Blue King Brown is a band for your hips, heart and head. The Melbourne-based collective melds a deeply percussive sense of rhythm with sweet melodicism and politically astute lyrics. You can hear the afro-beat, reggae slink and Latin influence but the band has created a distinctly original sound and they’ve hit the sweetspot. A refreshing modern take on roots music, uniquely Australian yet with an unquestionable international feel.

In a little under two years of gigging, Blue King Brown has established themselves as a revered name in the Australian roots scene and have amassed a big national following and have started to gain international Interest. Having already toured in support of John Butler Trio, Michael Franti and Spearhead, Damian “Jr Gong” Marley and Cody ChestnuTT, the Melbourne-based five-piece band is renowned as a brilliant and original live act.

The marriage of percussion and melody reflects the shifting interests of Carlo and Natalie, the two founding and songwriting members of the band. After years of playing and writing on guitar, the two independently formed a love of percussion and rhythm. Jamming with residents and itinerants alike in their original base of Byron Bay, Carlo and Natalie then began to works as a percussion duo which was the beginnings of their mission towards Blue king Brown. This also led the duo to form its many connections with the strong Australian roots scene—they we’re invited to sit in as percussionists with The John Butler Trio at many of their shows along with countless other guest performances with many national and international acts along the way.

Blue King Brown emerged from those Byron sessions which were stronger in melodic focus. After moving to Melbourne in 2004 to solely concentrate on this new project. They recruited a hip band and found Salvador Persico, the bands percussionist, whose Latin flavors were the perfect addition to the Blue King Brown sound. Success came quickly for Blue King Brown—the first track written for the project, “Water,” was released on their debut self-titled EP and was quickly added to high rotation on JJJ. It also earned them an APRA Songwriters Award for 2005. It was the first BKB song that Natalie and Carlo had co written and set the benchmark for a lot of their new material.

Their self-released follow-up album, Stand-Up, sees the band simultaneously becoming more rhythmically and melodically complex. It reconfigures the template the band has created in recordings and in numerous sweaty live performances, creating a studio document of many layers and textures and is great representation of their current sound and future direction.

“We’ve always been into the 70’s big band thing,” Carlo says. “We’re inspired by people like Fela Kuti and Santana—known for having sizeable bands who aren’t afraid to jam it out and improvise live.. We’re always trying to create as big a sound as possible out of our five piece. We’re used to doing that, Natalie and I worked on the streets as a busking duo for so long and we learnt the art of making something big out of two people. In the recording process we can approach it differently. We got a lot of guests in on the record to really fill it out and expand on the band, Who knows, one day we’ll probably have a 20 piece band,” he speculates .

Still evident, of course, are the band’s grassroots politics. Placing the potentially alienating Indigenous land rights message front-and-centre in their debut single “Water” seems to have only won them more fans, the band sees no reason to hold back. But it’s never just platitudes. The band is ethically engaged in every aspect of their art: from their independent releases through to recycled CD packaging and Australian made non-sweatshop labour t-shirts.

This grassroots (or Roots Level, as their label name has it) approach is also part of their touring ethos. They travel to as many places as they can, breaking new ground with each tour. The band has toured up and down the east coast consistently as both a headline act and in support slots. With the album launch tour, they’re scheduled to play in towns and cities from Belgrave to Busselton. As an incendiary live band, they’re a favourite on the festival circuit. They’ve notched up invitations to perform at The Falls, East Coast Blues & Roots Festival, Woodford Folk Festival, Great Escape, The Dreaming Festival and Southbound to name a few. Early 2006 also saw them invited to play festivals in Japan and Fiji.

When they finally stop to rest sometime in 2007, it’ll be toward overseas that their attentions will turn. Their two tastes of overseas performance as a band have only deepened their desire to do it again soon. There could be no better choice as representatives of Australia’s creative and flourishing roots scene.