Stormy-Lou
How old are you? How long have you been playing together as a band? How long have you been playing music?
We are a mixed group of ages but all in our early-mid twenties. Hari is the oldest at 25 and the rest of us are 22!
We started practising music as ‘Stormy-Lou’ in March 2021 so just about 2.5 years now !! Hari is a new addition to the band and joined us at the start of this year so the current iteration of the band is very fresh and exciting!!
We all have different levels of experience; Hari and Mik have been doing music their whole lives, however Mik has only started taking lessons since joining the band. Nessy picked up guitar in Year 11 (6 years ago now!) and Alex picked up bass in 2020 (3 years ago).
How did you get started in music/as a band?
The band started off as a post-high-school project between Nessy and a previous member of the band. They used to just jam together and write songs but they realised that they were looking for a larger group to pursue something further. They reached out to Alex to come play bass and Alex brought along our previous drummer who has now since left. That was the lineup for a few months until a random hang out with Mik led to her coming along for a jam and her joining the band. Our previous singer was removed from the band due to complications and Mik became the lead vocalist. For 6 months we focussed hard writing songs and finally managed to pull a 30 minute set together to play our first ever show in October 2021. It was at Enigma bar which is a super-gross, dingy venue on Hindley Street. Even though it wasn’t the dream starting place we sold over 100 tickets which was pretty awesome for that time when lockdowns were still around and venues were still all seated. We’ve had a wicked couple years of playing and releasing music and this year had a swap in drummers which led to Hari joining the band, who is an awesome addition!
What songs are soundtracking your lives at the moment?
We just released our newest single Eggshells which is a very stripped-back DIY song that is definitely winter vibes. I think we’ve all been in a bit of a sombre mood for a few months and been listening to that kind of music. Local songs such as New Wood, Old Ashes by Sour Sob, and Plagiarise by Coldwave have definitely been up there in the playlist. Also tracks such as Old Friends by Pinegrove as well as God by Slowly Slowly have been up there too!
Who are you inspired by?
We all take inspiration from super varied areas of music! The beginnings of the band were very inspired by Nessy’s love for bands like Foo Fighters and blink-182, which was definitely injected into our music (and still is!). We are majorly inspired by the local music scene with bands like TOWNS, Teenage Joans, and Oscar the Wild being some of our absolute favs!
We also have lots of hints towards out-of-the-ordinary music arrangements that were inspired by our previous drummer Jaya and his love for R&B music. Alex and Mik are heavily inspired by strong Australian voices like Bec Stevens, Stella Donelly, Julia Jacklin, Sly Withers, and Ruby Fields. Hari has also brought a new perspective into the band with a love for more alternative music such as midwest emo, twinkle-riffs, and math-rock.
What has your favourite performance/gig been that you’ve played? And what made it your favourite?
I’ll pick a couple of our most memorable gigs just because it is so hard to pick just one! I think the most influential show we’ve played was our first ever single launch for our debut track Alone With U. We had an awesome line-up of some of our favourite up-and-coming artists absolutely tearing up the Adelaide UniBar. We had over 200 people there and had an incredible amount of support towards our first release. When we came on stage the crowd was electric and when we finally played Alone With U we could hear the whole crowd singing back to us. It got very emotional and there were a lot of tears shared. We also had our producer Ben Waltho playing with us and so that was an incredibly special way to celebrate the hard work we’d all put in.
The other show that is definitely up there in our favourites was a local support show for the Queensland band Beddy Rays. It was at The Gov venue and was one of the most ecstatic nights of our lives. It came about in such a crazy way as well. There was a chance meeting when Beddy Rays came into the cafe that Nessy and Mik used to work at about a year before this show. Nessy had introduced himself and brought up how much we loved their music which sparked an awesome friendship between us. They invited us to their show that night and put us on the door. A crazy event at the venue led to Mik’s foot being crushed under the barrier and us having to spend the night in hospital. This crazy event only furthered the banter and connection with the Beddy Rays fellas and we kept in touch all the way up to this gig. Fast forward to July 2022, and Beddy Rays are on tour for their debut album. We had all already got tickets and were super keen to go along. The night before, Mik got a call from their booking manager exclaiming that their support had gotten COVID and they were wondering if we could fill in. Obviously we jumped onto the opportunity and had a rushed practice the day off to get ready. The show was incredible and the touring team were incredibly supportive. We played to just over 400 people and the crowd was absolutely incredible. It was such an insane experience and gave us a lot of inspiration to keep chasing our dreams of being touring musicians.
What advice would you give other young people who are thinking of starting their music journey?
ENJOY IT!! If you’re not having fun and are too stressed, change it up cos the number one priority should always be to enjoy what you are doing. That being said, there will be moments that are very stressful such as release periods and preparation for big shows, but the best way to combat that is to look out for the people you play with and realise you’re all in it together. Also success is very hard to quantify or define so don’t get too caught up on comparing yourself to others, just have your own personal goals and pride! Look out for awesome opportunities and always research ideas, people to work with, and ways to make things happen!! Finally, be patient because some things can take time and maybe longer than you expect so appreciate the process and don’t freak out about slow progress!!