to get that many people from city to city to play gigs.”
Despite the tough times, the large number of members in Playlunch makes the project unique among other emerging acts. The band’s dynamic is fluid and multifaceted, something that’s visible on stage in their individual performances. It definitely helps those long road trips on tour, as members can bounce between one another if they’re starting to “get a little bit sick of them”.
Each of the boy’s idiosyncrasies interact in interesting ways, so no one ever gets bored. Some of the members can get a bit “mischievous and chaotic” – think silly pranks being pulled, or even spontaneous jams leading to light bulb moments.
Of course, there’s nothing without balance, and the band wouldn’t be the same without its quieter, more introspective members. You’ll find them “having a conversation about something delicate or sensitive and then gradually everyone will be drawn into it.”
Bell describes how one member will be opening up about something they’re dealing with, and the others in response will be tearing up for them. It’s refreshing to hear this sort of vulnerability among men, and Bell says, “It’s a really beautiful dynamic”.
“I think one of my favourite things about this band is it’s really great to be this bunch of boys, you know, and be rambunctious and get up to mischief,” Bell says.
“But it’s also so beautiful how often we have these times where this group of men are opening up to each other… and having these really deep conversations about stuff.”
This authentic connection between members of the band undoubtedly shines in their enormous stage presence. Playlunch has curated such a deep connection, (ABC Music senior label manager Graham Ashton calls it “the purest connection between artist and audience I’ve ever seen”), that fans have started to show up to gigs in costumes, dressing up as teachers on yard duty handing out detention slips.
That is ultimately what makes Playlunch so exciting to watch and listen to. It’s not necessarily the 2000s Aussie references itself, but rather the sense of unity, community and unbridled joy it imbues within the crowd. Playlunch has become more than the sum of its individual parts.
“We used to think about Playlunch as just seven of us guys – it’s these songs that we write, it’s the costumes we wear,” Bell tells me. “But now, everything we do is such a small part of that. The fans have taken over and made it into something else entirely.”
Find out more information about Playlunch at St Kilda Festival 2025 here.
