King Fish’s Musical Journey
Meet King Fish, the killer three-piece band with Jacob on drums, Heinzy on bass, and Jay rocking guitar and vocals. They’re all about heavy riffs but with a cool twist: each instrument gets its own space to breathe, avoiding that full-throttle, non-stop noise. Their sound hits hard but stays clear and balanced, giving them a unique edge in the scene.
Your Musical Journey: How did you get started with music? Any fun stories from the Beginning?
Jacob and I, Jay, were jamming together in Whangamatā back in 2008, just mucking around in the garage really. I was working at Anderson Surfboards when Heinzy came into the shop one day and said he had moved to town and a guy named Taff who was a mutual friend had told him Jacob and I got together and jammed most weeks. Heinzy had played for years in Hamilton/Raglan band The Clap and is far more versed in playing live than Jacob and I. So yea, that’s where it started, we had ten-minute songs with no endings for a few years, but we all had a great love of beer and are on the same page musically so as time went by we slowly but surely wrote some songs.
Inspiration: What gets your creative juices flowing? What inspires you to make music? Influences and Idols: Who are your musical heroes or role models? I met my mate Hugh Allan from the band MOTHRA when I was 12 years old and he influenced what music I got into as a kid in a big way. We grew up on bands like TOOL, Kyuss, Primus, Alice in Chains, etc. When I met Jakey he was right into NOFX, Pennywise and a bunch of punk acts, and he used to smash Metallica and Pantera. He then went down the TOOL hole and has gotten into a lot of stuff in that vein as well. Heinzy is into all sorts of tunes, crossing multiple genres; he has over the last few years gotten kind of addicted to Les Claypool’s playing, which has been so good, seeing him pull from that influence. Nobody else plays bass like Les does with Primus. He is amazing!
The importance of Live Music: How has live music shaped your life and career? Local Vibes: What does being a musician here in Te Tara-o-te-Ika-a-Māui (on the Peninsula) mean to you?
Music has been a part of my life from really early on and I think it’s safe to say the other lads are the same. All three of us are pumped on jamming and it’s so fun when we all get together and have a good hit out. We don’t gig very often but we try to jam as much as possible. Two of us are living just north of Tairua and one in Whangamatā, so we’re all pretty close and it kinda feels like we are living the dream in this part of the world, to be honest. We are super grateful for what we have. Can I also chuck a shout-out here to Molly and Kaspur from the Monkey House in Whitianga. It’s so epic to have a funky little live music venue in the Coromandel. Keep up with what they have coming up on their socials, get along to some shows and keep that place alive. Happy Days!
Creative Well-being: As an artist, creative well-being is so important. What does it mean to you as a musician, and how do you use it in your work?
The band is a real stress-free set up, we all have our own things going on and we’re not doing it for world musical domination. It’s 100% about the fun and the catch-ups and trying to get the songs as tight as we can.
What’s Next?: Any exciting plans or projects on the horizon?
We’re looking at tracking an album in the near future – we need a couple more songs locked down and we will be good to go, so yea, looking forward to tracking that.
It’s been a long time getting enough songs together to really consider it, but we’re getting there and are all looking forward to capturing the body of work we have at this point in time.
Find and Support: Where can we find your music, and how can people show their support?
We will be playing Loserpalooza again this year at TOTARA ST in Mount Maunganui. It’s on Saturday the 7th of September and is an awesome day out: 2 stages, 25 bands from 12 pm till 12 am. All proceeds go to Lifeline Aotearoa. Head on down to the big smoke, Coro Crew! It’s for a great cause with mean underground bands. Good times …
Supported by Jessica Paton and Joshua Armstrong
Jessica and Joshua from Garden Music are checking in with some of the local talent from across Te Tara-o-te-Ika-a-Māui. With a deep passion for DIY underground music, they run the only independent music shop in the Coromandel Peninsula, located in Grahamstown, Thames.
Beyond their work at the shop and their involvement in various art collectives and boards, their biggest passion projects include actively performing in local bands, further contributing to the rich musical landscape of their community.
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