From a Year 12 Party to the Townsville stage: How Freeline found their Sound

By Lily Constable 

What began as a one-off performance at a Year 12 graduation party has grown into an emerging Townsville band writing original music and chasing a bigger stage.

The three-piece band features lead vocalist and bassist Max, guitarist and backing vocalist Huon, and drummer Alex. What started as a single performance soon developed into a passion for writing original music and performing live.

Max said the band began in Year 12 with one goal.

"To play live at our graduation after-party for our entire grade. Then we continued to play shows after that."

The band's name came from an unexpected source. After struggling to settle on one, inspiration came from an old surfboard owned by the guitarist's uncle.

"Our guitarist's uncle had an old relic surfboard called Freeline, and we named the band after that."

Despite performing at venues such as Otherwise Bar, The Warehouse loading dock, and appearing on ABC North Queensland Saturday Breakfast, the band said its favourite performance remains its Year 12 graduation party.

"It was a great night, and it was awesome to be able to play for all of our mates before everyone went their separate ways for university and work after Grade 12."

Like many emerging bands, Freeline says gaining exposure as an independent local band is one of its biggest challenges.

"We love writing songs and getting to play them live for people, but trying to grow our audience is difficult, especially in a somewhat small town like Townsville."

Balancing music alongside work and university commitments has also become more challenging since guitarist Huon relocated to the Sunshine Coast.

"Getting together and playing is even harder now," the band said. "However, we all write music in our spare time, so when we do get a chance to get together, we have plenty of material to work on."

While the distance has presented challenges, the band remains committed to creating new music and credits the Townsville music community for supporting them along the way.

"The local music scene is very important to us. We've made friends with different bands in Townsville, and everyone we've met has been incredibly helpful to us in so many ways."

Although there are no live performances planned in the immediate future, Freeline is focused on writing new music and recording new material.

Freeline performing at Otherwise Bar.

"We've got a few new songs in the works. Having our music recorded is the next step so that we can get it out there for everyone to hear."

Above all, the group hopes listeners connect with their music in their own way.

"Our music is all about real people and real moments. The lyrics may mean something completely different to you than they do to us, but I think that's a beautiful thing."

While live performances are temporarily on hold, Freeline hopes its next chapter will be defined by new recordings rather than memories of past performances. For the trio, the Year 12 graduation party that started it all was just the beginning.