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Artist
Expatriate
12+ albums
indie rockaustralianindiealternativerock
about
Expatriate is a Sydney-based band consisting of Ben King (vocals, guitar), Chris Kollias (drums), Damian Press (keyboard, guitar, sound engineer) and Dave Molland (bass). Expatriate derive their name from the collective experiences of their youth. Front man Ben King grew up in the midst of Jakarta, behind the walls of a United Nations meets ‘Dazed and Confused’ international school - he was living the contradiction of isolation in a big city. It was here King first cut his teeth on politics, watching the corrupt regime of Indonesian President Suharto from behind the utopian society of a school without nationalities, flags or borders. At lunchtime students traded cassette tapes, recipes and languages. Argentinean friends introduced him to The Cure. A student cover band introduced him to Nirvana at assembly. It was a stark contrast when he returned to Australia at 15 to attend a traditional boarding school. King left behind friends and loves, later studying politics at Sydney University before pursuing music full time. Drummer & percussionist Chris Kollias - also an expatriate in many ways - spent his formative years grappling with colliding cultures. The son of migrant parents, his early musical influences came from his father’s transistor radio. The sounds of the Greek Underground 'Rembetika' - a style of music which originated from the forced immigration of 2 million Greek refugees from Asia Minor - would sing out, while on the TV screen unfit athletes would hit a
