Let’s face it, music these days is as much about being a visual medium as an audio one, so when you see a video that makes you smile as much as the song because of its content you’ve got a good chance of riding a winner. Brisbane’s Port Royal have nailed it on both fronts with Get Heavy, an infectious slice of surf punk guitar accompanied by a highly amusing video.
Formed in mid-2015 out a shared love for classic rock and the disbanding of various high school groups, Port Royal played their first show at a friend’s 18th birthday party and then took just eight months to record and release their debut EP The Express.
Frontman Lawson Doyle says Get Heavy was inspired “by the frustrations and experiences of adolescence: no money, late nights, broken hearts, and substance experimentation. Many of the verse lyrics refer to insane situations and stories from different people in my life, and was written at a time where I began to understand the chaos and confusion of growing up.”
The visual humour in the clip comes courtesy of Lawson’s doppelgänger puppet that was hand-made by Sunshine Coast-based ventriloquist Rebecca Dostal and modelled off Lawson’s aesthetic – his hair, his favourite shirt, jeans and killer sunglasses.
Get Heavy was recorded by QUT engineer James See, mixed by Magoo (Midnight Oil, Powderfinger, Regurgitator), and mastered by Tony ‘Jack the Bear’ Mantz (Nick Cave, Powderfinger).
This classic garage rocker sounds like a Friday night fuelled on a slab and amphetamines looking for an escape with no regard for the consequences. As the band says, it’s all about “being young, stupid and adventurous”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKLe9YWvhzk&feature=youtu.be
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