KING STINGRAY MAKING MARK
LIFELONG friends Roy Kellaway and Yirrŋa Yunupiŋu were northeast Arnhem bush kids, kicking a footy around the oval and dodging snarling camp dogs while their elders wrote songs for Yothu Yindi.
The musical DNA would prove to be strong in both of them; singer and songwriter Yunupiŋu is the nephew of the late musician, educator and 1992 Australian of the Year Dr M. Yunupiŋu, and Kellaway’s father, Stuart, is the bassist and co-founder of Yothu Yindi.
“I remember definitely being on the road with them for Australian gigs,” Kellaway recalls. “But I never went overseas with the band.
“A big part of growing up was just having musos around and hearing their stories about playing music at awesome festivals.”
So there was clearly some destiny at play when he and Yunupiŋu formed King Stingray and recruited mates Dimathaya “Dima” Burarrwanga, Campbell Messer and Lewis Stiles to create the “Yolŋu surf rock” sound that has captivated Australia’s alternative music fans for the past two years.
From their debut single Hey Wanhaka, through
Triple J Hottest 100 hits Get Me Out and Milkumana, the band has quickly established itself as one of the country’s most exciting new acts.
Hailing from rock royalty may have piqued the curiosity of the Australian music industry but as Kellaway points out, it is their particular blend of
Indigenous and English language, yidaki (didgeridoo) and guitar rock which has struck a chord with young fans.
Kellaway and Yunupiŋu started King Stingray in the small coastal town of Yirrkala, jamming in the local community “shed”, with the modest goal to record a few songs. At home, rock music — alongside traditional Yolŋu songlines — was the prevailing soundtrack; the pop culture dominance of hip-hop and R&B was not on their radar. “I think deep down we just naturally love rock music, the energy of it,” Kellaway says.
It was tough for the young rockers to imagine being able to play gigs further afield; it is a 12-hour drive just to get to Darwin and a plane ticket to Brisbane cost more than $2000.
But the DIY attitude of the young rockers — and muchneeded grants — helped propel their mission to introduce their songs and culture on the tours of the Chats, Midnight Oil and Ball Park Music and at festivals including Dark Mofo and Splendour In The Grass.
And record the 10 songs on their self-titled debut album to be released on August 5.
King Stingray are also up for Artist of the Year and Song of the Year for the 2022 National Indigenous Music Awards in Darwin on August 6.
For all tour dates, kingstingrayofficial.com