False Positive lit up the stage during Youth Week Battle of the Bands competition – Currents 2022. Photo: Bella Mccann.
A last-minute decision to perform My Hero by the Foo Fighters paid off for Moruya group False Positive which took out this year’s Eurobodalla Youth Week Battle of the Bands competition – Currents 2022.
“The crowd really got into it and everyone was singing along – it was epic,” said rhythm guitarist and lead vocalist Jack Mccann.
The newly-formed punk rock band decided to add the Fooies’ favourite to their setlist two weeks out from the competition following the sudden death of drummer Taylor Hawkins. And Jack said the huge response was “totally unexpected”.
After an impressive start, the crowd really fired up during their second song Sex on Fire by the Kings of Leon.
“Halfway through I got the crowd to sing along and they really got into it – it was insane. I was in shock and it was at that moment that I thought, ‘we need to be doing this more often’,” Jack said.
“When we played the set, I think we all had the same feeling that this can’t just be a one-time thing and that we really work as a band.
“It was even more apparent when they announced us as the winners. We all thought it was surreal.”
The band, composed of current and former Moruya High School students, is now ready to take their music to the next level and start playing gigs around town.
Joining Jack on the Currents stage was Angus Mclntyre on lead guitar, Tye Passlow on bass and Hamish McConaghy on drums.
After first playing together at school a couple of years back, the group got back together at the start of this year to enter the Youth Week competition.
“We first played together when I was helping set up a school concert and I overheard a bunch of guys soundcheck an instrumental version of Can’t Stop by the Red Hot Chilli Peppers,” Jack said.
“I thought they sounded great, so I asked if they wanted a singer and it turns out they did.
“We played at the school concert and, for a bunch of guys that had only just met, I got told that the way we interacted with each other on the stage looked like we’d been playing together for years.
“We played a few more school concerts and then, when I graduated I thought that was pretty much the end of it, until I saw a poster for Currents battle of the bands in Moruya which drove me to ask the guys if they wanted to enter, and they were keen.”
Jack said the musicians instantly clicked again and their award-winning energy set the stage on fire.
“I feel like the main reason we wanna keep going was the crowd reaction at Currents,” he said.
“The crowd was insane and let me do things I’ve only ever seen rock stars like Billie Joe Armstrong from Green Day do.”
The band is now practising every week and looking for gigs around the region to “try and keep the momentum going”.
“As well as learning more songs, we’ve been working on some originals and hope to release an EP or album by the end of the year,” Jack said.
In the lead up to the competition, their rehearsals were interrupted and they had a few hiccups due to COVID-19, which led to the band name False Positive.
“We had trouble picking a name at first. Some of the options we had were Vanilla Lemonade or Bucket Boyz, but we then decided on False Positive due to both me and Angus receiving false positive COVID tests,” Jack said.
“We thought it gave us a different appearance to all the other local bands.”
Following their 15-minute live set, the band was presented with a huge trophy and has secured a performance slot for Currents 2023.
The band plays mainly punk rock songs that get people on the dance floor and the crowd singing along.
“We want to do songs that we like and everyone likes,” Jack said.
“We don’t care who the song’s by or what it’s about; the main goal is getting people up and having a good time.
“That whole era of 2007 and 2008 rock – that’s the fun stuff we all grew up on.”
False Positive can be booked for gigs, festivals and events via their Facebook or Instagram pages.
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