What began as something to do while there was no surf has become so much more for Zach Stephenson and Billy Fleming aka Hockey Dad. In 2013 the two who had been friends since early childhood started jamming in their parent’s garage because there were no waves. With Zach on guitar/ vocals and Billy behind the drum kit the two quickly progressed to writing their own songs and had a set together to start playing some shows locally across Wollongong.
Early 2014 saw the duo take the next step of recording the tracks, they enlisted Tom Iansek on production duties and headed down to Melbourne to record five tracks that would become their debut EP ‘Dreamin’. Released in June of 2014, it instantly clicked with music fans both across Australia and internationally, with the release gaining the band a cult following. With that the band then hit the Australian live circuit hard through the back half of 2014 and into 2015 while also writing plenty of new music.
Between shows during the 2015 they managed to once again hit the studio to record their debut album and were also invited to the USA for the first time to play CMJ festival in New York. The first US tour would prove pivotal in the bands international plans with agency and label representation in North America coming from their showcases and the event and as a result they would return to the US in March 2016 to play SXSW.
August of 2016 saw the band release their debut album ‘Boronia’, named after the street the duo grew up on the band were now taking their sounds well beyond that humble little street in Windang. On release day the band kicked off a coast to coast North American headline tour before heading across to do album release shows in the UK, Netherlands and France. Following their international touring schedule Hockey Dad returned home for the Australian leg of the ‘Boronia’ tour with shows selling out almost immediately on the back of strong radio and media support.
Following the touring cycle for the debut album, they hit the festival circuit in Australia playing main stages on most of the countries favourite festivals before it was time to begin work on their sophomore album. This time they took a totally different approach to recording by heading to Seattle to record with producer John Goodmanson.
Released in February of 2018, the second Hockey Dad album propelled the band further in both their home country and abroad. In Australia the album was a Triple J feature album, debuted in the top ten of the album charts and eventually was shortlisted for Australian album of the year, in the US it topped college radio charts and in the UK/Europe it gained positive press across the board. It was backed up with headline touring across the USA, Canada, UK, Europe and Australia, selling out iconic rooms in London, New York, Amsterdam and plenty more. Once again the band followed up the album cycle by hitting the festival circuit both in Australia and across the UK and Europe.
After working so well with John Goodmanson for the recording of ‘Blend Inn’, Hockey Dad returned to Seattle in mid 2019 to begin work on their third album. ‘I Missed Out’ the first single from the release dropped in late 2019 and despite only having a few weeks of eligibility entered Triple J’s famous Hottest 100 countdown (the third straight year they’d made an appearance). Originally schedule for a May release, Hockey Dad’s third album ‘Brain Candy’ was a victim of the pandemic and held back until late July release. With most of the world in the grip of lockdowns, some alternate ideas to touring in support of the release had to take place so the band played a release week livestream that was globally supported by Youtube, as well as a hometown Drive In Show. It helped the album debut at number two on the Australian charts.
With touring stalled for much of 2020 and 2021, Zach and Billy alongside live bass player Steve Bourke have been writing and recording new music for album four, while keeping engaged in alternate ways. The 2020 drive in show had been professionally recorded and in October 2021 was released as a limited edition vinyl. Their loyal fanbase has also kept rolling with the band with their single Seaweed’ hitting platinum status in Australia, while the singles ‘Join The Club’ and ‘I Need A Woman’ have gone gold.
Hockey Dad are now ready to get back on the stage and deliver new music in 2022.
Remo Drive
REMO DRIVE – A PORTRAIT OF AN UGLY MAN
To find their muse again, REMO DRIVE went back to where it all began: their parents’ basement. It had been a long time coming for the Paulson brothers – Erik (vocals, guitar) and Stephen (bass) – who formed Remo Drive in Bloomington, Minnesota, in 2013 and have since captivated audiences around the world with an earnest, idiosyncratic brand of indie-rock and two highly lauded albums: 2017’s Greatest Hits and 2019’s Natural, Everyday Degradation.
When the Paulsons stumbled across a Tascam recording desk on Facebook Marketplace in 2019, they thought it might make a nice starting point to demo songs for their then-forthcoming third LP. But $250 and a few weeks later, they found themselves fully entrenched in making the actual album itself. Not only that, but the safety and security of their parents’ home provided a welcome respite for the brothers, who have learned they’re most creative without a ticking clock and prying eyes peeking over their shoulders.
“Our workflow is naturally different from what most producers and studios like to do,” Erik explains. “We take things in our own weird approach and order. There’s a sense of privacy working at home. It doesn’t feel like you’re working with the door open during the incubation process.”
The resulting album, A PORTRAIT OF AN UGLY MAN (due out June 26 on Epitaph) finds the band truly in their element – both physically and sonically. Whereas the Paulsons filtered their buoyant songwriting through the concise lens of storytellers like Bruce Springsteen and The Killers on Natural, Everyday Degradation, LP3 is more spontaneous, awash in the same sort of acrobatic guitar arrangements and levity that made Greatest Hits such an underground favorite.
“I wanted to get back to playing guitar the way I used to, and then throw songwriting on top of that,” Erik says. “On the last album, I approached playing guitar in a more songwriter-y way. I had really scaled it back so it wouldn’t be as hard for me to sing and play simultaneously, but the guitar is way more forward again now.”
Self-produced and mixed by the duo, A Portrait of an Ugly Man feels all at once familiar and fresh: The basement breathed a looseness into songs like “If I’ve Ever Looked Too Deep In Thought” and “Ode to Joy,” while the freedom of the sessions left the band able to explore the next evolution of their sound. As such, the 10-song set tips its hat to both the classic rock the brothers grew up on as well as previously untapped influences: Erik namechecks desert-rock artists like Queens of the Stone Age while admitting The Good, The Bad and The Ugly soundtrack and his binge-watching of old Westerns contributed to the album’s tremolo-heavy, American frontier gunslinger pastiche.
But this time around, the guiding hands of their musical influences is less overt, a conscious decision the band address on album standout “Star Worship,” which preaches the need to eschew reverence for others and instead trust in yourself. That unflinching sense of self-awareness is what made Remo Drive so endearing as they found their footing in the mid-2010s, but it’s never been as crystalized as it is on A Portrait of an Ugly Man. So while the songs still tackle life’s weighter topics, they’re cut with more self-deprecation and embrace all of life’s absurdity and weirdness in the process. They don’t attempt to minimize serious subjects, but rather provide some much-needed irreverence.
“I was bumming myself out by trying to be more serious than I actually am,” Erik admits. “On this album, I wanted to write stuff that still communicated real ideas but had a bit of lighthearted, fun energy to it.”
In turning the mirror back at themselves in this way, Remo Drive have learned a lot about who they really are: A Portrait of an Ugly Man cements their place as an insular, self-sustaining act who don’t need shiny gear or expensive studios to produce a great album – that task starts and ends with the songs themselves. And, as it turns out, the recording process was proof that when it comes to a nurturing, creative environment, there’s no place like home.
“We’d been gone so much with touring that our parents were so excited to have us home,” Erik says. “They’d always come downstairs to hear what we were working on. They’re always used to us practicing, but seeing more of each other was really nice.”
“Plus,” he adds with a laugh, “there’s always some food in the fridge.” XX
Tatiana Hazel
Tatiana Hazel a Chicago-born LA-based singer songwriter and versatile musician infuses alternative rock vibes into her pop
Music showcased in her highly anticipated 2024 album featuring collaborators like IIan Rubin, Juan Ariza and Rob Cavallo. Apart from her solo career she leads the band PROM and has shared stages with acts such as Little Jesus and Divino Niño. Beyond her musical pursuits she channels her creativity into the realm of fashion design crafting unique pieces not only for herself but also for renowned artists.
She’s also made her mark internationally, collaborating with the French band La Femme on their recent album “Teatro Lucido” notably on the single “Y tu te vas.”
