Breezy local three-piece MARGARET HELEN KING (MHK) are another example of our awesome local talent, having emerged from Canberra’s arts scene about four years ago, but only settling into their current tripodal configuration about a year ago. Named after a family elder, Amanda Kim on bass, brother Simon Charles on drums and Nathaniel Robert on guitar together have a great indie pop sound, combined with intelligent vocal melodies, which they all sing at times.
Corinbank 2009 was a highlight for the band to date and their first show together as a three-piece. Back again in 2010, MHK are keen to show the festival a much tighter, more refined sound. They also loved playing the festival last year, which helps. “Corinbank has a great vibe. It’s really friendly, like the Canberra Music Club, but on a bigger scale.”
Having released an album and an EP and built up contacts playing interstate shows for the past few years, MHK have found success gradually, including some airplay on triple j. They also seem to get really good feedback through the Unearthed and Jplay websites, as well as on MySpace and iTunes. “The best thing about the web is you can have a band and still have a life.”
They’ve also just contributed their track to a quirky US design company’s Youtube advert for their stationary brand, and they seem to have fans popping out of the woodwork everywhere. “It was really funny [last year] when we started getting stopped in the street.” Later during the interview, someone literally asked Amanda for her autograph. So apparently MHK are kind of a big deal around here.
All members of the band are married and have children, and balance the band with other important things in life. “If we got signed to a label and got to make a lot more music, it would be amazing, but we’re not too stressed about it – we won’t sacrifice everything.”
After quite a few lineup changes in the band’s formative years, MHK are looking forward to keeping the current format, and honing their delightfully well-executed pop sound as a three-piece. There are also plans to record another album in the future, but in particular one that forms a single artwork, rather than just a collection of songs. “One of our main goals is to make an album that really flows together, from one track to the next.”
Margaret Helen King are at a great point in their career, and Canberra’s scene is all the richer for their presence.
Margaret Helen King are a part of the Corinbank Festival lineup. The Festival takes place over Friday-Sunday February 26-28. Tickets are available from Greentix.
