A 1984 Tarago called The Naughty Don Rogers has just crossed the Nullarbor desert carrying blues-rockers The Joe Kings on their first national tour.
A 1984 Tarago called The Naughty Don Rogers has just crossed the Nullarbor desert carrying blues-rockers The Joe Kings on their first national tour. After safely arriving in Adelaide (they weren’t sure if the van would make it), and two heavy nights of gigging, hungover bassist Riley Watson-Russell interrupts his Sunday morning sleep to talk blues, tours and idols.
Originally the project of like-minded blues fans Jack Stirling and Phil Legget, The Joe Kings began performing their raucous blues rock around Perth in 2008. Although they worked well as a duo, they expanded the band when Session Records signed them and suggested that they adopt some more members for some of the tracks on the EP. Enter Watson-Russell and drummer Ryan Brewer.
Watson-Russell was already familiar with the existing duo. “It’s a funny story. I was playing in a covers band and we had a residency at a pub; when that finished I heard there was this little band called The Joe Kings [that] got the residency after us. I was kinda like ‘I don’t know about that, I don’t like that too much’. It was probably about a year before I joined the band,” he remembers.
That was last December. Since then they’ve released their debut EP Calls In The Night, played both the Southbound and West Coast Blues ‘N’ Roots festivals, won the ‘Favourite Newcomer’ WAMI Award, were nominated for the ‘Most Promising Act’ WAMI, and embarked on their first tour.
On the Blues ‘N’ Roots festival bill, their name was alongside some big names. “Jeff Beck was playing and Phil is a massive, massive Jeff Beck fan. Buddy Guy was playing and we’re all big fans of Buddy Guy. John Mayall And The Blues Breakers were playing… It was definitely a very, very cool festival to play at,” Watson-Russell recalls. “It was our first chance to play on a big stage with a big sound system. It was definitely a good opportunity for us; we had an awesome time.”
Originally developing a taste for blues in his school jazz and concert bands playing a saxophone, Watson-Russell labels Led Zeppelin as a current influence for the band and John Paul Jones as a major personal influence. But, despite learning bass before he picked up the sax, he wasn’t always so dedicated. “I switched my focus from the saxophone from to the bass guitar when I was about 14,” he says. “I wasn’t really focusing on the bass, but there was a friend of mine who started playing bass and he actually got better than me. I thought, ‘I don’t really like that. I better start practicing more so I get better than him.’”
Despite Stirling and Legget writing the songs on the current EP with their duo in mind, the whole band are pitching in on the next project. Hopefully, early next year will see the release of The Joe Kings’ debut album. Now, it seems, writing is a collective creative process. “We always write our own parts, obviously. I write the bass line and he writes the drum parts,” Watson-Russell explains. “In terms of arrangement and song structure, we’ve all got some sort of input.”
As a whole, the band also draw on the styles of bands like Cream, The Rolling Stones and The Black Keys. But each member has very different tastes and musical backgrounds. Founding members Stirling and Legget bonded over a mutual love for early rocker blues. But, according to Watson-Russell, Stirling is into soul while Legget’s musical interest extends to ‘80s hair metal and gypsy jazz. Drummer Brewer began as a jazz drummer and Watson-Russell enjoys rock, blues and “a bit of everything”.
This kaleidoscope of influences lends their music a fresh eccentricity that they manage to channel when writing, although it’s often Stirling that plants the seeds of a song. “He’s pretty awesome when it comes to that sort of thing, he’s always got some pretty good ideas,” Watson-Russell figures. “Generally he’ll come into a rehearsal with an idea for a song with parts already written,” which they then develop individually.
It’s this hardworking attitude and creativity that have led to The Joe Kings being lauded as one of the best new blues act in Australia. But the life of touring musician isn’t always glamorous, despite critical acclaim. After a two-day desert trip and a couple of gigs, Sunday morning is probably not the best time for a young musician to be interviewed. “Waking up is a different story… It’s been a pretty heavy couple of nights I guess,” he says. But, he admits, they’re stoked it’s all happening. “It’s pretty awesome,” he says. “I’m not gonna lie – I couldn’t ask for a whole lot more.”
THE JOE KINGS Calls In The Night EP is out now through Session Records.
