The duo talked early inspirations, breaking out in the Aussie music scene and potential new music on the way.
Photo: Charlie Hardy
A duo who are perfectly placed to shed insight on the Aussie music scene are garage and surf-rock heavyweights Hockey Dad. Best friends Billy Fleming and Zach Stephenson broke out of their small-town scene with 2014 hits I Need A Woman, Seaweed and Babes, that epitomise that sun-soaked music that makes you want to pick up a surfboard and head to the coast (which isn’t so easy if you live in the middle of England).
Since then, they’ve toured all over Australia and the world, cultivating a loyal and unruly fanbase, whilst constantly evolving their sound and having a blast along the way. We sat down with the pair to get their thoughts on growing up around the Australian music scene, touring life, new music projects and their well-informed recommendations for upcoming Aussie bands.
What kind of Australian bands and artists did you listen to growing up?
Billy: I think we might have been a little bit different between the two of us, but we can agree on most. Definitely Friends Were Wrong, Grinspoon, kind of more hard rock, heavier, punky kind of scene. Bodyjar is another one. That was the avenue that I was going down. I think hearing Bodyjar on Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater when I was a kid, like, ‘Oh my God, this can happen in Australia’. And they're still world-renowned as well. You go overseas, and everyone still clocks them. It’s so lucky to have such good Australian bands over the decades, but I think Zach’s era might have been a little bit before me.
Zach: Earlier on would be like Paul Kelly, a lot of his ‘80s and ‘90s stuff. And then like You Am I in that ‘90s scene. When we first started playing, bands like Palms from Sydney, Royal Headache and Mother and Son were local bands around us that really started to shape what we were trying to do. When we first figured out we want to make that kind of music, it was really shaped by a few of those local bands, like Bad//Dreems as well.
B: Hunting Grounds, too.
Did those guys inspire you to start the band?
Z: I think we’d started the band, this two-piece thing, and we were still playing surf rock. But it was almost more like actual ‘60s surf rock, like Dick Dale and stuff; real twangy guitars. But there was always this weird, loud fuzziness to it because Billy would just hit the drums so hard, so I had to play so loud. So it was never really twangy; it was just brutal.
We met a few people at the local venue we’d play at, and then we’d get tagged onto a couple of supports with these bands. I mean, you’d see how they did it and you’re like, ‘Oh, okay, this sounds better and they’re doing it this way’. You get ideas from those guys, just little sparks of inspiration to lead you down the right path.
B: Back when people used pedal boards, you used to go around and just sniff out each other’s pedal boards, but now it’s all digital.
Z: Yeah, I mean, I stole my signal from Shane [Parsons] from DZ [Deathrays]. He was doing the no bass thing. So, I just ripped that off, and it changed everything.
B: It is so insular in Australia in terms of wanting to get started as a band. When we first started, it was like you were looking at these idols like The Living End and Grinspoon, and you were so influenced. You’re like, ‘That makes me want to start a band’. Once you actually start playing shows, like Zach was saying, you meet all these bands, and you become mates so quickly.
The more you become friends with local bands and people that inspire you, it’s like a full turbine, and then it takes off. Still to this day, all of our friends’ bands inspire us to keep doing it.
It’s quite a smallish area you grew up in, so was it hard branching out?
It kind of was. I think there are still probably about 5000 people who live in this town. Hasn’t really grown much since we grew up in the 20-odd years I’ve been here. In the beginning, just getting the funds to drive and getting a licence was [the] number one priority because we’re pretty young. Once Zach got his P’s, we were like, ‘Alright, we can drive to Sydney’.
Z: Yeah, we would do the odd Sydney trip and then maybe like a Canberra trip. So, two to three-hour drives. That was how you first would branch out. The only other way to do it in Australia is flying everywhere because everybody’s so far away. So you have to have a support slot with a bigger band. Like Bad//Dreems, they gave us our first one when we first got to go to Melbourne, or Adelaide and Brisbane. So it’s a slow way to branch out. I mean, some bands just drive it too. We were kind of spoiled because it was only two of us.
B: Yeah, I’d hate to be King Gizzard [& The Lizard Wizard] in the early days.
You played a series of Western Australia shows recently. How were they?
B: Really fun. The most isolated city in the world, I reckon. Those guys are insane. They know how to party when bands do come in. It’s crazy, though. I feel like over summer, everyone was doing the East Coast. For some reason, in the last month, there was that much action in WA that I thought everyone would just be so blown out, because you can’t go to eight gigs in three weeks. We’re like the tail-enders of the trip. We were a little bit concerned, thinking no one’s going to turn up. But yeah, lo and behold, it was crazier than ever. It just gets more and more loose every time we’re there.
In England, some places are known for the crowds being more reserved, and then there are other places where you know you’re going to get a rowdy crowd. Is that the same in Australia?
Z: Yeah, I guess so. I reckon it depends more on the venue than the place. You play a beautiful theatre or something, because they’ve got the space there now; there’s going to be moshing going on. In terms of drunken rowdiness, you need to go regional, small venues or bowling clubs or out-of-the-way oddball venues in small regional towns. They’re really rowdy; something’s going to kick off.
B: Yeah, in a nutshell, you’d say Perth. We didn’t really play Perth; we kind of played the outskirts, but Perth’s always been pretty wild. In terms of a city having a bit of a notoriety for just being reserved, I reckon Melbourne when we were first starting out. Melbourne was very examining and would let you play, and then nothing in between songs, so it was just dead silence. You really had to win them over a bit.
Z: I was going to say that; I just didn’t want to throw them under the bus.
B: It can go one of two ways. I feel like there are some crowds that were dead silent in between songs, and you think you’re bombing it and you think they hate you, but they’re genuinely just letting you have your time. It’s hard to tell, especially when you go from like a show where everyone’s so off their heads and just talking with beers in their hands.
Do you have a favourite place to play in Australia?
Z: It’s a tough one. I like touring far north, Queensland is a lot of fun. The shows are pretty insane, but it’s just beautiful up there. We always have a good time; it’s got a good energy about the place. I get excited touring up there.
B: The northern pocket is quite fun. Playing at home is really cool, too. We don’t really play that often, but we’ve done a few festivals at home in Wollongong, and it’s such a spin-out. Just going to your local park that we grew up going to, just hanging out. Next thing you know, we’re playing to thousands of people. It’s pretty trippy, for sure.
I’ve also got to ask about Triple J because it’s so big. Even over here, we love the Like A Version covers. Did you guys grow up listening to it?
B: Yeah, definitely, like the news theme song. I remember driving around in Zach’s dad’s ute when we were growing up, going for a surf. He’d just have it on all the time; it was never not on Triple J. It’s just ingrained in my head forever, I reckon, and it’s the most boring part of the whole radio. That was probably the earliest memory.
I feel like when we were starting to get played on there for the first time, that was such a big, exciting moment. It’s such an integral part of Australian music. Growing up with it too, because it’s so not like what you’ve got in the USA, all the college radios and different, notorious stations. It’s this or mainstream. We’re pretty lucky. It’s cool.
Z: I think about when I started listening, when you first get a car at 17 or 18, and that’s the first station. I’d probably learned that from my dad, just having it on all the time because he was listening to those guys. He would have been listening to The Doctor and stuff when they were on.
B: It was either that or ABC Grandstand for the sports.
Z: For the cricket, obviously.
You’re into cricket?
B: Hell yeah. Zach and I are opposing captains in a social cricket game. Zach decided to not book the game this year because he wants to hang on to the trophy. He’s too scared of me.
Z: That’s not true.
B: So then I signed up to park cricket just to warm up because I need this trophy back. It’s getting serious. I think we need to start playing more shows. We’re kind of losing it over here.
You’ve been dropping hints about working on new music. Do you think there’ll be anything this year?
Z: I hope so. There better be. Shame on us if there’s not; that’s all I’ll say. We’ve got to figure that out by the end of the year, for sure.
B: Yeah, I don’t think there’ll be an album release — no chance — but we’ll definitely have a song or two. We’re trying to spend as much time as we can just making sure we’ve got it ready because I think every other release we’ve had becomes this big whirlwind.
This time we’re not in any rush, but there comes a point where it’s too long, and people just fully forget about us. You can tell us when it’s been too long, and we’ll start cracking the whip.
A new album would be great, but it takes a long time — I understand.
B: Yeah, I think we definitely want to make sure it’s all polished up and good to go this time around, but we’ve been busy recording.
Z: We’ve been polishing; that’s what we’ve been doing.
That’s good to hear. You recorded your last EP independently. How was that? Was it any different to the usual process?
B: Process-wise, not necessarily. I think just as any other record, going in for it and seeing what the end product is. But definitely release time. I think we had been on labels forever, and that’s something that we’ve been very grateful for. Just all that backend bookkeeping and keeping on top of things, and publicity and all these extra things.
It was just a good challenge for us to give it a crack ourselves. We had to do it and give it a go and see if that’s an option for the future. You see so many bands do it, like King Gizz have just been killing it, doing it themselves. It’s so inspirational that you can do it; it’s been proven time and time again.
Definitely a wake-up call for how much work’s involved. It’s more of an office job. That could be a job for down the track if we stopped touring, but it’s pretty hard juggling both, being in the band and doing that. We were like, ‘We might need some help’. So, fingers crossed we can get some help soon. If not, we’ll do it again.
Are there any upcoming Australian bands you’d like to put the British crowd onto?
Z: I’ll throw in The Gnomes, a great band from Frankston, Victoria. And I’ll put another band in from Frankston: The Belair Lip Bombs. They’ve been killing it over there, awesome new Aus band. I’ll put dust in there as well. They’ve been touring over in the UK recently and killing it. Check that out.
B: I saw Evie* actually wearing a Shady Nasty shirt and I was going to mention it. I think that band is next level. It kills me how much I love those guys. Now they’ve just got even more confidence from getting that Fred Again.. collab and people starting to catch on. The world’s their oyster, and it’s going to keep going. Their online presence is funny too. They’ve been doing some rippers lately.
Who else? Crocodylus are another band that are in our family at home. They’ve just been killing it as well and they have a new record coming out next month. We’re DJing the album release, so we’re going to learn how to DJ in the next few weeks. That’ll be fun.
Oh, Bean Magazine. Incredible. Really different to the ones we’ve been talking about, but they are just the best bunch of humans. Like, they’re so good, and their songwriting is crazy. It’s super poppy, but it’s got this Modest Mouse darkness to it, too. That’s probably my three at the moment.
Thanks for that; I’m sure there’s loads. I did have one final question: What’s your go-to meal when you’re on tour in Australia?
Z: Can I cheat and just say a coffee? Like, a flat white coffee made in Australia. It doesn’t matter where I am; if I can get that, I’m pretty happy. I’ll kind of eat anything else at any time, but a nice coffee like that? I’m getting that. You can get it everywhere in Australia, which is great.
B: He doesn’t eat breakfast, though. What’s your dinner?
Z: A parmi’s pretty good at most of the venues, but it’s pretty heavy. Parmigiana is a classic Australian pub meal.
B: It’s got that chicken layer. It’s got the ham, I believe. And it’s got a bit of cheese and tomato sauce. Layers of awesomeness. It’s pretty standard for a pub meal, but also on that front: bangers and mash for life. In the UK and here. I’ve definitely got some UK bones in me, I reckon. I could definitely just see myself eating that forever. Surf and Turf is another big one for us, that’s a massive one. I mean, we don’t even have real Australian food except for maybe like a meat pie, but we have great food from everywhere else here, so we’re mostly just taking everyone else’s food.
*Evie is Hockey Dad’s publicist and an all-around legend.
You can also find this interview in print. Order Issue 2 of The Indie Scene Magazine here.
