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    Spicy new song: Horsham brothers Levi, left, and Sam Mellington are keen ‘to keep the ball rolling’ following the release of their first music video for their track ‘Dear Babe’.

No pain, no gain for Travalley's Mellington brothers

Dylan De Jong

Eating an entire bowl of chillies might seem an unorthodox way to get a message out into the world. 

But for two-piece band Travalley, munching down a whole load of hot peppers was the best way to get eyes on their first ever music video to go with their song ‘Dear Babe’. 

The film clip sees brothers Levi and Sam Mellington, originally from Horsham, chomp their way through as many chillies as they can while attempting to sing along for the duration of the song. 



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Levi said the lyrics speak about a relatable issue of the inability to flirt or express oneself.

“Eating chillies is as hard as I find it to talk to people. I can never get the words out – I always manage to say something stupid or blurt out the wrong thing at the wrong time,” he said.  

“It’s just a song for all the people who struggle, which a lot of people do.” 

The brothers believe filming like this was an inexpensive way for the band to gain recognition while retaining the metaphor of their lyrical content.

“It was a stupid idea, but stupid enough that it would work,” Levi said. 

“I guess it catches people’s attentions without necessarily knowing who we are.”

A pivotal step for the band, the brother’s music video was played on Australian music video program Rage early Sunday morning.

The band played one of its last shows in February before the country went into COVID-19 lockdown. 

Levi said before shutdowns the band was starting to build a strong following in Melbourne and Ballarat.  

“We played something like 20 shows in three months. More and more people were coming to every show. It got a bit wild, but it showed that the hard work we put in at the start was paying off,” he said. 

“We started to get a little bit of traction, and it just went to nothing.” 

The duo even received recognition from well-known players in the music industry including Triple J radio host Declan Byrne after their single ‘Mr Right’ made it to number two in Triple J’s Unearthed charts. 

While in self-isolation, the brothers have kept busy writing new music, which they hope to release soon. But Levi said without gigs it was a lot harder to promote their songs and keep people engaged with the band. 

“We’re just trying to figure out how to best get our music out there to keep people engaged in a time when you can’t play music to people,” he said. 

He said the band would hold off releasing its main tracks, but to keep the ball rolling it was producing house-dance tracks to keep its audience engaged.  

“We’ve got a few songs ready to release, but it’s the situation where if we do start releasing music, then no- one’s getting around it because you can’t support it through a gig,” he said.  

“That’s why we’re making house music, we’re just trying to keep as many people engaged and entertained.” 

Levi said he was excited to get back to Horsham and perform when restrictions eased. 

“We love going back and playing in Horsham, Ararat and all those local areas,” he said. 

“When we do come back, it’ll be awesome to play with that crowd of people we’ve grown up with as well.”  

The entire June 3, 2020 edition of The Weekly Advertiser is available online. READ IT HERE!