Drummer Todd Hansen of King Parrot talks touring with Pantera
16th February 2025King Parrot, have really set the pace for Australian grind and it’s bloody rapid!! All About the rock caught up with the man behind some of the fastest moving pedals in the industry- Drummer Todd Hansen in the midst of their EU/UK tour dates supporting US Heavy weights Pantera and Master.
Hello Toddy! Fantastic to catch you on this side of the world again, there has been a lot happening in the world of King Parrot. The band has a new album coming out on 06/06/25- this is the first new music that King Parrot has bought out in 5 years, since ‘Held up in the lair EP’ and we are very excited! Is there anything sneaky you can tell us about KP’s forthcoming album ‘A Young person’s guide’?
I can tell you that it’s 10 killer new tunes that we gave a lot of time to. We had so many ideas from writing sessions between Ugly Produce and now, but none of them were really finished. So we went through with a fine tooth comb, picked the best songs/riffs, and nutted them out. We also took a lot more time with pre-production, and I tracked to a click this time around. The artwork is also a creation by our late friend and collaborator Boyd Synnott, who had been working on this concept before his passing. I guess we put more time into this one and the end result shows that.
Hell yeah, well only a few more months to go then.. King Parrot just released a new music video last week for a teaser from the new album. The song is titled, “Fuck You and the horse you rode in on”. Just when we think you couldn’t make a video clip more fucked up than the previous one… you surprise us. What was the idea behind this clip? How did you all come up with the idea behind it?
It’s a bit of a tribute to that scene in the movie Trainspotting where he dives into the toilet! Our Vocalist Youngy came up with the initial concept, and our long time Video extraordinaire Dan Farmer (Farmwalker Productions) filled in the missing pieces! Basically, Slatts is playing the arsehole who just gets on everyone’s nerves, the kind of prick you would say Fuck you and the horse you rode in on to. He fakes a disability, upsets the other punters, wins on his horse race ticket, but loses it down the toilet and dives in afterwards. We all end up being dragged down with him, swimming through the sewers and emerging at a backyard pool party! As always, it was fun to make!!
Well it was definitely fun to watch! Now, I’ve caught you in the middle of a wild European/ UK tour and it’s a bit madness! You are supporting Pantera with the mighty Power Trip and then following on to support Master on their EU tour as well as a few Headlining shows thrown in there too.
It sure is!! We’re starting out opening for Power Trip and Pantera in some massive arenas across Europe and the UK for the first 3 weeks! It’s been crazy so far, as we have been playing to thousands of people each night! Throw in a couple of headliners in both Manchester and Folkestone in the UK, then we head out with Master for their 40th-anniversary tour through Europe for another 4 weeks. We’re hitting some places we’ve never played like Serbia and Bulgaria, as well as parts of Eastern Europe that we’ve only been to once. So it will be great to get around and try to win over some new fans!
Who do you have supporting you on your solo shows?
In Manchester we have Hideous Crawling Abomination, Banshees Moonflower and Carnal Rot and in Folkestone we have Sorg, Swear Down, Locusts, Convulsion, Cat Parasite and Wombstone.
They are fantastic bands to have as support. What has been your favorite location of the tour so far and which one are you looking forward to the most?
I think Bologna in Italy was the most energetic crowd so far, they were great!! I’m looking forward to the UK shows, as we’ve always done quite well there. UK folk get our Aussie humour and really play along! Plus I have a lot of mates there I’m excited to catch up with!
King Parrot are not new to Touring with Pantera, so I can imagine there would definitely be some moments to write home about, but surely you have a wild story or two from the tour chaos to humor us with?
This might be disappointing, but nothing too wild if I’m honest. We’re all middle-aged and grumpy now, so it’s pretty tame. But the Pantera crew are absolutely awesome to us, and Philip and Kate have always been so accommodating and generous with King Parrot. I guess it’s more of a ‘grown-up’ vibe these days? Still plenty of laughs and great times though. We’ve now played with Pantera in the US, Australia, and EU/UK, so covering some ground!
Oh yes, I absolutely understand being middle-aged and grumpy. (Haha) You recently chopped off your dreadlocks to raise money for the charity ‘Support Act’, how much did you end up raising in the end and how is life post-dreddies… Can you drum even faster now?
I ended up raising $5730 over the few weeks! It was a bit of a spur of the moment decision, and I managed to pull it all together with help from Support Act pretty quickly. I also donated the dreads themselves to Sustainable Salons, who collect hair clippings to make these things called hair booms that are used to soak up chemical/oil spills both on land and in water. Life is great post dreddies! Better for the neck, better for showering and sleeping, plus no lose hair getting in my face.
That’s a bucketload of Money! Well done, we’d love to know why you chose Support Act to raise funds for?
Support Act are a charity supporting the music and wider arts community in Australia. I donate to them from time to time, and I know that they have helped many of my industry friends, particularly through COVID-19 when the industry stopped. So it’s a charity I feel aligns well with my values.
An amazing charity! So back to the tour, what can your fans expect to hear on this tour? Will there be a mix of fan favorites as well as some insights into the new album?
We’ve got a 30 minute set on this Pantera/Power Trip run, and we’ve jam packed it with choice cuts from our previous releases, as well as 3 brand new songs for good measure! We will be playing longer sets on our headliners and also with Master, so there will be at least another new song in there I’d say! We’ve tried to jam a good mix of our entire catalog in as we’re exposed to so many new ears and want them to hear what we’re about!
I cannot wait to see the response from some new audiences, they are going tto be blown away! Do you have a favorite King Parrot song to play and why?
Damn that’s a tough one! I love playing the new stuff at the moment like Horse, Get What Ya Given, and Target Pig Elite. Disgrace Yourself is a fun one as it’s quite busy drum-wise. I also love playing Home Is Where The Gutter Is and Hell Comes Your Way off the Dead Set record, as those were the first couple of songs I wrote with the band when I joined!
They are some great tracks, I can see why you love playing them. So, no judgement here, but which city are you most looking forward to visiting? (*Glasgow cough cough)
I’d have to say Glasgow. I love it there, probably due to my Scottish heritage. But it’s just one of those places that just feels kinda homely in a way.
Yay!! Glasgow! Well, Scotland is absolutely looking forward to welcoming you back.
Final question- what is your Favourite Lemmy quote?
“Good manners don’t cost nothing!”
Ahh yes, thats a great one! As always its been a pleasure chatting with you. And with that we bid Toddy farewell to continue on this tour of Chaos.
Upcoming UK Tour dates below:
MON 17/2- Manchester- King Parrot Headline show
TUE-18/2- Glasgow w/- Pantera & Power Trip
WED 19/2- Leeds w/- Pantera & Power Trip
FRI- 21/2-Dublin w/- Pantera & Power Trip
SUN 23/2-Birmingham w/- Pantera & Power Trip
TUE 25/2- London w/- Pantera & Power Trip
WED 26/2- Folkestone- King Parrot Headline show
For all things King Parrot – CLICK HERE and HERE
To check out their new Music Video- CLICK HERE
To Pre-order their new album CLICK HERE
To donate to SUPPORT ACT Charity CLICK HERE
