Frisky funk lovers AMIKO know how to put together a tune, not to mention a whopper night. It’s exciting times ahead for the renegades as they gear up for a Chili Peppers-esque debut EP, soon to be celebrated by lead single Teaser.
With a launch show and the very juicy first birthday party for Common Cult creeping up fast, we caught up with vocalist Louis Mckenzie and lead guitarist Jay Claessen for the latest.
Sex, fire, Christianity, beers… nothing is off-limits for Melbourne’s chunkiest funk gurus AMIKO as they prepare to let loose their debut EP.
HAPPY: Hey there, how are you? What are you up to at the moment?
JAY: Fantastic, thanks. Just hanging 10 wiv da boys, but nah seriously not much.
HAPPY: What’s the AMIKO elevator pitch?
LOUIS: Our music sounds like someone kicking their instruments down a set of stairs while on fire.
HAPPY: You call yourself a indie sex funk punk rock band. What’s the most important; indie, sex, funk, punk, rock or band?
LOUIS: Not sex because we’re all good Christian boys.
HAPPY: Who’s responsible for your art? Every poster you’ve put out is pretty mint.
JAY: Well I would be making shitty DIY posters with shitty iPhone apps but our good mate J Wong did the artwork for our song Funk.com around this time last year. We are currently getting fresh artwork from Adelaide Norris who has also done Hannah Kate’s recent artwork.
HAPPY: How’s the EP coming along? Does it still not “sound like shit”?
JAY: From what we’ve heard through our producer (Josh Saunders) it is sounding pretty large, so yeah pretty good we reckon.
HAPPY: Have you been playing the songs from the EP live? Any that are your particular favourites?
JAY: Yeah we play the whole EP live, including songs that aren’t on the EP. I think one of the crowd favourites is our first single Teaser which is coming out next month, but I think as a band our favourite song to play live would be one off our EP Lose Control.
HAPPY: Generally do you feel like live shows are a proving ground for your new songs?
LOUIS: Absolutely, we will write something, play it live and see how it goes down. Usually we’ll hear feedback pretty quickly, other times we just like the song we wrote and play it regardless of what people say.
HAPPY: You’ve got Common Cult’s first birthday coming up. Any advice for the punters coming along?
JAY: Bloody oath, well considering it’s a pretty big occasion don’t forget to skull seven beers before we’re on. Also we would like to thank Common Cult as much as we possibly can, the helping hand has been fuckin’ amazing and the crew is sick.
HAPPY: After the show and the EP, what’s coming up in AMIKO land?
LOUIS: Hopefully more gigs, better venues, music videos, beers, new songs, more beers. We will be playing shows pretty frequently so come check us out. We’ll yell at you of course but will also hug you and tell you that you look good in that dress or shirt.
Catch the lads of AMIKO live and in-person this coming month:
Thurs July 20 – Common Cult 1st Birthday Party – The Toff, Melbourne
Wed July 26 – The Workers Club, Melbourne
Sat August 5 – The Yarra Hotel, Melbourne
