Summer is the first track from a forthcoming EP titled Homelands by Aboriginal led punk-rock band Chasing Ghosts. Frontman Jimmy Kyle is a proud Koori man, a descendent of the Thungutti mob from the mid-north coast of NSW. He speaks and writes with a potent mind. Every track on the forthcoming EP is about real people and real situations, all of them born from intense real-life stories. Wanting to do justice to the topics while bringing everyone on the journey and simultaneously still speaking the truth was a pressure that weighted heavy. “I was scared to write these songs, because a lot of the topics are challenging,” says Jimmy Kyle. “But that’s how I knew I was onto something. It made me feel nervous.”
Listen to Summer
Watch the video for Summer
“Summer” is one hell of an amped track with a beat that drives so strong it has the legs to keep rockin’ all Summer long. Produced by Jimmy Kyle and Lincoln Le Fevre (Luca Brasi, Wil Wagner, Lucy Wilson), accompanied with an equally charged and culturally strong clip by award winning filmmaker Ben McFadyen and cover art by Wiradjuri, Ngiyampaa woman and Instagram design influencer @coffinbirth, this power posse is one you need to be across.
“Summer “finds Jimmy Kyle singing in both English and, for the first time ever, in his native tongue as he explores the horrors of the 1856 Towel Creek massacre. The singer-guitarist delivers the song through the eyes of a grieving Aboriginal Elder, of the story of “Baaba” (Babaang) Jack Scott as a baby; the lone survivor of the Towel Creek tragedy. Incredibly, through a schoolyard incident when he was younger Kyle learned of a close family link to that Elder.
“The song explores white nationalism, colonisation, assimilation and ultimately reconciliation,” offers Kyle. “It asks the question of white Australia to come and reconcile the true history of the country and invites non-Indigenous Australians to see themselves as an extension of Aboriginal people.”
With a strong passion for Aboriginal languages Jimmy Kyle is committed to his culture and his community and has a long history working with First Nations Youth, Elders and community. Further, Jimmy’s cultural awareness training workshops and seminars are in high demand due to the cultural depth his brings to this space. He works with entities such as the Victoria Police, DHHS and other government agencies to help them better understand First Nations cultures and histories. “Only having a little knowledge is dangerous,” he says.
Summer single tour dates 2021
19 Feb – The Corner Hotel, Melbourne – Tickets
5 March – The Brightside, Brisbane – Tickets
13 March – Crowbar, Sydney – Tickets
CHASING GHOSTS : are Jimmy Kyle (founder/frontman and chief song-writer ), Josh Burgan (guitar/vocals), Aaron Schultz (guitar/vocals), Jake Dargaville (drums), Chris O’Neill (keys/vocals) and Rohan Welsh (bass).
