For many people, workmates are just that, colleagues whom they meet during working hours. But for George, Callum and Christian, working at the same site in the mine planning team has led to a different kind of bond.

The four miners discovered a shared love and taste for music while listening to music at work. They started sharing music and listening to each other’s songs and that’s where the band name, The Queue, originated from.

Christian Brown, one of the band members, shared during a chat with @ The Coalface that, “Spotify introduced a function called a group session, where people could join and listen to the same music at the same time and add songs to the queue of songs that would play next. This helped move us from workmates to just regular mates.”

The group started hanging out outside of work a lot more and eventually started playing music together.

Callum, who can play almost every instrument, and George and Christian, who enjoy writing lyrics and played instruments as kids, laid the foundation for the band. The addition of Regan, Callum’s housemate and also musically talented, was the final touch needed to create the perfect band. Fast forward two years later and they have a few songs out and continue to make music together as The Queue.

Working at a mine has allowed the members of The Queue to dedicate more time to their music, which is one of their shared hobbies.

George and Regan work different rosters to Callum and Christian, so it can be hard to organise specific times that suit everyone to get together and jam. But even while they are at work, technology makes it easy to stay connected and share ideas.

The recurring themes that The Queue write and sing about are love and girls. In Christian’s words, “In our lives at the moment there’s nothing else really worth singing about!

“The main purpose of our music is just for us to have fun and enjoy our time together as friends. With a hint of fulfilling our fantasies to be pop stars. We don’t take the music too seriously or aren’t trying to say anything too important.”

Christian also joked, “If we ever make it onto Triple J, the other challenge will be hiding the fact we work on coal mines. I doubt that will serve us well on Triple J!”

The positive feedback they have received has been encouraging, but the purpose of the band and the music is just for them to have fun together. They enjoy making the music and playing it with each other, and that’s all that matters to them.

As individuals, they all have different and changing favourite artists, but collectively, Daft Punk is their favourite band. They also listen to The Strokes, Phoenix, Frank Ocean, and The Weeknd. The group hopes that their music will one day be enjoyed by many and that they will be able to take it a bit more seriously, but for now, they are all happy as things are in their careers.

“We all love music and have a dream to make music that we enjoy as much as our musical idols. So for anyone else that is passionate and keen to make music, we live in a time where it’s the easiest it’s ever been for anyone to make and record music. So just do it and make sure it’s fun,” said Christian.

The Queue’s music-making journey is a reminder that it’s possible to pursue multiple interests and have fun doing it. Their story shows that even with busy schedules and demanding jobs, pursuing music can be a rewarding and fulfilling hobby.