King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard | Artist
King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard is an Australian psychedelic rock band formed 2010 in Melbourne, Victoria, by Stu Mackenzie (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Ambrose Kenny-Smith (vocals, synthesizer), Cook Craig (guitar, vocals), Joey Walker (guitar, keyboards, vocals), Lucas Harwood (bass, keyboards), Michael Cavanagh (drums, vocals), and Eric Moore (Percussion, Theramin). Eric Moore left in 2020 to work full-time on the band's record label Flightless. Starting out, Mackenzie, Moore, and Walker met studying the music industry at RMIT University Melbourne, and the other members were mutual friends. The band's early releases blended surf music and garage rock. They released several psychedelic and progressive rock albums in the early 2010s, and incorporated a broader range of musical styles later in the decade, such as jazz fusion on Quarters! and the folk-inspired Paper Mâché Dream Balloon. In 2016, they generated more mainstream attention with Nonagon Infinity, which won the ARIA Award for Best Hard Rock or Heavy Metal Album. In 2017, the band fulfilled a promise to release five studio albums within the year, and also marked the beginning of a trilogy of microtonal albums with Flying Microtonal Banana. Subsequent releases integrated heavy metal, synth-pop and progressive rock, and feature lyrics that address environmental themes and a connected fictional universe termed the "Gizzverse" by fans. In the twelve years since the release of their debut album 12 Bar Bruise in 2012, through to their most recent 2024 release Flight b741, the band has released an extraordinary 27 studio albums, 17 live albums, and dozens of Singles and EP's - of consistently high quality. Standout albums include I'm in Your Mind Fuzz (2014), Paper Mâché Dream Balloon (2015), Nonagon Infinity (2016), Flying Microtonal Banana (2017), Polygondwanaland (2017), Infest the Rats' Nest (2019), Omnium Gatherum (2022), Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms and Lava (2022), PetroDragonic Apocalypse (2023), and Flight b741 (2024). Add to this list of great albums a selection of their live albums; Live in Adelaide '19 (2020), Live in San Francisco '16 (2022), and Live at Red Rocks '22 (2023). The band release their music on the Flightless independent record label, which was founded in Melbourne in 2012 by former bandmember Eric Moore. The label was formed to release King Gizzard's music and associated acts such as The Murlocs, giving the bands artistic and commercial control over their work. Many of the band's releases are based on a unique concept, yet share lyrical themes and feature characters that form a recurring cast, the most frequent being Han-Tyumi, a cyborg character who appears across multiple albums. Their songs also tell stories of "gamblers, cowboys, Australian Rules footballers, people-vultures, Balrogs, lightning gods, flesh-eating beasts, sages and space-faring eco rebels." The band's lyrics have featured environmental themes, including pollution, environmental degradation and climate change. Stu Mackenzie has said: "We've got a lot of things to fear... I spend a lot of time thinking about the future of humanity and the future of Planet Earth. Naturally these thoughts seep into the lyrics." The band's name was created “last minute”. Mackenzie wanted to name the band “Gizzard Gizzard” while others wanted Jim Morrison's nickname “Lizard King”. They eventually compromised with King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard.
Artist Website: kinggizzardandthelizardwizard.com
Featured Albums: King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard
Related Artists: The Murlocs, Atolls, Heavy Moss
Collections: Movers Shakers
