Kid Confucius were an eight-piece

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Au ...

band Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary *Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran *Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania * Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, I ...

from

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. They formed in 2001 and have since played well over 400 live shows around the country, including major festivals as well as their own headline shows at venues such as The Annandale Hotel and The Metro Theatre. In 2005 the band released a self-titled album and two singles "Words" and "Skintight." The album, a mish-mash of soul, hip-hop, pop and funk, received great critical acclaim, most notably from Rolling Stone who hailed the album as one of the standout local releases of the year. "Words" also enjoyed some solid months of radio and TV play. The band released its second album Stripes in 2007 with three singles "Closer", "Last Straw" and "Moment". Stripes was the band's attempt at making a Detroit-era Motown soul album and it was quick to earn rave reviews from press around the country as well as a publishing deal with Mushroom. "Moment" has enjoyed good radio play on triple j. Kid Confucius is set to release its third album in October 2008. The first single from this album, "Good Luck", is out now. Kid C has also gained a stellar live reputation with many sold out appearances at various

venues. The band has been touring nationally since 2004 as well as performing at big festivals such as

Splendour in the Grass Splendour in the Grass (commonly referred to as Splendour) is an annual Australian music festival held at the North Byron Parklands in Yelgun, New South Wales. Since its inauguration, the festival has also been held in various locations near B ...

Homebake Homebake was an annual Australian rock festival, featuring an all-Australian lineup (with the occasional artist from New Zealand). The festival was first held on 3 January 1996 at Belongil Fields in Byron Bay, on the far north coast of New Sou ...

, The Great Escape,

Groovin' The Moo Groovin the Moo is an annual music festival that is held in six regional centres across Australia. The festival is held during autumn, typically in May of each year. Groovin the Moo was established by Cattleyard Promotions and their first fe ...

, Festival Of The Sun and more. Taking a break from touring in early 2008, the band set its sights on writing and recording a new album - its third in as many years. The new album marks a dramatic and radical shift in style and sound for the band. With newfound influences such as

Kings Of Leon Kings of Leon is an American rock band formed in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1999. The band is composed of brothers Caleb, Nathan and Jared Followill, and their cousin Matthew Followill. The band's early music was a blend of Southern rock and gar ...

The Strokes The Strokes are an American rock band from New York City. Formed in 1998, the band is composed of lead singer and songwriter Julian Casablancas, guitarists Nick Valensi and Albert Hammond Jr., bassist Nikolai Fraiture, and drummer Fabrizio More ...

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

and

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

meeting older influences such as

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo ar ...

and

Otis Redding Otis Ray Redding Jr. (September 9, 1941 – December 10, 1967) was an American singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the greatest singers in the history of American popular music and a seminal artist in soul music and rhythm and blues. ...

, the new Kid Confucius is more of a live garage soul experience.

Band Split

On 29 March 2010, Kid Confucius announced on their website that they would be splitting. They advised it was an amicable split and that they were going to pursue other musical projects.

Sound and influences

Kid Confucius draws an eclectic mix of old soul from

Curtis Mayfield Curtis Lee Mayfield (June 3, 1942 – December 26, 1999) was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer, and one of the most influential musicians behind soul and politically conscious African-American music.

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop musi ...

Sly & The Family Stone Sly and the Family Stone was an American band from San Francisco. Active from 1966 to 1983, it was pivotal in the development of funk, soul, rock, and psychedelic music. Its core line-up was led by singer-songwriter, record producer, and multi-i ...

and

, pop from

and

The Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and frie ...

to the

Neptunes The Neptunes are an American songwriting and production duo composed of Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, formed in Virginia Beach, Virginia, in 1992. Williams often provides additional vocals on records and appears in the duo's music videos, ...

, and rock from groups such as

and

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...

. The band's older sound also nods to great hip-hop and new soul makers such as

The Roots The Roots are an American hip hop band formed in 1987 by Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The Roots serve as the house band on NBC's ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy F ...

Common Common may refer to: Places * Common, a townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland * Boston Common, a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts * Cambridge Common, common land area in Cambridge, Massachusetts * Clapham Common, originally com ...

and

D'Angelo Michael Eugene Archer (born February 11, 1974), better known by his stage name D'Angelo (), is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. He first garnered attention after co-producing the single "U Will Know" ...

Line up

The band's line up is as follows:

Lead Vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

*Rob Hezkial

Backup Vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are used ...

Rhythm Guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guitar ...

*Andrew Guirguis

Lead Guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

*James Manson

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

*Bart Denaro

Bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

*Nathan Murray

Trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the Standing wave, air column ...

*Benn Chapman

Tenor Saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while th ...

*James Blaxland

Alto Saxophone The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in E, smaller than the B tenor ...

Flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

*Michael Lion

Discography

Albums *''Kid Confucius'', 2005 *''Stripes'', 2007 *''The Let Go'', 2008 Singles *''Words'', 2005 *''Skintight'', 2005 *''Last Straw'', 2006 *''Closer'', 2006 *''Moment'', 2007 *''Good Luck'', 2008

Charts and awards

*''Words'',

Triple J Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian Radio in Australia, radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greate ...

Net 50 *''Words'' filmclip was on most requested clips list on

Channel V Channel '' ("V" standing for the letter, not the Roman numeral "5") is a Chinese and former Asian pay television musical network originally launched by Star TV Hong Kong (now Fox Networks Group Asia Pacific). It was part of the unit of Disney ...

for over two months. *the album was featured as album of the week on

FBi Radio FBi (call sign: 2FBI) station is an independent, not-for-profit community radio in Sydney, Australia. FBi places a heavy emphasis on local emerging music: it has a policy that at least 50 per cent of its music content is to be Australian, of wh ...

and SBS Alchemy. *''Skintight'' film clip won a high commendation in cinematography from the

Australian Cinematographers Society The Australian Cinematographers Society (ACS) is a not-for-profit organisation founded in 1958 for the purpose of providing a forum for Australian cinematographers to further develop their skills through mutual co-operation. Location Its Nati ...

in 2005. *''Words'' nominated for a 2006 Urban Music Award. *Won title Best Urban Act at Australian Dance Music Awards in November 2006 *Won title Best R&B Band at Australian Urban Music Awards in August 2007

External links