TURPENTINE Babycino vocalist Georgie Winchester and drummer Gabe Argiris were on holiday in the bohemian Thai village of Pai last year when they unexpectedly found themselves on stage.
"We were meeting musos and they wanted to get you up on stage," Argiris said.
"One bar would see your Instagram, if you shared yourself playing in the bar, and then another venue would hit Georgie and me up and say, 'do you wanna come and play our bar tomorrow night'?
"We just ended up making all these contacts and playing heaps of music over there."
Next Monday Argiris and Winchester will return to Thailand with their Turpentine Babycino bandmates Cormac Grant (guitar) and Manuel Rohrl (bass) for the Newcastle pop-punk band's first foreign tour.
The four-piece will play eight shows across three weeks alongside Thai acts in Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Pai to an audience that rarely experiences Australian music live.
"I didn't realise how big the scene was for rock and grunge in Chiang Mai," Argiris said. "They just love it over there."
Turpentine Babycino will arrive in Thailand with their freshly-released third single, Sleep When I'm Dead, following on from the power-pop cuts Write A Song Sounds Shit and Calamity.
Sleep When I'm Dead showcases a heavier side to Turpentine Babycino.
The propulsive riff was written by Argiris six years ago and he had been "waiting for the right project to turn it into something."
Winchester then chipped in with the lyrics after being inspired by reading Girl in a Band, the 2015 memoir by Kim Gordon from punk icons Sonic Youth.
"I wanted to keep people guessing what we're going to release, instead of putting out a third poppy-rock number," Argiris said.
"I don't want people to put us into a box in terms of genre. I wanna be able to surprise people."
One box Turpentine Babycino readily fits into is hard working.
On Sunday Winchester wrapped up the final stages of her national tour for her debut solo album in Western Australia.
On Friday Turpentine Babycino will launch Sleep When I'm Dead at the Prince Of Merewether Hotel with support from Newcastle bands Goon Gremlins and The Axolotls.
Then on Saturday Turpentine Babycino play at Deadfest at Ocean View Beach Club in Wamberal, before Winchester launches her solo album on Sunday at the Grand Junction Hotel in Maitland.
