Melbourne heavy blues-rock band Child are gearing up to end the year with a bang.
Before releasing their third album early next year, the trio are set to embark on a huge tour of Europe. But of course not before farewelling Melbourne in the most perfect way – with a residency at Cherry Bar.
Lead vocalist and guitarist Mathias Northway says that instead of following the trends and running a series of fundraiser shows, holding a residency seemed like the perfect alternative.
“We were looking to do a tour before we go to Europe later on in the year and we thought we could either spend money or just play a series of gigs in Melbourne,” he says.
“We had two shows with Samsara Blues Experiment in September anyway and we thought, seven gigs, one town, doesn’t matter, let’s go, let’s do it, let’s play as much as we can before we go to Europe.”
What makes it even better is that Child have a strong relationship with Cherry Bar, playing there “more times than we can count,” especially around the time of their first album release. Furthermore, the residency shows are all ages afternoon gigs, meaning fans who Northway describes as reminiscent of himself at 16, will finally be able to see the band live.
“We’re really looking forward to seeing some of the younger faces there. That’s where all the energy is, it’s in the young kids that have long hair and wear a hard rock’n’roll t-shirt trying to learn how to play guitar,” he says. “We’re really looking forward to being able to share our music with them in person because they can never get into the rest of the shows.”
On the final Saturday in September, Child will be hosting a Europe farewell show. For Northway, this gig will be extra special because Child will be performing a host of new songs that won’t even be played at the other residency shows. “We’re looking forward to playing the new stuff, it’s a bit different, it’s a lot more heavy soul than stoner blues,” he says.
“It’s probably even more deeply emotive than the rest of the stuff that we’ve put out and so I’m really looking forward to getting in the zone and transcending into a performance that gives those songs a place to really be what they are, and looking forward to the feedback that our punters provide as well. We always make sure that we play our new stuff in Melbourne first.”
In October, Child will travel to Europe to perform on German music TV show Rockpalast, the European equivalent of Australia’s Countdown. After that they’ll perform at Rockpalast Crossroads Festival, with country-rock band Blackberry Smoke, alongside a string of festival and club shows with their friends from the US, Acid King.
After initially being invited to perform on Rockpalast, it’s taken the last 18 months to lock down a date that worked for Child. “We’re really excited about Rockpalast because it has 16 cameras or something like that and we’ve never played in front of cameras like that before. It’ll be a very different experience and hopefully we can make Australia proud.”
Northway encourages people to come down to see them live before they go away and to be a part of the step that they’re taking as a band. “It’s going to be a great time regardless and the more heads and the more energy that we can have down there the better it’s going to be for us as a training exercise for Europe and the more good energy we can take away with us,” he says.
Copies of the band’s recently released EP I are sold out online and are only available for purchase at shows. This is the last chance to buy the record on vinyl as there won’t be a re-pressing. “This came out as an offering to the eager, it’s a release out of us as opposed to a release to everyone. We’re very proud of it and hopefully it’s a little window into what’s to come,” Northway says.
