Hometown Heroes x King Street Carnival - The Buoys

Introducing Hometown Heroes X King Street Carnival - a 4 part series. These episodes are the eloped marriage of our favourite Thrills series and our old favourite (and now) supercharged festival The King Street Crawl. Join The Buoys, Andy Golledge, Johnny Hunter and Caitlin Harnett as they take us around King Street. Get in an insight into what makes the Inner West suburbs of Sydney so special as we explore the homes, hovels, venues, bars and dives that have helped cultivate such a diverse, inclusive and talented music community.

Sitting in Camperdown Park reminiscing over King Street Crawl’s past, The Buoys (Zoe, Hilary, Tess and Courtney) are full of laughs. From playing packed shows, to getting stuck in the same venue all day, or dragging a guitar case from gig to gig to hack the lines and get straight in, they’ve done their fair share of King Street Crawl’s and loved every one of them. Mostly Sydney natives but not necessarily originally from the Inner West, The Buoys have all clearly found their home in one of the most inclusive, supportive and creative hubs of Australia’s largest city, “The Inner West feels like home”.

The picnic in the park forms a small portion of The Buoys’ ideal Inner West day; grabbing a 6 pack from the Courthouse Hotel (“The Courty”), loading up on snacks and books to read, while dog and people-watching from afar. 

A pack of Jatz and a few Young Henry’s cans down, and we’re on our way to 212 Blu. It’s at this cafe where the band first met via a failed Tinder date. Upon re-telling, it seems there’s a little more to the story as Zoe tries to hide a previously unknown secret. It turns out she had already lined a show up in Newcastle prior to meeting the band but kept it to herself knowing (hoping) they would get it together in a matter of weeks… mixed accounts seem unable to confirm whether they did or not but by looking at them now - something must have gone right.

From 212, we’re taken down Australia Street towards King and the home of The Buoys favourite Crawl show at Waywards (The Bank Hotel). It’s unavoidably clear at this stage that if you’re playing music in the Inner West there’s not many pubs you can walk in without bumping into a friend or 10. What was meant to be a walk-by turns in to 3 jugs, a bunch of hugs and some old memories as we catch up with fellow Shire graduates “Adam Newling” and his band. We could settle in on The Bank balcony forever but we’re short on time, as Hilary has humbly tried to make us forget - she has a Jazz performance tonight at the Opera House, yep, that Opera House the one with all the spikey little roofs. Neither of us wanting to be responsible for any tardiness on this occasion, it’s time we move on.

I’m told that no day out in the Inner West would be complete without catching a show at the Lansdowne before some drinks on rooftop. A quick glimpse out of the iconic greenroom perched atop Parramatta Road whilst poaching some beers from the act of the nights rider and we’re off to the rooftop. With our own mini King Street Crawl now complete, I’m thinking back to the start of the day in the park where we talked over the importance of seeing a grassroots festival like the King Street Crawl grow into the size and scale of the Carnival. The opportunity that the Music and Booze Co have given so many local bands to showcase their music over the years and how proud the area is to see it’s bands develop in to festival acts sharing the stage with iconic Australian bands such as Yothu Yindi and You am I. I asked The Buoys the same question I asked all bands, “What’s the best thing about the Inner West?” and the answer always remains the same – The community”.