Most kids who grow up in a small town get the urge to move away to find adventure in the big city. Even when you grow up in one of the most beautiful towns in the country like Kiama, the allure of finding something “bigger” is almost impossible to ignore.

This yearning to leave can also cloud your memories and make you forget how good you had it “back in the day” when you were young. This journalist received a pleasant reminder of what it was like growing up in Kiama when I spoke to Jack Reilly, now a Sydney-based musician who grew up in Kiama. If the surname sounds familiar, it’s because Jack is the son of Kiama Mayor Neil Reilly.

Like myself, Jack was a part of the Illawarra music scene in his youth before moving to Sydney in his early twenties. With his next album in the works, The Bugle caught up with Jack to discuss what it was like trying to make it as a musician in Kiama during the 2000s.

Jack was around 11 when he started seriously listening to music, but it wasn’t until watching a performance at the ARIAs that he decided he wanted to be in a band.

“What got me to consider music was Frenzal Rhomb performing at the ARIAs. They played Never Had So Much Fun and it changed my life.”

The next day, Jack decided music was his life even though he didn’t actually know how to play an instrument.

“It was a few years before I could do anything. I met my friend Ben in high school and we just told everyone we were a band. We would say we’re having band practice but just put on Rollin’ by Limp Bizkit really loud and jump around.”

Jack and his mates eventually got their own instruments and started a band called Laceration, which was the beginning of Jack’s live performing career at around 13.

It wasn’t easy being a fan of alternative music, or any alternative subculture at all at the time. “I think the South Coast generally speaking is very good, but I just think culturally everyone is kind of cool, and into surfing and sports,” says Jack.

“Certainly that’s changing now, but when I was growing up, I was really interested in heavy music and edgy, goth culture, and sensitive guys wearing makeup. It was just a bit weird for a lot of the kids who were going surfing.”

Jack says it was this dichotomy among Kiama’s youth that brought young musicians and anyone interested in alternative subcultures together.

“It was when the community found each other, there were goth kids, punk kids, kids that were a bit alternative, when they found each other, it was a very good thing.”

One of Jack’s memories of playing in bands at the time was how competitive the scene could be at times. “The scene gets kind of big, everyone is really excited and supporting each other, then all the bands feel like they’re really important and put themselves and a lot of egos in the way when people start coming to shows. And it’s hilarious to think about because we’re all in Kiama.”

Despite the ups and downs, Jack has fond memories of playing in Kiama, and attributes his current success to the skills and attitude he formed on the South Coast.

“In terms of what it was like to play music, my memory of it is that it was generally pretty good. I certainly have a lot of memories of being young, before music I had no way of expressing myself and no sense of community in the town, certainly I went from having nothing to having some.”

“The local nature of everything, having to put on shows yourself, organising bills, organising events, making sure they’re as inclusive as possible, they’re all things I’ve learnt in Kiama and have very much tried to keep consistent throughout the rest of my career. The attitude that was formed here has informed everything I’ve done.”

New music

Jack has been on a hiatus when it comes to releasing music, his last release being in 2020. That being said, he’s gearing up to release a new 10-track album next year, and has just released a cover of Funeral by Phoebe Bridges. Jack says he decided to cover Funeral because hearing Phoebe Bridges made him feel the same way that hearing Frenzal Rhomb did all those years ago. That feeling inspired Jack to return to basics and release his music with a DIY approach.

“I just really wanted to alleviate some of the anxiety around releasing music, because having those three years to build something, I got really overwhelmed at the idea of it being right and reintroducing myself to the world in a new way, then I started worrying if people would be into it, and all these really unhelpful thoughts,” says Jack.

“I thought the only way to alleviate that pressure of putting out new music was to go back to how it was for me when I first started, so I purposefully didn't put it on Spotify, I put it up for free on Bandcamp and Youtube.”

As for the new songs, Jack says there’s a tension between his own desire to express emotions in a raw and honest way while also catering to what people want to hear that permeates throughout his music. As a result, the lyrics of his new music tend to revolve around conflict resolution and being able to have honest conversations despite being scared of the outcome.

“A lot of my music has been about feeling lonely and alienated, so I really wrote this record to have some semblance of not feeling so alone anymore, finding people I can spend my life with, and how that’s not always the end of the story,” says Jack.

“You still learn and grow when you let people into your life and start having real adult relationships, and with that comes its own set of separate headaches. But it’s mainly about the conflict tension and hopefully the resolution that comes from being able to articulate your feelings.”

Jack says that any young people in Kiama that want to be in a band should focus their efforts on doing what they love to do, not just what a potential audience might think about it.

“Just try to think about the feeling you had when you felt that you’d feel better if that was expressed. If your focus is just on making work that you’re proud of that you can express yourself honestly through, that’s a really valuable thing.”

“The majority of people do not have the inclination to do anything creative whatsoever, so if you have an inclination, you have a responsibility to pay homage to that feeling. So you’re already streets ahead of everyone else if you have that feeling and attempt something.”