‘They sound really punk’: How The Beatles inspired these Gen Z rockers

The walls are plastered with posters of The Beatles, The Who, The Kinks, Jimi Hendrix and more. It’s not the man-cave of some middle-aged classic rock dude, but the bedroom of 19-year-old Jay Millar, the singer, songwriter and lead guitarist with The Gnomes.

He still lives with his parents in Frankston, a 40-minute drive south of Melbourne on Port Phillip Bay.

“Frankston has kind of a bad reputation as being rough because it’s at the end of the railway line and it’s very working class,” says Millar. “But it has this great music scene that revolves around a place called Singing Bird, which has rehearsal rooms, a recording studio and a live venue.”

Despite his tender years, Millar has been writing, recording and releasing his own music (along with spirited cover versions of everything from The Easybeats’ She’s So Fine to The Kaisers’ She’s Gonna Two Time) on Bandcamp for a couple of years, both under his own name and using the moniker Gnome.

The Gnomes – Millar on lead vocals and guitar, Ned Capp on second guitar, Olly Katsianis on bass and Ethan Robins on drums – have only been together around a year, with all the musicians coming from the Singing Bird scene.

Millar had recorded the entire debut album from The Gnomes by himself, playing and singing everything on it, but as the group’s sound developed, he decided to re-record it with the band.

The raw energy radiating from the songs is undeniable and there’s little doubt about his influences – I’ll Be There has buoyant early-Beatles harmonies and Merseybeat chiming guitars; Flippin’ Stomp crosses the Monkees with 1960s Nuggets-style garage rock; I Like It has a shuddering chord progression which suggests The Kinks and The Easybeats.

“I just find it really inspiring to listen to all those bands from back then,” says Millar. “I’m grateful I’m at an age where I have Google and Spotify, because I can trace the influences of bands I like and then I can quickly find so much music.

“When I went back, I discovered a lot of it is really primal, the rawest rock and roll you can get. I’m always amazed with bands like the Kinks and the Stones and even recordings of the Beatles in their early days in Hamburg because they sound really punk. Even with such clean guitars with no distortion, they’re just playing loud and screaming their heads off and the drummers are playing jazz beats at a hundred miles a minute.”

Initially, the group played under the name Gnome, but a popular Belgian stoner rock band of the same name got in touch to say that their fans were confused, thinking they were touring Australia whenever Frankston’s Gnome announced a show.

The Gnomes could soon find themselves catching up in the popularity stakes. Their immediate ambitions are a New Zealand tour in December, an Australian east coast tour early next year and a possible Japanese tour in April. And even though the debut album is not out until November, they’re thinking ahead.

“We’re talking about album number two already,” says Millar. “The ongoing quote we have is ‘That song will be good for the next album.’ The other day Ollie even said, ‘That’ll be perfect for the third album, maybe the first single of 2027.’”

For now, Millar is working four days a week in the donations warehouse at a Savers op-shop, while writing music and playing gigs on Fridays and weekends.

But is the ambition to do this full-time? “One day,” he says. “Hopefully. Maybe.”

Definitely.

The Gnomes is out November 7. Album launch, Brunswick Ballroom, Melbourne, Friday, November 14.

Find out the next TV, streaming series and movies to add to your must-sees. Get The Watchlist delivered every Thursday.