Without a doubt King Gizzard are Australia’s most prolific band. Just yesterday we reported that the band are planning on releasing four full-length studio albums next year, having only just released their eighth in four years.
Naturally, a hard-working band like that needs the right space in which to get all their work done. DMA’s have their Newtown flat and in the case of King Gizzard, their secret Melbourne headquarters is located out the back of a cafe in Carlton’s Lygon Street.
The Sydney Morning Herald‘s Michael Dwyer was recently privileged enough to visit King Gizzard HQ, entering the space, which Gizz share with other talented creatives, through “a large wooden door in the back wall” of the cafe.
According to The Music, the warehouse-style space is home to King Gizzard’s recording facilities; Flightless Records, whose roster includes Gizz, The Murlocs, and Orb; Jason Galea, who does Gizzard’s artwork and animation; and Nowhere Special, an art collective comprised of the band’s mates.
After entering through the large wooden door, a corridor leads you into the space where Homer, a small bulldog and the HQ’s “mascot” greets you. According to Dwyer, the space is “more functional than lavish” and everybody keeps busy.
The vast front room of the “multipurpose office and art space” is divided by movable walls, accommodating exhibitions, guitar lessons, and even a tiny shop out the front that sells “records, postcards, and magazines”.
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Over on one desk, Gizz drummer and manager Eric Moore manages Flightless, which he owns. He’s surrounded by shelves stacked with vinyl records by Orb, The Murlocs, and of course, King Gizzard, which are fresh from a Czech pressing plant.
In the back is “the music zone”, a sort of rehearsal space with floors covered in musical equipment and instruments. Beside that is “the recording zone”, a room festooned with carpet tiles to prevent sound leakage and bearing a vintage eight-track tape machine.
“Now we can just come and turn everything on, and if we want we can just record everything we need to,” guitarist Joe Walker told The Music back in April. “We have a lotta plans to make a lotta music in here.” Considering their plans for 2017, he’s not kidding.
