What does it take to hold a crowd in the palm of your hand and have them scream every one of your lyrics back at you? Charisma, talent, and a whole lot of ambition. Welcome to the final instalment of the Ambition Project: a three-part series from Man of Many in collaboration with investing platform Stake, showcasing unique tales of ambition, drive, and the determination to push onwards. Our third subject is FANGZ, a band of five punk-rock comrades who’ve secured their place in Australian music history with their own festival and a number-one album.
“A punk-rock band…”, “Jackass with guitars…”, “Loud, fun…”, “An outlet for good times…”
These are just a few of the ways the five members of FANGZ describe their group, a musical brotherhood whose unwavering ambition and commitment to their cause have seen them move from the dingiest Sydney venues to national tours, their own festival, and a number one Australian album.
Against all odds and over the course of the best part of a decade, Jameel (bass), Woodie (drums), Sam (guitar), Ethan (also guitar), and Josh (vocals) have embodied an “onwards” ethos. They’ve refused to let their passion for music and the good times it brings be diminished by touring bust-ups, a global pandemic, or the doubters who said they’d never make it.
From the Ashes
As is so often the case, a new era only begins when another ends. For this group from Sydney’s Inner West, that meant one band had to die so FANGZ could be born.
According to Jameel, who pairs bass-playing duties with a role the rest of the FANGZ boys describe as “the dad of the band”, that turning point came during a European tour, after a falling out with their previous singer: “In 2018, we [Jameel, Woody, and Sam] were in another band called The Lockhearts, and we toured Europe with our first album. We had about three more shows of the tour to go, but then the band imploded.”
The end of a band can hit hard. Given their close-knit nature, calling it a day can feel akin to breaking up with a romantic partner or losing a family member. As such, the end of The Lockhearts left Jameel, Woody, and Sam feeling crestfallen and despondent. Fortunately, it wasn’t to last, as a chance meeting soon reignited their determination to carry on before it could fade away once and for all.
“At the end of the tour, we were dropping off our van, which we’d also crashed,” chuckles Sam. “And this band pulled their van in next to us. They saw us and were like, ‘Oh, what’s wrong? You look really upset.’”
“It was Liam from Cancer Bats ,” Jameel says. “He told us to stop feeling sorry for ourselves, go home and start a punk-rock band. So we did. That’s how we started FANGZ.”
Woody picks up the thread: “That moment was the injection I think we needed to move away from the ‘70s-style vintage rock sound that we had before. We thought, let’s just start a band that makes the music we want to play. This new energy kind of transferred from Liam to us and is still with us to this day. I guess it lit that punk thing that was lying dormant in all of us.”
Before flying home to prepare this new punk phoenix for its debut flight, Sam and Jameel would first have a fortuitous date with inspiration at Download Festival Paris. Standing in the middle of a mosh pit as Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes tore through a blistering set of razor-sharp punk anthems helped crystallise their new musical direction.
“We were just standing there watching a hundred thousand people jump around like lunatics, losing their minds,” Sam remembers. “And you’ve got this angry little ginger dude covered in tattoos just being awesome. And we looked at each other and were like…”
“We need to do this!” Jameel jumps in. “This is what I want to do. I’m so over doing what we’re doing.”
Taking their name from the very song Frank Carter was playing during that moment of clarity, “Fangs”, the trio reconvened in Sydney. Within weeks, they’d laid down demo recordings that cemented their new mould.
Finding Their Voice
The next step for FANGZ was recruiting a singer who shared the band’s vision. Fortunately, Josh Cottreau would more than fit the bill, proving an explosive performer and a wild-eyed standard-bearer for the punk-rock cause.
When asked how the band found him, Woody can’t help but laugh as if to suggest Josh’s heightened energy levels and on-stage antics make him impossible to miss. Truth be told, it’s hard to imagine anyone else stepping into the role with such ferocity.
“I went on his social media profile ’cause he looked cool,” Jameel says a little sheepishly. “And there was a photo of him crowd surfing and singing at Warped Tour. So, I messaged him and told him everything. I sent him one of our instrumental demos and within an hour he sent it back with complete lyrics and a vocal melody.“
Josh understood the FANGZ mission from the very start: “I was like, ‘This is exactly what I want to do. This is f*cking sick.’ It was everything that I wanted in a band that I couldn’t find for five years or so, and it just fell into place.”
“We auditioned a couple of people, and then Josh came in, and within 15 seconds of the first song, he was doing cartwheels in the room,” Sam laughs. “And then in a weird twist of fate, it turned out his old band used to tour with Cancer Bats!”
A Shot in the Arm
With their singer locked in, the band hit the ground running with a four-week residency at Hideaway Bar (since renamed The Trocadero Room) in one of Sydney’s cultural and live-music hotspots: Enmore. Following the tried and tested rock ‘n’ roll rule that it’s better to cram a small room than half-fill a large one, FANGZ had the venue packed to the rafters each night of their debut run.
“We started in this room that holds, what, a hundred people?” says Jameel, turning quizzically to Woody. “And from the first night there was a line down the street.”
Enthused, Josh elaborates, “We came in there all guns blazing, and every single night was sold out. It was sick, and we created this community.”
However, right as the band were hitting their stride, playing the rowdiest shows in town and releasing music to satiate the rabid appetite of those coming to see them, the universe conspired to throw a spanner in the works.
“We made sure the shows were insane. It was wild, and with the venue being that small, it has that energy,” Jameel explains with a hint of pride. “We’d just done our first residency, we’d put out an EP, so everything was good. Next, we had our second EP ready, a Japanese tour lined up, and 15 dates around Australia. And then… COVID hit.”
The global pandemic was not kind to live music and would go on to be the undoing of numerous acts and venues. Not for the first time, the members of FANGZ were forced to rally around a resolute mindset that enabled them to push onwards despite the hurdles being erected in their path.
“COVID sucked,” Josh says frankly. ”And I’m sure it sucked for everyone. But we just tried to keep going forward.”
FANGZ did so by producing a steady stream of content across their digital channels, enabling them to stay in touch with the community they had invested in cultivating. By creating their own YouTube show and using it to share the spotlight with other Sydney bands, they established a firm foundation for bigger things to follow once the lockdowns were lifted.
Sinking Their Teeth In
Speaking up for the first time, the newest (and youngest) member of FANGZ, Ethan, explains how he discovered the band post-COVID, and it’s proof that, when the artwork is cool enough, street posters still cut through in the digital age: “I’d be driving around the Inner West, heading through Marrickville, and I’d see these FANGZ posters up everywhere. I was like, ‘Who are these guys?’ So I went along to the first FANGZstock.”
Jameel provides some clarity: “FANGZstock is a musical festival we curate featuring bands we love and want other people to love.”
The band hosted the first of these ambitious grassroots events in 2024, drawing on the connections they’d made pre-COVID and throughout the pandemic to craft a compelling lineup of local artists. The following year, they scaled up, expanding FANGZstock’s scope to include Melbourne and Brisbane. In 2026, the dream is to include Adelaide and Perth as well. As Sam acknowledges, “It’s a big ask, but who knows?”
As if running their own festival wasn’t enough, 2025 proved a mammoth year for the group, as it saw Ethan welcomed into the fold and the release of their debut album, Shui — FANGZ Shui, get it?
“When we were recording the album down in Melbourne, there was a Floyd Rose guitar in the studio, so I decided to try it out, and it ended up on every track,” says Sam. “That meant there were a lot of extra guitar parts for the new album, which meant we needed a second guitarist to fill in the blanks.”
According to Jameel, Ethan’s audition process was as definitive as a potential new bandmate could hope for: “I remember he walked in the room, played with us, and he walked out. Then, when we played by ourselves, it felt weird that he wasn’t there.”
“About 10 minutes into the drive home, I got a phone call from the boys just saying, ‘Hey, you’re in,’” says Ethan triumphantly.
It’s a Long Way to the Top
With a second guitarist in the lineup, the band was ready to release Shui to the public. The result exceeded anything they had hoped, paying off years of unwavering ambition and determination.
“We released the album on July 3rd, and a week later, we were heading to Newcastle on tour to support it,” says Jameel. “Spirits were up, and we were excited to be on tour in support of our debut album when our manager called. He said, ‘I have something really funny to tell you. I just got an email from ARIA, and they want to know your address just in case your album reaches number one this week, so they can send you…’ this trophy!”
He continues, “It was amazing. Suddenly, my parents thought being in a band was really cool after years of being disappointed I wasn’t a doctor.”
Investing In Their Ambition
Despite having a number-one album under their belt and FANGZstock heading into its third year, FANGZ’s ambition means they’ll continue pushing to reach the next stage. Now, they’re excited to partner with Stake for the Ambition Project and take FANGZ to new heights.
“Being a part of Stake’s Ambition Project helps us continue forward and keep the wheels moving,” explains Josh. “That means we can explore things we haven’t done yet, like a second record, or we really want to get overseas. I think we’d do really well in Europe, Japan, and Canada.”
According to Jameel, FANGZ will continue to push onwards into new endeavours: “It’s always about doing something that either we haven’t done before, or someone else hasn’t done already. That’s what keeps it exciting for us: continuously pushing towards something different, and that’s what’s next for us.”
If you’re ready to chase something bigger, Stake is looking to invest in your ambition and help turn your next move into your defining one. To find out more, simply click the Ambition Project link below, and you could kickstart your next step with $10,000 from Stake!
Credits:
Producer: Harry Parsons
Executive Producer: Frank Arthur
Director / Videographer: Adrian Emerton
Photographer: Matt Dunbar
Sound Engineer: James Yeremeyev
Gaffer: Konstantine Klemencic
Editors: Pool Party
Talent: FANGZ
Editorial/Interviewer: Rob Edwards
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