As the world becomes increasingly connected, we begin to see significant shifts within the global music landscape. The works of King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard (or ‘King Gizzard’) perfectly exemplify this, highlighting the influence of interconnectedness within modern music. Heralding from Australia, King Gizzard is a psychedelic rock band renowned for their mainstream experimentation with international musical techniques. Between their nearly thirty albums, the band explores a diverse collection of musical themes and styles, perfectly illustrating how globalisation has affected international music culture.
Most notably, the band experiments with a variety of non-western mannerisms, borrowing various tonalities, time signatures, instruments and chord progressions from across the globe – including Turkey, South Africa and the Middle East (Young, 2016). The band then contextualise these distinctive styles by incorporating various Pop and Rock elements, making them accessible to a mainstream western audience.
Not only does this fusion of global music techniques allow King Gizzard to expose audiences to new and exciting sounds, but simultaneously forces the listener to be immersed in a variety of international cultures and identities (Breathnach, 2021). This report looks to analyse King Gizzard’s implementation of these styles, their key influences and how their music brings global cultures to a mainstream audience. Furthermore, I also look to explore hybridisation within music, and how modernism has aided in the blending of global genres and styles.
Annotated Bibliography
There are a variety of sources I’ve chosen to look at to analyse the global influences of King Gizzard’s music. Notably, a key component of these lie in the works of the band. Whether in the composition of their songs or various interviews, these sources play an integral role in understanding the band and should not be discredited. I plan on integrating these with the listed academic sources, allowing me to fully analyse King Gizzard’s immense musical impact.
Bennett, A, 2005, Music, Space and Place: Popular Music and Cultural Identity, Routledge, New York.
One of the most important pieces of my research lies in the intrinsic link between music and culture – and the ways through which one’s identity can be exhibited through music. Bennett’s work highlights this, suggesting music plays an integral role in defining how cultural groups ‘negotiate the everyday’. The work emphasises the role music plays in revealing one’s culture – and the way distinctive musical styles are representative of cultural identity. This directly correlates with the work of King Gizzard, highlighting how their incorporation of global musical styles allows them to reveal specific cultural aspects and ideas. Moreover, Bennett also looks to discuss modernism, and how an increasingly global world has established a hybridisation of genres. Again, we can see this within the work of King Gizzard, with the band expertly pairing classic Australian rock styles with that of Anatolian psychedelia (Berman, 2017) creating international hybridity within their music. The text argues that, as the world becomes more globally aware, we can begin to see a sense of collective identity form – something truly apparent within the works of King Gizzard. Unfortunately, this text does have some limitations. The age of the work means that its discussion regarding modernism and the global music scene is somewhat dated, not realising the true scale of today’s international media landscape.
Hijel, M, 2018, Towards a Global Music History : Intercultural Convergence, Fusion, and Transformation in the Human Musical Story, Taylor & Francis Group, Milton.
Luckily, the work of Hijel supersedes this – providing a modern insight into how globalisation has transformed the music industry. The work examines global culture, discussing intercultural music convergence and the ways through which technological advancements have led to a distinctive fusion within modern music. Hijel argues that transculturality within music has become extremely prominent, playing an integral role in making broader cultures and identities accessible on a global scale. Again, this can be applied to King Gizzard, highlighting how their integration of distinctive music styles can communicate niche subcultures and identities to an international audience. Moreover, this text also allows us to continue to decipher fusion and hybridisation within music, revealing how the works of King Gizzard develop a unique ‘cultural identity’. Finally, the text also discusses an array of modern examples – analysing music composition and its global influences. This will also prove useful, providing me with a scaffold to break down and interpret the works of King Gizzard. Overall, this text proves to be extremely useful to my research, with its only limitation being an excess of examples – many of which are irrelevant to my research.
Gültekin, S, 2019, Turkish psychedelia the revival of Anatolian pop, Masters thesis, Kadir Has University.
Contrastingly, Gültekins’ work offers a more niche insight into modern music’s role in the conveyance of culture. Gültekins thesis looks to outline Anatolian pop and its distinctive styles, highlighting its recent revival within Western music. The work argues that this renaissance is reflective of transcultural music trends – with international music playing a key role in its resurgence. The work is extremely relevant to King Gizzard – with a number of their inspirations being drawn from Turkish psychedelia. Between the band’s experimentation with the bağlama or rather, their implementation of 5/4 time signatures – a huge range of King Gizzard’s music is heavily based on the Turkish music scene (Young, 2016), with Gültekins even listing them by name. It’s clear that not only does the band utilise these styles, but has been a key figure in the recent resurgence of Anatolian culture – defining its place within the international music scene. The text does have limitations, most notably in the specificity of the work – however, after research into a handful of interviews (Breathnach, 2021) it’s clear that Anatolian psychedelia is extremely important, not only in influencing the band but in showcasing how their work can affect cultures directly.
Chadwin, J, 2019, Applying microtonality to pop songwriting: A study of microtones in pop music, Masters thesis, University of Huddersfield.
Similarly, Chadwin’s work is also helpful, taking a deep dive into the specificity of microtonality and the ways through which pop music can introduce ‘out-there’ musical concepts to a mainstream audience. Microtonality, a typically Eastern style of music composition, is a recurring aspect within King Gizzard’s discography – with the band composing three albums (‘K.G’, ‘L.W’ and ‘Flying Microtonal Banana’) entirely focused on exploring this style (Gluckin, 2017). Chadwin argues that this increased prevalence of Eastern musical technologies is representative of modern music trends – with artists opting to bring global culture to a mainstream international audience. By understanding these trends (both in regards to microtonality and global culture) one can understand how King Gizzard make niche cultural identities accessible to their widespread audience. Again, this text does have some limitations in regards to its specificity, however, it’s abundantly clear that microtonality is a key focus of King Gizzard, and acts as an excellent case study of how global music concepts are becoming continually integrated into mainstream music.
Discussion
It’s clear that King Gizzard is not only influenced by global music culture but plays an integral role in bringing these cultures to a mainstream Australian audience. ‘Sleep Drifter’ (KGLW, 2017), the 4th track on ‘Flying Microtonal Banana’, exemplifies this perfectly, contextualising distinctive Anatolian musical styles in a way that is accessible to an Australian audience. The song features an array of traditional Turkish instruments and techniques, with the bağlama being played alongside a microtonal bass and lead guitar. Though this quarter note tuning would typically come across as dissonant to a Western audience, as suggested by Chadwin (2019), when contextualised with Western instruments, lyrics and progressions it is able to be richly engaged with by an Australian audience (with the album placing 2nd on the ARIA charts (Medien, 2017)). In this respect, King Gizzard assist Anatolian music culture in appealing to western audiences, directly contributing to the revival of the genre and culture as a whole (Gültekin, 2019).
Similarly, their track ‘O.N.E’ (KGLW, 2021) also offers a perfect case study – seeing the theories of both Hijel and Bennett come to life. Featured on the band’s third microtonal album, ‘L.W.’, the piece skillfully blends a variety of international music techniques and instruments, with the track featuring the wurlitzer (German), pungi (Indian), sitar (also Indian) and bağlama (Turkish) – alongside typical Western instruments (delarue, 2021). Moreover, the piece cycles between several time signatures and develops an atonal melody across the various instruments. This mismatch of global musical techniques exemplifies Bennett’s (2005) theory of hybridisation, and how it has been used to develop a unique cultural identity. Not only does the track allow listeners to experience the various cultures associated with each of the additions – but creates an identity of its own, immersing the audience in a sense of international convergence (Hijel, 2018). Evidently, the sense of culture integrated within the works has only been a result of an increasingly globalised landscape (O’Shaughnessy, 2012) with 21st-century technologies being key to enabling King Gizzard to inspire, understand and communicate on an international stage.
Conclusion
It’s clear that King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard are a perfect case study of an ever-modernised music landscape. With technology allowing us to understand cultures like never before, it’s no surprise music is continuing to fuse, blend and evolve. King Gizzard and their discography exemplify this, revealing how the understanding and incorporation of global music influences can universalise culture, in a way that can be understood and appreciated by all. Moreover, the band also exemplifies the trajectory of global music as a whole, and the way blending cultures can create a new, distinctive identity. It’s clear that not only does music play a critical role in enabling the mainstream spread of culture – but that as we continue to grow and evolve, so does the global music landscape.
References
Bennett, A, 2005, Music, Space and Place: Popular Music and Cultural Identity, Routledge, New York.
Berman, S, 2017, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard : Flying Microtonal Banana Review, Pitchfork, viewed 19 September 2022, <https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/22925-flying-microtonal-banana/>
Breathnach, C, 2021, Stu Mackenzie discusses how King Gizzard kitted out cheap guitars with extra frets for Flying Microtonal Banana, Guitar.com, viewed 19 September 2022, <https://guitar.com/news/music-news/king-gizzard-stu-mackenzie-discusses-microtonal/>
Chadwin, J, 2019, Applying microtonality to pop songwriting: A study of microtones in pop music, Masters thesis, University of Huddersfield.
delarue, 2021, Another Gorgeous, Mesmerizing Middle Eastern Rock Record From King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, NEW YORK MUSIC DAILY, viewed 25 September 2022, <https://newyorkmusicdaily.wordpress.com/2021/03/12/kglw/>
Gluckin, T, 2017, Microtonal Madmen: King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard’s Stu Mackenzie and Joey Walker, Premier Guitar, viewed 24 September 2022, <https://www.premierguitar.com/artists/microtonal-madmen-king-gizzard-and-the-lizard-wizards-stu-mackenzie-and-joey-walker>
Gültekin, S, 2019, Turkish psychedelia the revival of Anatolian pop, Masters thesis, Kadir Has University.
Hijel, M, 2018, Towards a Global Music History : Intercultural Convergence, Fusion, and Transformation in the Human Musical Story, Taylor & Francis Group, Milton.
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, 2021, O.N.E., Spotify, <https://open.spotify.com/track/5Tr57zEsUBRckxVrwgsoQU>
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, 2017, Sleep Drifter, Spotify, <https://open.spotify.com/track/7lCj7wEXRJqptkSiIALQxN>
Medien, H, 2017, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard – Flying Microtonal Banana (Album), Australian-charts, viewed 24 September 2022, <https://australian-charts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=King+Gizzard+and+the+Lizard+Wizard&titel=Flying+Microtonal+Banana&cat=a>
O’Shaughnessy, M, 2012, ‘Globalisation’ in Media and Society, Oxford University Press, pp. 458-471.
Young, D, 2016, King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard: The most productive band in Australian music, Beat, viewed 19 September 2022, <https://beat.com.au/king-gizzard-and-the-lizard-wizard-the-most-productive-band-in-australian-music/>
