Many moons ago, on the mean streets of Sydney’s inner-west, there formed an unholy alliance; five of Newtown’s favourite children converged to create the unstoppable force that is now referred to as Mac The Knife. Nothing would ever be the same.
Embracing the best of ’70s surf, American coastal and proto-punk, Mac The Knife strut through crunchy and raucous anthems with a confidence that says ‘get the fuck out of our way.’
Born out of Sydney’s inner-west, Mac The Knife are slinging hits that go off like a bucket of prawn in the hot sun.
Consisting of Bryn Chapman-Parish on vocals, Ari ‘Campo-Kickons’ Tuaine on guitar, Jonny Sandstrom, Curtis Van Haasteren on guitar, and James Cripps on Bass, MTK belt out a reckless brand of garage rock reminiscent of The Orwells, Black Lips, and Thee Oh Sees.
“The deepest darkest depths of the band’s history actually began back in high school with a psych-reggae band called Weekend Offenders. Born out of the fiery sweat pit of our drummer Jonny’s garage, it was basically Lewis Mosley (Cosmic Flanders, Georgia June) shredding it up on keys while the rest of us attempted to make some form of noise by hitting various objects. Curtis played rainmaker – it was hot,” the band says of their humble beginnings.
“The band then went through a few different lineup and name changes (only true fans will remember The Kanunts or Bushbandits) until we we finally ended up with the big ol’ bag of fun that is now Mac the Knife.”
“We started off playing a coupla shows at our high school in and around the inner west. Many a night was spent sneaking into pubs with fakies and getting banned from quite a few venues because our audience was made up of goon swigging teenagers.”
“Finally, we all grew up a bit (physically, not mentally) and have become the band of dropkicks we are today.”
In January, Mac The Knife released their incredible debut EP Silvertongue. Full of thumping, uncontrollable guitar riffs and insanely catchy hooks, the five-track EP was a long work in progress.
“We actually started recording the EP in late 2016 with the nicest boys in the inner west Colby McQueen and Julian Boggs, but due to various reasons it just kinda kept getting pushed back. Bryn pissed off to Perth to fail at acting, Jonny and Curtis started studying, James worked full time and Ari started full time beers, although he has now retired to ciders. But that ended up working in our favour, it meant we had a bit more breathing room.”
“We really wanted to put something out that we could be proud of, and I think taking the time to really tweak and twist the EP has helped us get a sound we’re stoked on.”
Throughout their illustrious career, Mac The Knife have amassed a sturdy following through their always passionate live show.
“The best gigs have been the ones where we’ve made some #lifelongfriends. From our first ever show with Egoism and Cosmic flanders at Egg Records, to the first time we got Fishy with Ruth Carp and the Fish Heads. The early gigs with our big brothers Hunch, to the beautiful blood-bath that was Ruby Hotel with Dissclaimer,” they say.
“And who could forget the absolute cookfest which was COOKFEST2K16, which brought us together with all the lovely folks at White Lodge Records. And that’s just to name a few. We’ve had some bloody ripper shows, here’s to hundreds more (fingers crossed).“
For their new video Jack & Jill, Mac The Knife travel up the coast with their paranoid and ultimately murderous lead-singer. The results are tragic. And entertaining.
“We went on a lil road trip up to beautiful Newcastle with director Harrison Scott, DOP Cameron McCormack and all round top bloke Jarred Cross. The filming was a blast. We’re so stoked with the end product. It’s a lil bit nasty, a lil bit saucy, but most of all it’s a lil bit bloody.”
Check out the insane new video above.
