Recently, we caught up with past College Captain, Wayne Slattery (or Slatts as he is better known) and got a bit of an insight into the life of a rockstar, who on the side, is finding ways to teach us to care for the planet.

“My path has been wide and varied, with music being the only constant.” He says.

Over the past decade, Slatts and his band, King Parrot, have been making waves in the heavy metal/hard rock music scene. Releasing three studio albums, and touring throughout Australia, the US, Europe and Japan, King Parrot has signed up with various record labels; and been recognised with multiple ARIA nominations and Music Victoria awards.

What makes King Parrot stand out to metal music fans across the world is their high energy performances and stage presence, with Slatts also being individually known for his entertaining on-stage commentary. When on tour Slatts highlights, “We really embrace being Australian. Even in Australia, I step on stage and I’m the proud bogan.”

Slatts is the band’s bass player, but also writes lyrics and supplies backing vocals for some of the songs. He identifies Cosmic Psychos, Blood Duster, the Meanies, AC/DC as some of his favourite bands. “I’ve been so heavily influenced by Australian musicians.” he says.

The band is currently working towards recording a new album, and it will be the first recorded in Australia for some time.

While King Parrot continues to enjoy their success, the achievement is no real surprise to Slatts, who from his early days at Emmanuel, knew he was always going to be in a band.

“When I started at Emmanuel College, I managed to identify the people from across the school who were into music,” Slatts explains. “I was just super keen.

In year eight, I became very good friends with a guy called Keelan Gallogly, who was a year older than me and was already playing in a band called Scapegoat. I didn’t know him, but there was only one Gallogly in the phone book, so I actually rang him up and made friends with him.”

Slatts continued this approach, making friends with anyone that shared his passion for playing, and bringing them together. He formed bands known as ‘Gristle’ and ‘Cockfight Shootout.’

“I was always really great at naming bands,” he grins.

He particularly likes the name of King Parrot, and while not 100% sure where the name came from, he likes to think that the meaning captures their Australian-ness, “It’s an Australian bird. And calling someone a parrot is someone who talks a lot of crap and never shuts up and so, King Parrot, we’re just that guy’s boss.”

Along with all King Parrot’s success to date, they can also claim Pantera’s front man, Phil Anselmo as one of their biggest fans.

“We met Phil and his wife [when they were both playing the Soundwave Festival], and the next minute, his wife is going okay so you guys are going on stage with ‘Down’ [Phil’s other band].” Slatts explains. “He ended up producing our second album. He runs the record label that puts out our stuff in America. He’s just a huge supporter.”

It seems though, that Slatts has not only found support in one of the metal industry’s big influencers, but also inspiration. He learned that following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, Phil accommodated a fellow metal musician, Mike IX, in his own home, rescuing him from the only other alternative at the time - prison. This act of kindness continues to resonate with Slatts to this day.

Outside of music, Wayne has been inspired by many of the people he has met through working in the not-for-profit sector. His first big influence being the man who gave him his first job in social work, helping with student accommodation.

“He was a psychologist, a counsellor and a lecturer, who came to Australia as an orphan and was kicked out of the orphanage at age 15 so lived on the streets.”

Slatts highlights how he owned gravesites around Melbourne, so that he could provide a proper resting place for homeless people that had died. “He was just an amazing human.”

Wayne then moved into working in environment and sustainability organisations such as the Australian Conservation Foundation, and the Banksia Environmental Foundation. Through the Banksia Foundation, he was part of the team running the Australian Environmental Awards on behalf of the Prime Minister. Slatts was inspired by those on his team, those nominated for awards, and the judges involved. “They had a huge influence on me and the interests that I have now.”

One of those influences was Tamara DiMattina, who he went on to work with on the New Joneses projects.

The New Jonses project initially came in the form of tiny houses that toured around Australia, showing the simple ways we can all do better for our planet. “The house served as the centrepiece to share lots of messages. It wasn’t just about everything that went into the house, but also, what bank are you choosing, what superannuation fund have you got…”

Slatts has lived in two of the houses on display in the middle of Melbourne’s CBD. One with Denise Drysdale for a week, and one set-up at Federation Square. However, when the lockdowns hit in 2020, The New Joneses had to change up their strategy and so created a documentary series. This involved sending Slatts out on the road to meet some pretty inspirational people, and learning how-to do little things to change the impact we have on the earth.

“Tamara started Buy Nothing New Month, which is now a global thing every October. She really lives what she does.”

Slatt’s message for students is to think about how their daily actions make an impact. “I think humans have an amazing ability to make changes when we’re faced with huge challenges.”