“Power blues. There’s no other way to describe it,” determines bassist Nick Dumont. “When I first heard the band play that was the first thing that came to mind. Not blues rock or heavy rock – it was power blues from the get-go.”
Dumont is the newest member of the band, which, along with Dumont on bass, consists of vocalist Russell ‘Rusty’ Clark, guitarist Christos Athanasias and drummer Ryan Scoble.
“We started off as a three-piece,” explains Athanasias. “We had Russell on drums and vocals at the same time and two guitarists with no bass. Last year we had Ryan join the band as a drummer and Rusty became a proper frontman, instead of just sitting behind the drum kit. When our former guitarist left we went as a three-piece with just myself on guitar, but we needed a bass player. By a lucky encounter we met Nick. Nick was a bassist with no band and we were a band with no bassist. So we joined forces.”
While the current lineup has only been together since January this year, The Ugly Kings can trace their history back four years ago.
“Originally we started as just an acoustic act,” says Athanasias. “We didn’t even have drums, we just had some bongos we’d bang away on. It was more of a comedy thing. I wanted to play music so I agreed to go along with it, but personally I hated the fact that we were a comedy act. If I’m in a band I want to play high-energy songs and be quite serious about it. I’m not saying it has to be doom and gloom, just not comedy, not like Steel Panther.”
The Kings are currently in the midst of a month-long residency at Yah Yah’s following the release of their new single Control Freak earlier this month.
‘We had the first gig of the residency last week,” says Athanasias. “It was amazing. There was an amazing turnout – especially for a Thursday.” As for what the fans can expect from the Yah Yah’s shows, the band promises good music, classic craziness, big sound and a lot of sweat.
Following their residency at Yah Yah’s, the band will head into the studio, with further singles and an EP release scheduled for next year. The band still plan to hit the road for more live shows however, including a number of interstate gigs and some bigger and better hometown shows.
“I would love to play a packed out Corner Hotel,” exclaims Athanasias. “We played at the Corner once, before Nick and Ryan’s time, for some showcase of upcoming bands. It was only a 25-minute set, but the sound and vibe were phenomenal.”
The Ugly Kings have built up quite a following in their short history, with a number of devoted fans around the world.
“It’s ridiculous,” says Scoble. “We have this guy in Brazil, who is actually going to take time out of his life to translate a press kit of ours and start doing promotional work for us in Brazil. He’s really into out tunes – it’s really flattering.
“One of the best things I’ve seen was an Instagram post from this guy in Denmark,” says Athanasias. “This guy had posted a selfie next to a screenshot of Wicked Witch of Wonder. The caption said something like, ‘Listening to good tunes on a cold morning.’ I couldn’t believe it. This guy went out of his way to post about Wicked Witch of Wonder – in Denmark.”
BY KELSEY BERRY
