Meet the dreamy and introspective folk-rock outfit Aunty Blue, featuring front-woman Kimberly Charlie Atkinson from South Africa, alongside Harrison Doust on guitar and Tom McMullin on drums.
Formed after years of working together to support Kimberly’s solo music, the band transitioned beautifully into Aunty Blue, a homegrown band whose music spans the emotional spectrum and is held together by their close bonds. “It has turned into a bit of a family affair which has been lovely to watch grow,” says Kimberly.
I sat down the members of Aunty Blue to talk everything from heavy-metal influences to Big Thief and handkerchiefs.
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What albums have to be in your band’s record collection?
Harrison chose local folk-legends Snowy Band’s album Alternate Endings. “Kim and Tom showed me Snowy Band,” he says. “They talked about them heaps for two weeks. You know when you hear about a band and you just don’t listen to them? Then you hear about them a lot and once you do give them a listen you’re like, ‘Oh shit! Why wasn’t I listening to them earlier?’ They also live around the corner from me and I see them all the time, but I’m too nervous to say hi.”
What should punters BYO to your gigs?
“Tissues!” exclaims Kimberly. “Often people come up to us after the show and say they had tears in their eyes”, so it would be useful to bring along something to mop up those tears.
“There were these two girls who came up to me,” Kimberly reminisces on their latest gig, “and they said to me, ‘All we wanted was a good, fun Thursday night out, and you just made us feel all these feelings which we weren’t prepared to feel, but we’re feeling them anyway!’”
During our chat, the band came up with the idea of selling Aunty Blue handkerchiefs at their merch stall, and I don’t think that’s a bad idea.
What are your most unlikely inspirations?
“I’m a bit of a metalhead,” says Tom. “I love listening to heavy shit. And hardcore jazz, too. I’m so drum-obsessed and I admire a lot many drummers for what they do. Not what music they make exactly, but what they do, so I try and bring in what they do specifically into our music. Even when the genres have no similarities. Out of that fusion is where completely new shit comes from.”
This really comes through in Aunty Blue’s music in subtle ways. “There’s some good usage of double-kick,” says Harrison. “Not what you’d normally hear in a folk band.”
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What’s one band you’d love to be the support act for?
“Kim and I saw Big Thief at the Forum last week,” says Harrison. “They were just insane.”
Sharing a very similar sound, the two bands would certainly be a match made in heaven. But Aunty Blue like to think they share a similar ethos too. “They never stray from the group. It just feels like you’re watching a big old jam session. They don’t stray from who they are and where they started from.”
Lastly, why should people who don’t know you come and see your gig?
“Our gigs let people feel things. In a society where there’s not many spaces to feel your feelings in public, I think it’s such a beautiful thing that music lets you feel your feelings without necessarily having to talk about it with someone else. Our music creates a space where you can do that. So come and feel your feelings at an Aunty Blue gig!”
You can listen to Aunty Blue’s music on Spotify and follow them on Instagram here.
