What’s in a name? If you’re the Gooch Palms, nothing, really. (“It never meant anything,” the duo proclaim.) If anything, it’s a term that neatly wraps up the Australian duo’s kooky, catchy, fuzzy and fun punk-pop music. Made up of lovebirds frontman Leroy Mcqueen and drummer Kat Friend, the Gooch Palms recently moved their schtick (and matching outfits, which consist of Leroy in sports bras at shows) to Los Angeles. The charismatic pair talk about their love for Southern California, their forthcoming sophomore album Introverted Extroverts and their fashion icons.

Hometown: Newcastle, Australia

Current residence: Los Angeles

Gooch Palms. Where is that name from?

It’s just two words. We get asked this question a lot, but it never meant anything. We just wanted to make sure we had a band name that no one else would have.

How did you two meet?

We met back in Newcastle many years ago at our local pub. We were friends for years, then became a couple, then became a band!

Did you both grow up in musical homes? Is that how you discovered music?

Leroy: Neither of us grew up in musical households. Our parents all liked music and would always be listening to it but I guess we both grew up listening to pop songs on the radio and watching music video shows from a very young age. It was something that just clicked straight away for both of us.

Kat: Leroy rolled out of the womb musical. He used to put on concerts for his parents when he was a tiny little kid and has always been in bands. I was just always a huge music fan until we started this band. But as clichéd as it is, it’s all both of us have ever wanted to do.

You recorded album No. 2 in Michigan. Why is it called Introverted Extroverts? What is it about?

Kat: We took a two-week break in the middle of our last US national tour in June to record our new album with producer and all round great guy, Bill Skibbe. It was one of the best times we’ve ever had, despite me getting food poisoning for about four days!!! But that’s how good it was, food poisoning couldn’t even dampen my spirits! We wrote two extra songs in the studio that are definitely a step in an exciting new direction. We have always wanted to push things further and working with Bill turned out to be exactly what we always wanted. Someone to to push us and give us the balls to write some songs that we never thought possible with just the two of us.

Leroy: The title Introverted Extroverts just pretty much sums up our lives. We’re both extroverted enough to get up on stage and perform but are pretty introverted in our day to day lives. A few of the songs are about us being that way so we thought it was suitable.

Why did you move to Los Angeles? Was it a big impact on you two creatively?

We were moving to the USA no matter what, we just wanted to try our luck in America. A friend of ours mentioned he was looking for a roommate in LA and we asked him if we could move in and the rest is history. We really wanted to move to LA so we were really happy it worked out that way. We love it here! We can see the Hollywood sign from our bathroom window and there’s always something to do. I feel like we’ve probably been less creative since moving here with all the touring and constant social distractions!!! That’s one thing we loved about Newcastle, there was nothing really to do except write songs and work on the band. But we get a lot more done on tour than ever before. It’s been a nice change of pace, we needed a change and this is a big one.

Your outfits definitely impact your shows. Who is your fashion inspiration?

Leroy: Kat makes and puts together all the outfits and I help with the concepts. I love 90’s hip hop girls fashion so I take a lot of my inspo from that. Love me a good sports bra!

How would you describe your music to someone who's never heard of you?

We get compared to The Ramones a lot so I guess it would be easiest to say if The Ramones were from now and influenced by the B52’s, were a boy on guitar and a girl on two drums playing pop in a punkish way with vocals that might sound like Danzig or Frankie Valli, depending on the song. Oh and a hint of some song you’ve heard before but can’t quite put your finger on it. Could be Judas Priest, could be Britney Spears?

What's the best part of being in a band with someone you're romantic toward?

Leroy: You can give them a little kiss after the show. I tried doing that with the guys in my other bands but it didn’t go down so well!!!

Kat: (Laughs) Yeah, right! He’s way too sweaty after a show to kiss!!! We both get to experience the rollercoaster of being in a band together and it’s awesome. We’re best friends as well as a couple so it’s just amazing to share such a crazy life with your best friend and partner.

What would happen to the band if you ever break up? Do you ever entertain that thought?

Na. No point talking about that kinda stuff. If it ever happened I guess we’d deal with it then. But right now we’re the happiest we’ve ever been and things are only getting better day by day.

What's the craziest thing a fan has ever done for you?

Get palm trees tattooed on his gooch!!! I mean THAT’S GOTTA HURT!!!