It's rare for randoms to be 'discovered' these days. To do so, you need: a) talent, b) appeal and importantly c) some awesome, hardworking would-be-agent to think you're the shiz. Far more common is the long suffering 'unfamous' - described by fans as 'sooo good I can't believe they're not famous!' but only known by a small community, for example Canberra's Nigel McRae or James Fahy.
The Brisbane boys HUNGRY KIDS OF HUNGARY dominate the above checklist, and in doing so have fallen in with the seemingly inspired and proactive management and publicity crew, Mucho-Bravado. This has enabled them to tour relentlessly the past few months, as well as gather an incredible posse of associations to shine benevolently upon their image, including the wonderful Tara Simmons and Drawn From Bees. Though they are but talented randoms, theirs is to entertain with exquisitely professional pop songs, enthusiastic homage and the charm of the unfamous.
Guitarist and co-singer Dean was a lovely young man to chat to, confident and wordy - sadly, he'd called prematurely and those well-phrased answers were lost to the ether - but it's easy to remember his general gist. HKoH were picked up by Mucho-Bravado during one of their Big Sound showcases held around Fortitude Valley, Brisbane late last year. This wasn't too long after they'd performed together for the first time, being one of those bands that rigorously spend a good eight months rehearsing and writing before daring the stage. During this period they picked up their bizarro name, of which Dean said something like, "It gets us a lot of attention... we never really thought about it that much."
triple j aided HKoH in their wider discovery, which is sometimes all the blessing a group needs south of 'Nesia. "There's no secret to it... we put a song up on Unearthed and for some reason they liked it." Since radioplay it's been tour, record, tour. The Hungry Kids have supported excellent headliners: (Little) Bertie Blackman and Little Birdy (Whitegirl), the latter being "probably the nicest people in the business that we've ever encountered." This next time they get to headline themselves, which is essentially playing twice in a row - no, just joking, that was a play on words. Typically talented random, both Dean and keys/vocalist Kane have day jobs, meaning they'll fly down the day of their Canberra gig and continue it from there. After a chuckle at the mention of a hungry kid's carbon footprint, Dean says, "...the conversations definitely get weirder as the tour goes on."
If you'd like to hear the most authentic pop of antiquity both written and performed today, then you'd best out and see the Kids. Or, if in is your thing, check out their kicking Old Money or Set It Right videos on YouTube. Remember, when it comes to K, it's always: "The next one is going to be spectacular."
Hungry Kids of Hungary will play a show with the Trivs at Transit Bar on Thursday November 19.
