Adelaide's bestest, Heaps Good Friends

Adelaide’s bestest, Heaps Good Friends, are hitting the road for their first ever national tour in support of their debut EP, Hug Me. Their EP features the widely loved singles ‘I Could Eat a Full Packet of Yo Yo’s’, ‘Let’s Hug Longer’ and ‘Olympic Sneakers’. We chat to vocalist and guitarist Emma Fradd ahead of their shows.
Hey guys, thanks for chatting to Forte again! What have you been up to since we spoke last year?
When we ended our tour with The Jungle Giants, we knew it was time to release something into the world! We have been working hard on our debut EP ‘Hug Me’ and we’ve also planned a cheeky National tour to support these fresh tunes we’ve birthed!
Last time we spoke was just before Grampians Music Festival. How was that whole experience, and how was it performing in an intimate festival setting like GMF?
GMF was very special. A long drive but a bonding one. The mountains were just beautiful. Kangaroo central. The vibes of the festival were very friendly, it was hot as anything, but the crew and crowd were very lovely. We’d love to play there again.
You’ve just dropped your debut EP, Hug Me. How has that been and what’s it like finally getting it out to the world?
Hug Me is a real nice, cute selection of songs to hold and give to my mum, or my friends, or a stranger who ordered it online, and with that comes many proud vibes. It’s nice to have more than just the singles out because we know the fans have been asking for it, and we’ve been dying to share it too.
You receive some rave reviews about your live performance, with comments on the energy and fun you guys present on stage. What are the most important aspects for you when on stage?
My favourite live shows I’ve seen have been where the band are super comfortable on stage. Not necessarily having a large presence with body language, but just doing their thing. We try to wiggle our bums as much as we can to get comfortable on the stages we play on, often that means jumping around and getting our boogie on.
Last year was massive for you guys, with killer singles, the tour with Jungle Giants, winning ‘Best New Artist’ at the South Australian Music Awards, among other achievements. What are the goals for this year? Are you looking to top 2017 in any particular way?

Releasing this EP has been a huge milestone for us for sure, but more than that we wanna put our money where our mouth is and give this tour all we’ve got. We have been getting really excited, the shows are selling well, and we can’t wait to just meet more people, not just fans but the other bands on the bill. We also want to block out some more time for songwriting.

We’ll assume, but is there any new music currently in the works? If so, will it continue along the same sound as this current EP?
Yes, there is new music in the works! Some of our more recent stuff has been a little different to Hug Me. Nick’s going down a music theory rabbit hole right now and it’s having him create some mean chord progressions that I just wouldn’t think of. So, different flavours, but same pie.
When & Where: Workers Club, Melbourne – Saturday March 24. Tickets on sale now via heapsgoodfriends.com.