WHEN your band is named Tropical F--k Storm and boasts album titles like A Laughing Death in Meatspace, you expect a chaotic ride.
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But the past year has been tumultuous, even by the four-piece's standards.
In January 2023 it was announced that bassist Fiona Kitschin would undergo chemotherapy after being diagnosed with stage-three breast cancer.
It caused the cancellation of the Victorian art-punk band's US and Australian tours and left their immediate future in suspension.
It led to Kitschin's partner and TFS frontman, Gareth Liddiard, launching a GoFundMe page - which reached its $80,000 target within days - and he toured his 2010 solo album Strange Tourist to raise funds for medical costs.
Last month TFS returned to the stage for a small Australian tour, which includes a headline slot at the Hunter Valley's Gum Ball music festival next Friday.
"We went straight back into the deep end [after COVID] with back-to-back overseas tours and then Fi [Kitschin] had this bloody awful news chucked at her," TFS guitarist Erica Dunn tells Weekender.
"We've just done our best to get around her and make sure she's supported through a cruel 15 months of chemo.
"I'm just trying to take my mood from her. She's so ready, and it's giving me excitement seeing what it's giving her to be excited about playing shows again and getting back on the road."
TFS arose in 2017 out of the ashes of beloved Australian Music Prize-winning rock band, The Drones.
Liddiard and Kitschin were searching for new collaborators to push their music in more experimental and psychedelic directions.
They chose Dunn - who was already well-known in the Melbourne music scene through her band Mod Con and solo project Palm Springs - and Newcastle-raised drummer Lauren Hammel from metal band High Tension.
Initially TFS were viewed as a Drones spin-off project by many fans.
But across their increasingly experimental albums A Laughing Death in Meatspace (2018), Braindrops (2019) and Deep States (2021) and EPs Submersive Behaviour (2023) and Goody Goody Gumdrops (2023), TFS have developed their own clear identity.
Then last year the band released their own Magical Mystery Tour-style film, which was produced on Liddiard and Kitschin's rural property, blending live music with absurdist comedy.
Deep States even won an ARIA Award for Best Hard Rock or Heavy Metal Album, an accolade The Drones never achieved.
Everything is on the table. That is the sort of ethos we signed up to, if there was one. Not that it was written on the dotted line.
- Erica Dunn, Tropical F--k Storm guitarist
"We totally feel like our own entity," Dunn says.
"I feel like playing and making music in this day and age can be a very ephemeral thing, but it's really amazing to feel like we've been through so much together in our short time and renewing our commitment to doing it.
"I feel like there's been so many times when it's been hanging in the balance with COVID or whatever.
"There has been so much adversity for people wanting to live a different way and make music. It feels really good that we're still like, 'let's do this and how can we make it work'?"
Partly the reason TFS succeeds is due to the creative freedom the band fosters.
"Everything is on the table," she says. "That is the sort of ethos we signed up to, if there was one. Not that it was written on the dotted line.
"I feel like everyone was at a point in their playing and their vision for what they wanted for their playing, to just buck trends and shake off any habits and try anything on."
During The Drones Liddiard was the band's lead vocalist and focal point, but TFS has become increasingly collaborative with Dunn and Kitschin's backing vocals an essential element of the band's sound.
On Deep States Dunn even took the lead on the stand-out track New Romeo Agent.
"That was probably the one thing I remember that we said at the start, [we wanted] everyone singing all the time," Dunn says. "A real onslaught of voices.
"It's created a lot more opportunities for other perspectives, changes in narrative. Flicking lyrical conversations on their head with a call and response-type way.
"That's been real fun to play around with."
Tropical F--k Storm play at Gum Ball on April 26 to 28.
Gareth Liddiard will also perform a separate solo set on August 25.
Josh Leeson
Josh Leeson is an entertainment and features journalist, specialising in music, at the Newcastle Herald. He first joined the masthead in 2008 after stints at the Namoi Valley Independent and Port Stephens Examiner and has previously covered sport including the Asian Cup, A-League, Surfest, cricket and rugby league.
Josh Leeson is an entertainment and features journalist, specialising in music, at the Newcastle Herald. He first joined the masthead in 2008 after stints at the Namoi Valley Independent and Port Stephens Examiner and has previously covered sport including the Asian Cup, A-League, Surfest, cricket and rugby league.
