After losing a core member to the commitments of family life, Darky Roots were on the brink of falling apart.

“When Clem, who did lead vocals on some of the songs and a little bit of songwriting, when he left, the band was actually up in the air whether it was actually going to fold or not. He was a foundation dude, pretty important, and I wasn't sure whether I wanted to keep going,” laments lead vocalist, Joshua Hillman.

From the very start, before the 'Darky Roots' moniker had seen the light of day, its members existed as a close-knit family of friends. Now the four-piece harmonic reggae troupe — which can grow to a nine-piece monster at times — has carved out a name for itself within the Brisbane roots scene; though the group are no strangers to change, or the pain that sometimes accompanies it.

“Every time there's been an integration of a new member, or demise of an old one, that's always pretty tough man, pretty taxing on you emotionally. We started off as a six-piece in the very beginning and we stayed that way for two years and when the drummer finally left I found it quite hard, even though we had another good quality drummer come take his place. It was something I was very new to. You know, like I said it was a very family oriented band. It was like losing a member of the family.”

While it was friendship that the roots group was founded upon, new blood was the catalyst for the band’s emergence.

“We started out as a bunch of hacks. None of us were super good. We did enough to pull a set off and then slowly dudes just worked on their own stuff and got a bit better as time went on. Then when we started adding things like horn players, they were the kind of guys who were schooled musicians, and really helped the rest of us, helped nurture us and helped us get better on our own instruments. They helped us sound a lot better all together.”

Two years down the line, the band stands at the same old dusty crossroad. “So after Clem left, I asked the band what they wanted to do,” Joshua says. “They were still pretty keen, so I was like 'well I don't know what to do here! I can't replace this guy. He was special. So I replaced him with a chick!’”

But does Amika, the aforementioned ‘chick’, cut the mustard? “She's fantastic, mate, fantastic. She used to front her own band called Rub A Dub Style. They folded due to some weird circumstances, so I snapped her up and now she's sharing the singing with me. Doing mostly background vocals but also some lead stuff as well. Just got a great energy on stage and a great stage presence. She really enriches the harmony.”

With plans for a limited edition, independent 7” vinyl to be released in December, and a debut album smack bang in the middle of production, it seems that Darky Roots will live to see another sunrise. In fact, Joshua seems inspired by the future possibilities for the band.

“I feel like since we've been playing for the last three, four years we've earned credibility to the point where we can get away with playing some of the more self-indulgent stuff musically on stage. Maybe play some really slow grooves; command the patience of the audience. Take some more risks.

“I've got such new and good players around me, when I go to rehearsal now I feel like a fan getting to watch these guys play. It's really cool, and exciting. It makes every gig fresh.”

DARKY ROOTS PLAY PACIFIC VIBES BRISBANE AT FITZY'S LOGANHOLME MARCH 3.