Returning after four years, Windang New South Wales duo, Hockey Dad are ripe and ready to rebuild and repeat.
Jumping on a call after a morning surf, Hockey Dad’s Billy Fleming is one cool customer. Him and vocalist Zach Stephenson have made a career from being laid back, they’re like those friends from school who got famous that you can’t help but love.
There’s a lot of cool stuff happening in the Hockey Dad camp at the moment, the pair have a new album and mammoth tour on the way, the drummer / sometimes vocalist / co-writer gave us a lowdown on it all.
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“It’s been four years since we’ve put out a record, now the nerves are there,” Billy notes with a laugh. “But from what we’ve put out, it’s all been pretty positive, which is cool.”
“Tour’s creeping up too, Perth is sold out already which is awesome, that’ll be a really good start to the tour.”
Rebuild Repeat is Hockey Dad’s first release in four years, this record following 2020’s Brain Candy. While 2024’s release is still full of the sound we’ve come to love from the pair, the record came to life a little softer than usual. For previous drops, the pair get together and jam, but Repeat Rewind came to life on an acoustic guitar.
“It was a very ‘let’s peel back the layers’’ kind of thing. The new songs are feeling the best we’ve ever felt (about music), it’s exciting.
“I feel like a lot of our other songs from earlier records were recorded as we would play them, but these ones are a bit softer. When we’ve been playing them, we put a little bit more energy into the song, and it’s been giving the songs a whole new life.”
The pair opened up the doors for a new producer, Rebuild Repeat sees the group work with Aussie Alex Burnett from Sparkadia behind the decks, a group the boys looked up to back in the day.
“We grew up listening to them. The records they put out shaped so much for us. Fast forward 15 years and Alex hit us up and said, ‘Heard you guys are fans of ours, do you want to do a writing session for just a song?’
“We were like ‘of course’!” Billy adds with a laugh. “We’re so trustworthy of his angle, we know what he sounds like, and we know what we sounds like, we’re both respectful of trying to get to the middle of each other.”
Another element fans have flocked to Hockey Dad for is their visuals. Killer album covers, designs and music videos bring a little something extra to the music listening experience for fans. We’ve already received a bunch of art for the new record, two music videos, a tour poster and an album cover.
“Before the band started, I was going to get into graphic design anyway. So I really enjoy it all.
“So I’ll do the designs for the band full time pretty much. I love getting involved with the music videos, it’s great to be hands on. It’s great to keep your hand in it, when things get out of control, at least you’ve got some say in it. Put a bit of effort in and you’re like ‘sick, this is exactly how I wanted it.’”
The upcoming album tour sees the pair play the biggest venues of their career, hitting venues like Adelaide’s Hindley Street Music Hall, Brisbane’s Fortitude Music Hall, and Melbourne’s iconic Margaret Court Arena. With massive venues and killer supports, Billy notes it feels like they’ve jumped forward 8 steps.
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“It’s a pinch yourself moment. We actually played (MCA) once before with Grinspoon in 2018 I think, I remember being petrified.”
“It’ll be interesting to be back, exciting in a way too, because we’ve got a whole new show planned, we’ve never done anything like that before. Once we heard we’re doing big rooms, we’re like we should probably step it up”
The group will be supported by LA’s Milatrie Gun, and Aussie legends The Belair Lip Bombs.
“If fans want to come see us play the new record, that’s cool. But they better be ready for those two bands because they are incredible, I think they are the two best bands in the world right now.
Hockey Dad’s Rebuild Repeat is available for preorder. Tour dates and tickets are available here.
