THEY may be just 15 years of age, but the members of Surf Coast band The Refuge are already winning fans and racking up the gigs.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Hailing from the Apollo Bay-Lavers Hill area, the five-piece boast a sound older than they are – their influences include Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, AC/DC, and Nirvana.
They will be heading to The Loft in Warrnambool on Wednesday night to launch their debut album Jet Stream.
The Refuge formed two years ago and won a battle of the bands in Colac for their first gig in 2014, which led to them being invited back to perform the following year as special guest headliners.
Since then they’ve gone on to support The Black Sorrows, Sisters Doll and Lee Rosser, as well as sharing the bill at The Day In The Bay gig on the Apollo Bay foreshore alongside the likes of Liz Stringer, Brother James, and Dave Graney.
The Refuge have also appeared at the Gellibrand Blues & Blueberry Festival, the Birregurra Festival, the Apollo Bay Seafood Festival, and a host of Freeza events across the region.
The band members – Jackson Hyatt, Houston Walters, Noa Matthews, Riley Newton and Leon Kennedy – are all classmates at Apollo Bay P-12 College.
The Refuge are performing at The Loft as part of the Future Sessions series, which aims to give young and up-and-coming acts a venue to perform their original music.