Homesick But Happy

They started out as a group of Kiwis singing a cappella over drinks; now they're one of Brisbane's most well-known reggae bands. But when their worst gig ever turned out to be one of the best, lead vocalist Joshua Hillman realised there is always a silver lining.

"West End Carnivale was like our worst gig ever. But we were joined on stage by Lukie D from Jamaica. We heard he was in town and we got a phone call from his manager saying 'Lukie D wants to sing one of his songs at West End Carnivale, did we know any?', and we did. We were already secretly covering one of his songs so he jumped up on stage and we played it for him.

Apart from performing with Jamaican reggae maestros, Darky Roots has been busy exploding onto the Brisbane reggae scene. They formed in 2008 as a bunch of 'hacks' with one goal — to produce reggae music with strong harmonies and New Zealand-flavoured, R&B-styled vocals.

In two short years, their rich harmonies, heavy basslines and meaningful lyrics have caught the attention of some of the most influential members of the roots/ reggae scene, including Melbourne's The Red Eyes. "One of my favourite bands we've supported is The Red Eyes. They are fantastic, so good live. I've actually been to watch them so many times and to actually get the opportunity to support them and to have them hear our music was really humbling and something I'll never forget. "We've got three more shows with them now so they obviously enjoyed it."

Humbled is an understatement, with Joshua paying credit to the vitality of the Brisbane reggae scene as a cornerstone of their success. "[The Brisbane scene] is a very strong, very supportive scene. It's one of the best scenes for live reggae bands in Australia. I've lived in Melbourne and Sydney as well and for me, for live reggae bands, Brisbane has the best selection; a broader selection to choose from.

You can book a show in Brisbane and there's a plethora of bands to support. Everybody gets out and supports each other as well, which is great." Bandying words like 'plethora' about, it comes as no surprise that Joshua creates most of the lyrics for this dynamic eight-piece. Though he says percussionist, Bevan Savage, and lead guitarist, Clem Karauti, have taken on some of the writing duties, their lyrics always have a conscious meaning.

"I always push messages of peace and unity, I don't think it can be over said that people need to unite and be more thoughtful of other people, and freedom of choice for a lot of things in life. A lot of the stuff is life experience too." With their second EP to be released any day now, Darky Roots are excited to showcase their recently acquired horn section, and delve into issues affecting members of the band.

"We were working on a new album, but decided we wanted to quickly release something now that more accurately represented where we were with our live set and what people can expect from us. The EP is called 'Journey', which is also the title track, written by Bevan. "It's a song about being away from our homeland New Zealand. That's pretty important in our songwriting. As much as we love living in Australia, we're all still New Zealanders. We love living here, but we always miss our home and we sing about that a fair bit." With their emotive, socially-conscious lyrics and natural musical prowess, Darky Roots have earned their praise, often being described as 'delights to the ears and music for the soul'.

But Joshua says they only have one dream as a band. "I hope that one day we can be able to make a living from our music. I think that's a realistic goal and if we keep working hard, and if things keep happening the way the momentum's been going at the moment, I can't see why that can't happen. Just to be able to live off the music, to do it professionally. Because at the moment, we all work jobs."

You can catch Darky Roots' music for the soul at Dub Day Afternoon, at the Jubilee Hotel, Saturday September 18; Island Vibe, North Stradbroke Island October 29-31; and at the Byron Bay Reggaefest Saturday December 4.