ROYMACKONKEY

Artist Information

Biography

ROYMACKONKEY
John Coulehan - vocals
Darryl Barba - guitars
Fletcher Kane Bowman - drum kit
Brian McLeod - bass guitar

Hailing from the Top End, Roymackonkey are one of Darwin's best-loved
original bands. With the release of their debut album, "ABANDONMENT
ISSUES", it's time for audiences everywhere else to discover what the
Top End has long known.

Built on a foundation of strong melody, with crunching guitars (from
Darryl Barba), smooth multi-dimensional bass playing (from Brian
McLeod) and flashy but tasteful drumming (from Fletcher Kane Bowman),,
with the commanding vocals and soul-searching lyrics of John Coulehan
out front and center, what Roymackonkey make is emotionally-charged
modern rock music with a lot of heart. Steeped in the glory days of
'90s alternative rock, they weave wide and varied influences into a
powerful musical whole.

For the past few years Roymackonkey have been hitting stages around
Australia and Canada in earnest, playing in every capital city, and
even crossing over to Canada in 2010 for a successful run of shows.
Their majestic heavy rock music has seen them support the likes of
Rollins Band, Wolfmother, Powderfinger, Gyroscope, You Am I, Screaming
Jets and the Superjesus in their hometown. Their songs have been
playlisted by ABC radio and many independent/satellite stations in
Darwin and around the world, building up their profile further.

Their last release, 2008's "Cassandra Never Lies" EP, was recorded in
Sydney with producer Russell Pilling (Died Pretty, the Church, Frenzal
Rhomb) and was hailed by CD Universe as "articulate, intelligent,
powerful and primal"; other reviews were equally positive and the CD
quickly sold out its pressing.

In the lead-up to the release of "ABANDONMENT ISSUES" came the single
"Sleep Tonight", released January 2012, which has picked up heavy
airplay on NT commercial radio and community stations down the East
Coast, and has gone on to win the band two NT Music Awards, for Rock
Song of the Year and People's Choice.

The band left town to record the new album, holing up at the home
studio of visionary Brisbane producer/mixer Stuart Stuart, whose other
credits include The Veronicas and Small Mercies. They took a stack of
potential songs with them that would eventually be pared down to the
10 catchy, hook-filled tracks on offer. It's a cohesive record that
still covers a wide range of moods and emotions: from the opening
onslaught of "Version 2.0" and the yearning title track, through the
Anthemic power-ballad-with-balls "Great Divide", all the way through
to the 80s-flavoured bittersweet pop of "Random Hearts" and the
shuddering, dramatic closer "Break", there's no filler and there are
plenty of potential singles.

"ABANDONMENT ISSUES" released independently on February 9, 2013. The
first single and video is "Sleep Tonight." Roymackonkey can't wait for
the entire world to hear it.

Management - Darryl Barba, darrylbarba@gmail.com
Band correspondence - roymackonkey2.0@gmail.com
Facebook - www.facebook.com/roymackonkey2.0
Twitter - www.twitter.com/roymackonkey

Instrumentation

John Coulehan - Vocals
Fletcher Bowman - Drums
Darryl Barba - Guitar
Evan Saunders - Guitar
Brian Mcleod - Bass

Discography

EP: 1997 Quality of Meat
CD:2000 Zero Tolerance (compilation)
CD: 2004 Global Warning (compilation)
CD: 2008 Grow Your Own Upload Volume 12 Compilation(song- The Fear) Foghorn Records
EP: 2008 Cassandra Never Lies
EP: 2012 Sleep Tonight (single)
CD: 2013 New "Abandonment Issues" released 9th Feb 2013

Official Website

http://www.reverbnation.com/roymackonkey

Links

• Facebook
• MySpace
• Twitter
• Last.fm
• REVERBNATION
• MySpace

Audio

• Great Divide - Roy Mackonkey v101 MASTER MIX
  Listen  
• Sleep Tonight
  Listen  
• 01 Version 2 - Roy Mackonkey v84 MASTER MIX
  Listen  
• Abandonment Issues3
  Listen  
• 03 Flying So Low
  Listen  
• Go Steady - Roymackonkey
  Listen  
• Random Hearts3
  Listen  
• 04 Illumination - Roy Mackonkey v84 MASTER MIX
  Listen  
• 07 Kill Chasey - Roy Mackonkey v99 MASTER MIX
  Listen  
• 10 Break - Roy Mackonkey v99 MASTER MIX
  Listen  

Lyrics

• Sleep Tonight
• Abandonment Issues
• Go Steady
• Random Hearts
• Great Divide

Video

Photo Gallery

Press

• Rock N Roll Report [+ Show ]
  

  October 13/14/15 – Roymackonkey @ A whole lot of venues First off, you might be wandering about a...October 13/14/15 – Roymackonkey @ A whole lot of venues
  
  First off, you might be wandering about all the dates. Well, if you were making the never-ending (painful) flight over to Toronto from Australia, you’d be squeezing in as many gigs as possible into your weekend too. Roymackonkey are alt-rockers with quite a fab EP out, “Cassandra Never Lies,” which showcases a wide range of rock stylings between songs, as well as within each track. In fact, you may find yourself checking them out more than once, just to discover all their musical nuances. Formed in 1997, Roymackonkey is anything but new to the music industry and they’ve played with the likes of Wolfmother, Shihad and Screaming Jets. In Toronto, they’ll play October 13 @ Hideout, October 14 @ Bovine Sex Club (1:30 a.m.) and October 15 at the Australian Showcase (can’t wait for this!) @ Underground Garage (10:30 p.m.)

• Indie Week Festival [+ Show ]
  

  The Australian alternative rock band Roymackonkey took the stage next with a powerful stage presence...The Australian alternative rock band Roymackonkey took the stage next with a powerful stage presence.
  
  From the outright imposing vocals of front man John Coulehan, to the mind-melting power of lead guitarist Darryl Barba, with the soulful bass of Brian McLeod, and the thunder of drummer Fletcher Bowman.
  
  PLUS, John is nice enough to give me a free copy of their latest cd.

• Indie Week Launch Part 2 [+ Show ]
  

  Indie Week launch Part 2: more from The Hideout Roy Mackonky took the stage. Man, these guys are ...Indie Week launch Part 2: more from The Hideout
  
  Roy Mackonky took the stage. Man, these guys are yet another reason not to judge a book by its cover…. or in this case, a band by its name. I knew very little about these guys going in, and off the bat their name sounded a little hokey to me. I was expecting some kind of sentimental folk band with a western twist, and man was I wrong! This Australian group knocked me over with their hard edge and melodic vocals. The lead singer looks like the front man for Three Doors Down, but with a better voice. These guys are high energy and really flourish with their harder songs. With a sound along the lines of Disturbed, these guys will pump you up and keep you engaged. Definitely check them out TONIGHT at The Bovine!

• RadioIndy Review [+ Show ]
  

  radioindy.com — Aussie band Roymackonkey delivers solid, ‘90s era rock with their newest effort “Cas...radioindy.com — Aussie band Roymackonkey delivers solid, ‘90s era rock with their newest effort “Cassandra Never Lies.” After spending the summer touring the “land down under” with Wolfmother, it seems like this band is ready to spread their sound overseas and beyond. Their sound is sort of dated, but in a good way http://www.radioindy.com/bands/5546/
  

• Grow Your Own Upload volume 12 [+ Show ]
  

  The Grow Your Own series is a compilation released by Damien Gerard Studios and Foghorn Records, dra...The Grow Your Own series is a compilation released by Damien Gerard Studios and Foghorn Records, drawing together an array of unsigned Australian artists. They are also responsible for releasing volume twelve – the second one for 2008 – that contains nineteen tracks from various genres.
  
  Unfortunately, this release is offered in an environment where music snobbery prevails and many people are hesitant to listen to material from acts they have not yet “heard” about, and others who are using the Internet to learn about new artists. Thus, these people have an uphill battle in nurturing the careers of these up-and-comers, which is a shame given the level of talent on offer here.
  Roymackonkey's "THE FEAR" sounds like something for kate due to the singer sounding like paul dempsey.

• Roy's Boys to rock on as top acts strut stuff [+ Show ]
  

  Edition 1 -THU 24 AUG 2006, Page 026 Roy's boys to rock on as top acts strut stuff By BEN LANG...Edition 1 -THU 24 AUG 2006, Page 026
  Roy's boys to rock on
  as top acts strut stuff
  By BEN LANGFORD
  
  String-snapping
  fun as Shredder
  takes to stage
  THEY call Roy Mackonkey's Darryl Barba ``The Shredder'' ... well, if they don't they should.
  The rocking guitarist is building himself a reputation as a prolific breaker of strings. He went through four of them at a gig on Sunday night.
  Barba says his approach is simple: ``Play fast, play hard.'' He said he's gone through almost a full set of strings in their past three gigs.
  ``They usually last me a couple of shows,'' he said. ``(That last gig) it was four stings I took out.''
  Some of the stars of Territory music will rock the Star Shell tonight in one of the musical highlights of the Darwin Festival. Mackonkey will be playing last.
  The NT Music Festival has been running with the Darwin Festival, and tonight's Showcase will feature five of Darwin's top music acts turned loose on the huge sound system at the Shell.
  Roy Mackonkey have been one of Darwin's favourite bands for years.
  They're known for their acoustic sets as well as their harder style, but Barba said they're going to make the most of the sound system and give the crowd a healthy dose of hard rock.
  ``The acoustic shows are a lot softer, easier listening,'' he said.
  ``But the heavier shows are a bit more energetic.
  ``It makes us want to rock out.
  ``The (Star Shell) guys have been handling the sound pretty well for the last couple of shows, so I'm pretty excited.
  ``It will be good to see some faces out there showing support for local acts.
  ``We haven't played with The Groovesmiths before ... or Cooperblack.
  ``It should be a good mixture.''
  The other acts on the bill are Blastcorp, Cooperblack, worldfly, and The Groovesmiths.
  Blastcorp is multitalented musician Kris Keogh, a performer known for his ability to bring up the emotions with his slow love songs and clear the dance floor with his ``undanceable'' dance music -- all in the same gig. His music was described by a New York reviewer as ``like listening to a PlayStation hump a John Cage record''.
  Continuing the innovative music will be worldfly, who combine cello and more traditional rock instruments in songs that saw frontman Michael Maher win the Australian Songwriters Association Songwriter of the Year Award last year.
  The Groovesmiths and Cooperblack will make an interesting combination, with The Groovesmiths playing music described as ``organic roots and hip-hop'' and Cooperblack's music being called ``cyber jazz, organic electro.''
  While multi-instrumentalist Jeremy Conlon is responsible for most of the layered sounds, vocals, drums and keyboards add to the post-punk mix.
  The NT Music Festival Showcase is at the Star Shell from 8pm tonight. Tickets $15/$10.
  Caption: HEARTSTRING BREAKERS: Darwin rocker John Coulehan of Roy Mackonkey, set to go off tonight
  Illus: Photo
  Library Heading: 2OO6 darwin festival
  Section: ENTERTAINMENT
  Type: Music NT
  © Copyright. All rights reserved. Most articles on Newstext are copyright News Limited. Some copyright is owned by third parties. You may read this article on-screen or print it once for your own personal use. You may not make further copies, forward it by email, post it on an internet or intranet site or make any other use of it without written permission from us. These and any copyright licensing queries should be sent to us at newstext@newsltd.com.au
  

• Mellow Sound waves in the wet [+ Show ]
  

  Edition 1 -FRI 17 NOV 2006, Page 033 Mellow sound waves in wet By BEN LANGFORD Rockers unplu...Edition 1 -FRI 17 NOV 2006, Page 033
  Mellow sound waves in wet
  By BEN LANGFORD
  
  Rockers unplugged for Monsoon Sessions
  IT'S been a while since there was a Monsoon Sessions gig at the Darwin Entertainment Centre, but the popular gig returns at an appropriate time.
  Darwin rockers Roy Mackonkey are gathering for the opening night of Music NT's rainy season gig series.
  The band will usually be found playing loud -- really loud -- but they're going unplugged tomorrow night, and have expanded the band to suit the occasion.
  Original Roy boys John Coulehan (vocals), Darryl Barba (guitar), Steven Smith (drums) and Brian McLeod (bass) will be joined by Leah Flanagan, Skye Mead, Toby Robinson and Netanela Mizrahi.
  The guests will bring voices, violin, cello, piano and slide guitar to the the Entertainment Centre studio theatre, fleshing out a sound that could fill any room.
  Coulehan told Friday Fix he looked forward to pulling out the glad rags for the occasion, which they have called Themes for Drowned Lovers.
  ``I'm pretty excited, a bit nervous,'' he said.
  ``It's gonna be a bit of a classy gig for us ... tuxedos and everything.
  ``I reckon I'll get dressed up -- it's not often I get get to wear a suit and the whole place is air-conditioned.
  ``It's going to be recorded and videoed, so at some stage there'll be a DVD. It's something we don't normally do, so it's a bit of a special occasion.''
  Coulehan said it would be one of the band's last gigs before they headed into the studio to work on an album.
  Roy Mackonkey play the Monsoon Sessions at the Entertainment Centre from 8pm tomorrow. Presale tickets $20/$17.50, at the door $22.50/$20.
  Caption: RAINY RHAPSODY: (From left) John Coulehan, Skye Mead, Brian McLeod (sitting), Steve Smith and Darryl Barba
  Illus: Photo
  

• Jim Beam National Campus Bands Competition [+ Show ]
  

  "The Northern Territory boys win my ‘band most likely to get flogged on Triple J’ award and I mean...
  "The Northern Territory boys win my ‘band most likely to get flogged on Triple J’ award and I mean that in every good way possible. I kept thinking ‘WWF meets rock and roll.’ For the record, Roy Mackonkey is frickin’ cool. They’re melodic and edgy, loud and fun, all with a very energetic lead singer who pulls these crazed Henry Rollins faces. It’s classic. Imagine the contagiousness of Matchbox 20 with balls, the fun of the Bare naked Ladies, and the power of Live, and the soundtrack to a WWF match, all rolled into one. Rock and roll, baby. The crowd loved it. Keep an ear to your radio dial - if there is any justice in this world, Roy Mackonkey songs will be blaring out of your car radio".
  Excerpt from Jim Beam National Campus Bands Competition Website 2002 review

Setlist

NEW ALBUM
Version 2.0
Abandonment Issues
Flying So Low
Illumination
Sleep Tonight
Great Divide
Kill Chasy
Go Steady
Random Hearts
Break

Basic Requirements

Calendar