Melbourne rock outfit Electric Mary are the ultimate party band.
Their blues infused brand of hard rock has seen them warmly embraced through most of Europe - sadly moreso than in their home country - but new track The King Of Rock 'N' Roll should finally show Australian music lovers just how good this band is.
An engaging live band with a penchant for upstaging any line-up they are asked to play on, Electric Mary have undergone several band incarnations, each varying slightly musically but all maintaining the rock fire that refuses to be extinguished.
With The King Of Rock 'N' Roll set for release on August 5, enigmatic frontman Rusty took some time out to sit down for a typically entertaining and informative chat, as always openly wearing his heart and genuine love for music firmly on his sleeve.
"Stylistically, it's a little different for us," he said of the new single. "Basically it was thrown up by Alex, our bass player, who said 'you need to write a song called The King Of Rock 'N' Roll because you always go around telling people that's what you are (laughs). Initially, I started writing it about Bon Scott. He's second to none. There's equals - like Robert Plant - but Bon Scott… he's hard to beat, and it's hard to explain, and that's why the song isn't about him in the end. I didn't feel like I could… I didn't have the right knowledge, because I was trying to write it as an understanding of how he would feel, but of course I can't really know that, so I didn't write it. But then I thought I could write this about a bunch of people I know who have had a little bit of success and stuff has dropped away, but people are still wanting to go out and see them play. It might just be 100 people, it might be fifty, but they're still out there. Their problem is they've been ripped off by record companies and anyone else who thinks they can make some money out of them, but they still go for it and some people think they're the kings of rock and roll, which is very cool."

In the full interview Rusty talks more about The King Of Rock And Roll and how it is a different approach for Electric Mary, experimenting with different genres and making them work, future new music, the state of touring from a musician's perspective, the status of their upcoming tour and more.