Perth indie-rock group NECTAR set to take on South West as part of first-ever tour

A break-out Perth indie-rock group is hitting the road for the first time this month, bringing their flavour down south to share their sound with new audiences. Fremantle based five-piece NECTAR kicked off their inaugural West Australian tour Going Ghost last weekend with plans to rock out at Froth Craft Bunbrewery and Margaret River’s Settler’s Tavern on July 14 and 15. Celebrating their latest single of the same name, bassist Matt Smith said he hoped the tour would expand the group’s fan base. “We’ve been together two or three years now, and this is our first time getting out of Perth, which is cool,” he said. “We love playing in Perth, but it’s a bit of a bubble — especially for what we’re going you need to get exposure and show your faces wherever. “It’ll be our first time playing (down south), we’ve been down there recording at Tone City Injidup but haven’t had a chance to gig yet so it’ll be great to get out there.” Established in 2020, NECTAR have released eight singles in their three years together — their latest psychedelic track the first in eight months. In making Going Ghost, Smith said the group had a crack at the behind-the-scenes production of the single, promising it was not the “last release of 2023”. “We usually just start out jamming together and seeing where an idea evolves naturally,” he said. “This one was actually really good because we did all the recording and producing and mixing ourselves because Jack (Arnett) has been working with our audio engineer Sam Ford so we did most of it then passed it on to Sam to work his magic and master it. “It’s a really relaxed and collaborative process, taking on constructive criticism and just kind of serving the song rather than our egos. “We just did a bunch of recording so we’ve actually got a lot of new material, we’ll definitely be putting a few new tracks out there soon.” Alongside Smith, the group features Judah Pilcher on vocals and guitar, Jack Arnett on guitar and saxophone, Jac Donnelly on drums and recent signing Pete Luckas on keys. Tickets to the Going Ghost tour are on sale now, available via oztix.