The Chats formed in high school in a Queensland surf town - now they're playing shows all over the world. Photo / Supplied
The Chats formed in high school in a Queensland surf town - now they're playing shows all over the world. Photo / Supplied
Three sunglasses-wearing Aussie surf bogans went viral singing about a smoko break in 2017. Four years later, they're playing shows with the likes of Iggy Pop and Josh Homme.
The Chats' frontman Eamon Sandwith never thought he'd be in a "proper band". He's just "stoked" he doesn't have to work at supermarket chain Coles anymore, he tells the Herald.
"I thought maybe I'd be in a fun band that f***ing plays a couple of gigs a week, but not a proper band, you know," he says.
Now he's unmistakable, partly due to his signature ginger mullet, which he says is "pretty important to maintain" for the fans.
The Chats formed when three teens from a Queensland surf town started a band out of boredom in their last year of high school. Now Eamon Sandwith, Josh Price and Matt Boggis have a record under their belts and have started their own label, Bargain Bin Records.
"We started in high school in grade 12, sort of just got together and made this band for something fun to do," Sandwith recalls over a Zoom call from Brisbane.
"And yeah, just wrote some songs together, finished school and thought we'd just keep going cause we had fun doing it, you know."
It all took off when they made their first music video for a song called Smoko, which went viral on YouTube with its catchy chorus "I'm on smoko, so leave me alone".
"We kept writing songs and made a music video one day and put it on YouTube and it got heaps of views and started taking off," Sandwith says.
"We started noticing more people coming to our shows and it just sort of kept going, I don't know. People still come to the shows so I think people still like it."
The Chats' music is headbanging, rough and ready, punk-inspired Australiana "shed rock". It's the kind of music your dad likes to jam out to over the UE Boom during a backyard barbecue.
And Sandwith cites his biggest musical influences as "all the old punk bands". Ramones, The Saints, Cosmic Psychos, newer stuff like Drunk Mums - he "sort of just puts it all together".
Their music presents a snapshot of Australiana that manages to appeal to listeners all over the world - but the band's frontman isn't sure why.
"It's really weird," he confesses.
"I think a lot of people don't quite understand the words. We'll play in Europe or somewhere and people will come up to us after the show and ask us what certain words mean, like a slang or whatever.
Their single Smoko has over 13 million views on YouTube. Photo / Supplied
"So I think maybe it's the music that they like, and they like the voice even if they don't know what we're saying half the time. I'm sure they can piece it together."
Their debut record High Risk Behaviour was released in March 2020 just as Australia went into lockdown, putting their touring plans on hold.
But the band is back on the road and heading to New Zealand this month, playing a show in Auckland at Avondale's Hollywood theatre as part of the Elemental Nights festival lineup, as well as in Dunedin and Christchurch.
"We released it [the record] pretty much at the start of the whole country shutting down. So we couldn't tour, which was sort of a bummer. But you know, at least we're playing some shows now."
While it's not the first time the band has been to New Zealand, they're hoping for some extra downtime this time round.
"It's always been quite busy, we pretty much just had to do the gig and drive to the next one. We're hoping to get some time off and go see the sights and stuff, do some touristy stuff."
The place he's most excited to visit - if that's not too strong a word for the mild interest he shows in, well, everything - is, of all places, student central Dunedin.
"It'd be cool to check it out."
Asked what Kiwi fans can expect from the shows, he responds in typical deadpan fashion.
"Well, we're gonna play some songs and probably have some stage banter in between them, and there's probably gonna be a bar there where they can purchase drinks."
•The Chats are playing at the Hollywood Theatre in Avondale on July 27.
