Cookin' On 3 Burners

Formed in Melbourne in 1997, Cookin' On 3 Burners work within a funk, soul and R&B vein built around tight grooves, prominent organ lines and very direct collective playing. The project began with Jake Mason, Ivan Khatchoyan and Lance Ferguson, before Dan West joined on guitar in 2013; Matt Kirsch also contributed during the band's early period around Steamed Up (2000). With Baked, Broiled & Fried (2007) and Soul Messin’ (2009), Cookin' On 3 Burners moved from a mostly instrumental approach to tracks more open to guest vocalists—notably Kylie Auldist and Fallon Williams—while retaining an aesthetic rooted in raw funk, vintage soul and breakbeat-adjacent rhythms. Blind Bet (2014) extended this approach with several collaborations, including Daniel Merriweather and Tex Perkins. In the 2010s the group also explored tempos closer to hip-hop on Lab Experiments Vol. 1 (2017) and Lab Experiments Vol. 2 (2018). The song This Girl, recorded with Kylie Auldist in 2009 and reworked by Kungs in 2016, gave Cookin' On 3 Burners international visibility beyond the Australian scene.