King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard is an Australian psychedelic rock band that formed in 2010 in Melbourne, Victoria. The band consists of Stu Mackenzie (vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards, flute), Ambrose Kenny-Smith (vocals, harmonica, keyboards), Cook Craig (guitar, bass, vocals), Joey Walker (guitar, bass, keyboards, vocals), Lucas Harwood (bass, keyboards), and Michael Cavanagh (drums, percussion). The original line up also included Eric Moore on drums. They are known for their energetic live shows and prolific recording output, having released three EPs, 16 live albums and 25 studio albums since their formation.
Their EP and first two albums, Willoughby's Beach (2011), 12 Bar Bruise (2012) and Eyes Like the Sky (2013), primarily blended surf music and garage rock, and were released on the band's independent record label, Flightless, founded by Moore in 2012. Their third to eighth albums—Float Along – Fill Your Lungs (2013), Oddments, I'm in Your Mind Fuzz (2014), Quarters!, Paper Mâché Dream Balloon (2015) and Nonagon Infinity (2016)—expanded their sound, including elements of film music, psychedelic rock, progressive rock, folk, jazz, soul and heavy metal.
In 2017, the band fulfilled a promise to release five studio albums within the year: Flying Microtonal Banana in February; Murder of the Universe in June; Sketches of Brunswick East, a collaboration with Mild High Club, in August; Polygondwanaland, which was released into the public domain, in November; and Gumboot Soup in December. The band released its fourteenth album, Fishing for Fishies, on 26 April 2019, followed by a fifteenth album, Infest the Rats' Nest, released on 16 August that year.
On the 19th of April they released their first feature-length film, concert movie "Chunky Shrapnel". Named after a lyric from the band’s 2017 song Murder Of The Universe, The film combines concert footage from the band’s 2019 European tour with documentary style-filmmaking of King Gizzard behind the scenes. While Chunky Shrapnel does also document the band offstage, the film’s director, Josh Angus Stewart, said that it prioritizes music over personalities.
Chunky Shrapnel was originally set to premiere at Melbourne’s Astor Theatre, before the Australian government closed cinemas nationwide to stem the spread of the coronavirus. The film was eventually released and finally available for 24 hours only on vimeo.
In all, throughout 2020, the band released several live albums, a concert film, a double compilation of demos, K.G. , their 16th studio album and a compilation of early singles and all the tracks on the Anglesea EP called Teenage Gizzard . In August, Eric Moore (the band's second drummer and manager) left the band to focus on running his record label, Flightless. In February 2021, the band released L.W., their third microtonal album, which was followed by the synth-based dream pop album Butterfly 3000 in June. These albums were released independently rather than on Flightless. The band's twentieth studio album, Omnium Gatherum, was released on 22 April 2022.
On 24 January 2023, the band released the official live bootleg Live At Red Rocks '22. The 86-track, eight-hour release documents the band's three-night run at the titular Red Rocks Amphitheatre. Several independent labels have created physical releases of the bootleg, including a 12-vinyl boxset and a CD/cassette run.
On 4 March of the same year, the band debuted a new song "Gila Monster" during a live performance in Tilburg in the Netherlands. Following that, on 7 May, the band announced their upcoming 24th studio album, PetroDragonic Apocalypse; or, Dawn of Eternal Night: An Annihilation of Planet Earth and the Beginning of Merciless Damnation via Instagram. According to bassist Lucas Harwood, PetroDragonic Apocalypse will be one of two upcoming albums that will have a "Yin and Yang" concept, stating that they are "going to be very different sounding to each other, but we're going to try to make them complement each other". The album's first single, "Gila Monster", was released alongside a music video an hour before the album pre-order opened on May 16 and the second single "Dragon" was released on June 6 with its music video. The band then went on tour throughout the United States to promote the album before its release by playing songs from the album other than the singles. One such performance on 3 June was at the Caverns in Tennessee where the band dressed in drag to celebrate Pride Night after a judge turned down a law that intended to ruled drag unlawful. Joey Walker told the crowd, "This ain't no protest, baby. This is a celebration!" PetroDragonic Apocalypse was released on 16 June.
The band members all grew up and went to school in the Deniliquin, Melbourne and Geelong areas. The band started off as a group of friends jamming together, before a mutual friend asked them to play at a show. The band's name was created "last minute". Mackenzie wanted to name the band "Gizzard Gizzard" while another band member wanted Jim Morrison's nickname "Lizard King". They eventually compromised with King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard. The artist Jason Galea has created all of the band's album art, and a majority of their music videos.
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