Full Video - Premiers July 30th 2026 - 7:30pm

Next Chapter Interview

Penguins Aren’t Real — but They Won’t Stay Underground for Long

​

There is always one band you see in a small room and immediately think: these people will not be playing small rooms for long.

​

For the Illawarra’s growing emo, screamo and post-hardcore scene, that band is Penguins Aren’t Real and Neither Are We.

​

Made up of Aaron, Scarlet, Chase and Caleb, the young group has the humour, chemistry and live intensity needed to become one of the next major names in their genre. Their sound is raw without feeling unfinished, heavy without becoming repetitive and emotional without losing control.

​

Even their involvement in the Next Chapter series happened naturally.

There was no formal pitch or carefully planned introduction. Illawarra Music Foundry’s Mark Lenzo heard the band during soundcheck and asked them to join the series on the spot.

​

His reaction was immediate:

“This is the element of energy and tone I haven’t witnessed or felt in a while.”

That is exactly what separates Penguins Aren’t Real and Neither Are We from many other emerging bands.

They do not simply play heavy music. They create a feeling in the room.

​

Their unusual name began during a car trip to a Sydney gig, when a friend claimed that penguins had been hunted into extinction and were no longer real. The conspiracy theory was ridiculous, but the phrase “Penguins Aren’t Real and Neither Are We” stuck.

​

The story suits them perfectly. They are funny, self-aware and not interested in presenting themselves as overly serious, even when the music itself becomes intense.

The band originally formed through school friendships, garage rehearsals and a group created for a school music performance. What started casually soon became something much bigger.

​

Each member brings a different musical background into the band. Their influences move through screamo, emo, post-hardcore, punk and funk, with strong inspiration coming from the local Australian scene.

​

Rather than sounding like a collection of mismatched ideas, those influences make the band harder to predict.

Aaron’s guitar parts can begin as rough riffs recorded alone in his bedroom and sent to the others through a phone message. At rehearsal, Chase and Caleb build the rhythm around the idea while Scarlet develops vocals that move between melodic singing and powerful screams.

​

The band describes the process as disorganised, but the music suggests something else: trust.

They understand how to push each other without losing the original idea. Their songs do not sit on the same riff for too long. They change direction, break apart and rebuild themselves through shifting rhythms, atmospheric passages and sudden bursts of heaviness.

​

Their Next Chapter performance captured that perfectly.

The song felt urgent from the beginning. The instruments moved between tension and release while the vocals added both aggression and vulnerability. Just as one section became familiar, the band shifted into something new.

It did not feel like four musicians simply playing beside one another. It felt like one unit building pressure together.

That kind of chemistry is difficult to teach and nearly impossible to fake.

​

The band’s connection to the local emo and screamo community is equally important. They describe the scene as inclusive, supportive and willing to look after people, even in the middle of an aggressive mosh pit.

When someone falls, they are picked back up. When someone feels uncomfortable, the community responds. The usual separation between the performer and the audience begins to disappear.

​

That is the world Penguins Aren’t Real and Neither Are We belong to.

They are not creating a fashionable imitation of alternative music from a distance. They are inside the scene, learning from it, contributing to it and helping shape what comes next.

Although the band has already recorded an early single, they believe their newer songs better represent the sound they are becoming known for. Their next steps include recording more material, collaborating with other artists and playing as many live shows as possible.

​

Those plans may sound simple, but this is how major bands begin: small rooms, rough recordings, strong friendships and performances people continue talking about afterwards.

Penguins Aren’t Real and Neither Are We have the kind of live presence that cannot be manufactured through social media. They sound like a band discovering exactly how powerful they can become and inviting the audience to witness it in real time.

​

The name may have started as a strange idea, but the band is the real deal.

See them now, because the rest of the scene is going to catch up soon.