Lonely and dreaming on the west coast, Jono Mata and Sam Blitvitch both aspired to be the guitar heroes they saw on their screens at an impressionable age. With Sly Withers - both men's first in-earnest band - they were able to achieve something far greater. With their open, honest every-man take on pub rock and pop-punk, the band quickly carved a niche that soon became bigger than either could have anticipated. With the release of their second studio album Gardens, the band find themselves among the top of the food chain in Australian rock - which is quite the feat for a band that was barely out of high school when it started. Reflecting on their story over a drink on the patio of a Newtown Airbnb, Mata and Blitvich connect the dots to explain how a fledgling guitar band ended up on the national airwaves and touring the country with Amy Shark.

Gardens is out now via Dew Process.

Special thanks to Amy Simmons, Deathproof PR, Nathan Wood, Dew Process and Skinny O'Leary.

Produced and edited by Paul McWhirter. Additional editing by David James Young.

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This podcast was recorded on Gadigal land and edited on Wirundjeri and Tharawal land.