Kilroy, Nina Leo, Lost Coast: inside Canberra’s underground music scene

Behind Canberra’s uptight facade is a vibrant and eclectic underground music scene. Here are five local bands you should know.

Meet Canberra's underground music scene. Picture: Supplied.

Canberra may be synonymous with politicians and tight laced public servants but beneath the city’s shiny veneer is a small-yet-mighty underground music scene.

We spoke to five Canberra based bands and artists about their work, and why the city’s music scene is unique.

Lost Coast

Instrumental five-piece post-rock band Lost Coast has been playing together for about eight years.

The band cites Mono, Explosions in the Sky, Russian Circles and This Will Destroy You as influences to their sound.

Canberra band Lost Coast plays experimental instrumental rock. Picture: Supplied.

“A basic description of the sound is instrumental rock music that moves through riff and melody and a range of dynamics within long form pieces of music,” the band said.

The band said Canberra’s music scene was unique due to its nonconformity and the eclectic variety of music that comes from the city.

“There has been such a wide range of different sounding bands and musicians that come out of Canberra,” the band said.

“You are always able to catch a line-up that has a nice eclectic blend when you go to gigs here.”

The band cites Sideway in Civic as a “staple venue” and “huge support”, and said their biggest achievement so far has been releasing their debut self-titled album in 2020.

“It was recorded over a four-day period so it was a mammoth effort”, LC said.

“Working with Lou Montgomery to record and mix was a fantastic experience that taught us a lot about how we make music and why.”

You can follow Lost Coast on Instagram.

Mr Industry

Formed in 2021 alternative rock band Mr. Industry consists of frontman and guitarist Sebastian Bell, Charlie Curry on guitar, Brendan O‘Sullivan on keys and percussion, Caleb Skewes on bass and backing vocals, and Lachlan Walker on drums.

“We take a lot of inspiration from the new UK post-punk scene with bands like Black Midi and Squid, with a lot of Radiohead influence thrown in too.” Mr Curry said.

He said the Canberra music scene was “very tight knit and intimate”.

Alternative rock band Mr Industry. Picture: Supplied

“We’ve made a lot of friends and acquaintances – be it venues, fellow bands or audience members,” Mr Curry said.

“There’s a very warm aura of support that makes Canberra a joy to play.”

Mr Curry said one of the bands biggest milestones was having their latest single “Booty Smashers” debut live on Triple J’s “ short.fast.loud”.

“It was a huge milestone for us,” he said.

“It was recorded at The Grove Studios at the central coast with our good mate Connor Massey.”

You can follow Mr Industry on Instagram.

Kilroy

Dylan Slater and Jacob Thornton started Kilroy in 2016, playing gigs with a “dinky drum machine with a creeping tempo knob”.

Now the band has grown into a four piece with Mr Thornton on vocals and guitar, Mr Slater on guitar, Grace Flanagan on drums and Isabel Mackay-Sim on bass.

“(Our sound has) been called all sorts of things like indie, jangle, dream-pop, the ‘Dunedin sound’ (but) I always just describe us a post-punk band and that pretty much sums up my influences when it comes to Kilroy,” Mr Slater said.

Canberra alternative rock band Kilroy. Picture: Supplied

“I’m always thinking of guitarists like Johnny Marr, John McGeoch, Robert Smith, Tom Verlaine, and Roland S. Howard.”

Mr Thornton said he was cautious about listing vocal influences “lest people start ‘hearing’ their styles in your own stuff”.

However he said his favourite singers “have always been people who have a great expressive range” such as Ray Charles, Nina Simone, Leonard Cohen, Bowie, Gareth Liddiard of The Drones and TFS.

“They all show you can have a bit of a screech and snarl without making something ugly,” Mr Thornton said.

Mr Slater said Canberra’s music was small but diverse, with no two bands sounding the same.

“That’s great for the scene, even if it makes finding bands to play with kind of hard sometimes,” he said.

“Canberra seems pretty immune to the homogenising influence of Triple J,” Mr Thornton said.

“You go to Melbourne and there’s a million clones of the same ironic yobbo band, the same ultra-sincere singer-songwriter, the same bucket-hat festival pleasers … Boring.”

Mr Slater and Mr Thornton said Sideway, Gang Gang in Downer, The Polish Club in Turner and Smiths alternative in Civic are some of their favourite venues to play.

Mr Thornton said the band wasn’t “overly ambitious” but was focused on having great shows.

“We’ve played some fantastic shows in venues, share houses and dorms in Canberra where people have been packed in like sardines to share in our songs,” he said.

“It’s a nice feeling.”

You can follow Kilroy on Instagram.

Nina Leo

Nina Leo is an indie singer/songwriter who cites female-led 70s classic rock as a key influence.

“I did start as a solo artist in 2020 and kind of created a band just meeting people,” she said

“I was in a band called the Differs back in 2019 and we played for a couple of years, then I wanted to go solo.

“My bass player from my old band stuck with me so he’s been with me since the original band.

Canberra singer/songwriter Nina Leo. Picture: Supplied

“I play gigs with my band and do solo shows, so I’m pretty much both (a solo artist and a band).”

Nina Leo said she writes her music based on real life experiences and said her biggest achievement so far is releasing an EP in 2021 called Fake It.

“(The EP is) all about toxic friendships,” she said.

“I’ve had a few dodgy friendships and i’ve gained experience through the pain that i felt.

“Everything is an experience, whether is a good one or a bad one.

“I can’t write a fake story … it has to be something that’s happened to me to feel the emotion and write about it.”

She said in the canberra music scene “everyone kind of knows each other” and said it was “like a little family”.

“(With) all the bands I’ve played with in Canberra i know them so well, it's not like I’m playing with strangers all the time.

“I like the comfort of a small community … it's almost too safe”

You can follow Nina Leo on Instagram.

Spouse

Spouse began in late March 2022, with Daan on drums, Ezra on guitar, Emily on guitar and vocals and Josh on the bass.

Emily said the band has a broad range of influences including Pixies, Radiohead, Pile and Deafheaven.

“As for our sound, we’d say it’s a sort of shoegazey breed of alternative indie rock,” Emily said.

Canberra band Spouse. Picture: Meg Houghton

The frontwoman described the canberra music community as “close knit”.

“We’ve found ourselves immersed in a tight, supportive and deeply personal scene, and could not be happier contributing to it,” she said.

“It’s open for anyone who is even remotely interested in music, and it feels like everyone comes together to build up any new artists that enter the scene.”

As for Canberra venues she described Sideway as an “institution for the scene” and said the venue had “always felt like home for us”.

“Their Thursday band night always pulls a crowd and has given many local bands – us included – (and is) a welcoming space to start out,” she said.

Emily said the band was halfway through recording music for the first time.

“Hopefully that will feel like an achievement once finished,” she said.

You can follow Spouse on Instagram.