THE show was so intense it left Hockey Dad guitarist and vocalist Zach Stephenson lost for words.
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There were young fans actually jumping from the balcony of the Enmore Theatre so they could enter the mosh pit below, that was heaving to Hockey Dad’s anthemic surf-rock track I Wanna Be Everybody.
These were the scenes at the second of two sold-out shows at the 1600-capacity Newtown theatre.
Just over a month on, and on the eve of the Noisy Heeler Music Festival at Muswellbrook’s Simpson Park, Stephenson still can’t comprehend it.
“I don’t know what else to say? They were epic,” Stephenson from his hometown of Wollongong.
“They were definitely the biggest thing we’ve ever done.”
The performance earned a 4.5 star review from veteran Sydney Morning Herald journalist George Palathingal, an effort Stephenson and his drummer and childhood friend Billy Fleming could never have imagined was possible when they were jamming in their Windang bedrooms.
Momentum has been gathering pace for Hockey Dad since the release of their debut album Boronia in 2016.
The album’s hazy slices of surf-rock, with Ramones and Nirvana influences, perfectly tapped into the youthful energy of endless summers.
The songs told simple stories of partying, meeting girls and catching waves.
That spirit was refined in February when they released their second album Blend Inn, which debuted at No.6 on the ARIA charts.
“We never thought it would get like this,” Stephenson said. “It feels good and it’s making us more confident and play better shows.”
Stephenson and Fleming are both keen surfers and previously took a laid-back approach to music. But Stephenson admits the rapid growth of Hockey Dad means the band has become a serious proposition.
“I guess you have to take a bit of professionalism into it and approach it like a job in that sense,” he said.
“But we never think about it as a nine to five, just-to-make-money [thing].
“It is our job but it’s pretty much our whole lives as well.”
Stephenson met Fleming over a neighbourhood game of football before the pair had started kindergarten. The two grew up two houses apart in Boronia Avenue and bonded over sport, before discovering music.
The close friendship is particularly important as Hockey Dad’s fame grows.
“It makes the transition a bit easier to playing bigger shows, becoming more successful and becoming busier,” Stephenson said.
Tickets to Saturday’s festival are $50 (adults) and $30 (under-18s).
For more details, visit www.noisyheelermusicfest.com.au
Noisy Heeler Music Festival line-up
Little Quirks
Australian indie folk trio made up of two sisters Abbey and Mia and their cousin Jaymi. They recently celebrated the release of a new EP.
Band members - Abbey- vocal and guitar; Jaymi- vocal and mandolin; Mia- drums
Pat Capocci
Hard-working and determination are just two characteristics that can be attributed to Pat Capocci. Since forming nearly 10yrs ago, Pat Capocci has emerged as one of Australia’s most respected practitioners of rockabilly and roots music. Growing up in the Maitland-Hunter region, Pat spent his early years listening to and being influenced by traditional roots music of yesteryear. At age 16 Pat became a member of the Hunter’s very own Johnny Greens Blues Cowboys as well as the Torpedoes, and began performing at local pubs and hotels. Pat had a taste of live performance and decided to venture out and form his own band.
Many years later and with five records produced on the Presstone Label, including compilations with leading acts across Australia, and one album with Hollywood’s Wild Records. In 2016 he signed with a brand new Australian owned label, Devil Wind Records and released his brand new EP More Thrills Than Ever. He also had a second release of 2016 a, 45” record with Ruby Records (USA).
Pat Capocci’s “all or nothing” mentality has gained him respect on both a national and international level.
Undoubtedly being one of Australia’s hardest working bands, it is no wonder why all ages and subcultures across the world admire the energy and passion fuelled music that is Pat Capocci.
Bootleg Rascal
Ghetto-dubsters Bootleg Rascal, from Sydney and Gold Coast, are masters of hip-hop infused jams and sonic brews: blending infectious alternative rhythms with “Exquisitely raspy vocals” (theMusic.com May 2015).
The reprobates that make up Bootleg Rascal, as dodgy as the name suggests, include Carlos, Jimmy, and Jack.
The band have been touring since they formed in mid-2013 when the group of misfits first met in the back room of a seedy Sydney gig, bonding over their love of music and tacos and spreading/sharing tales of childish escapades (still to this day).
Soon after, they hit the garage and crafted together their first EP of original material and toured – up and down the east coast - their first gig was playing Woodford Folk Festival in 2013/14.
Their dubalicious single Oh I Know went straight onto Triple J on high rotation and picked up play on community radio stations including: 4ZZZ, PBS and 2SER. Their hooky disco beats, sick riffs and Carlos’s sexy vocals, you’ll be singing the tunes hours after you’ve had a whiff of ‘em, and what’s more, you’ll have forgotten where you’ve picked it up from – kinda suits them to a tee. The burrito-slingin’ dub monsters released their first full-length album, Asleep In The Machine last year. The album hones in on their mutant dublactic hip-hop sounds and hooky song-crafting. The title track single, Asleep In The Machine, was added to Triple J’s rotation list the week of its release. Triple J was also able to help them participate in Like A Version where they did a killer cover of The Weekend’s The Hills and an original, Asleep In The Machine.
Staying true to the Rascal flavour, the album, Asleep In The Machine (released thru Sureshaker) features some taco-licking tones that shoot from the hip and bounce off into a galaxy of space gorillaz. It’s an album that will dip you into a Cancun boat party, then shake you into the Sunday morning recovery. Carlos’ prego sauce-dipped vocals are the salsa in the taco layer. Sitting above Jimmy’s unique intergalactic guitar riffs and Jack’s trip-hop beats and kicks on a bed of dublactic bass lines and synths.
During 2015 they toured with their brothers in arms, Sticky Fingers, in Europe, playing to sell-out crowds in France, UK, Holland and Germany.
They wrapped up the year with a bang at Festival of the Sun (Port Macquarie), Lost Paradise (Peats Ridge) and The Falls Festival (Byron Bay).
Bootleg Rascal jetted off to North America with Sticky Fingers in April 2016, to join them on a month long tour.
The Rascals recently played one of Australia’s juiciest festivals, The Big Pineapple, where they performed to a heaving midday crowd and fed them a 12-course set menu filled with dub-hop beats and 80’s electro soul vibes alongside their label-mates Boo Seeka and Gold Member. 2017 has seen the Bootleg Rascal boys undertake their first ever headline tour of NZ with a clean sweep selling out all shows in Wellington, Auckland, Queenstown and Christchurch. Off the back of their completely sold out Aus tour, the band jumped a plane and flew straight to Europe and then to the UK to play a couple of shows, hitting capacity in Leeds and Amsterdam.
With a couple of months down time back on home soil, the band is currently working on their second full length album alongside long-time collaborator/producer Ian Pritchett (Boo Seeka & Kim Churchill). Their first single Love Her Like I Love You (2016) is the first taste of what’s to come from their forthcoming second LP.
Hockey Dad
Hockey Dad is an Australian surf rock band from Windang, New South Wales, Australia. The band consists of two members, Billy Fleming and Zach Stephenson, and has two full albums and one EP released to date.
WAAX
Band members - Maz – vocals, Chris – guitar, Ewan – guitar, Griff - bass, Tom – drums.
Downsyde
Downsyde is an Australian hip hop group from Perth. Formed in 1996, the group is composed of three members, Optamus, SHABAZZ and Dazastah.
Since then, Downsyde has released five studio albums and a sixth - ClassicILL was released in December 2017.