Killing Heidi are going onvacation

Tue 9th Jan, 2007 in Features

Roll up, roll up, for one of the last chances to see Killing Heidi perform as a four-piece rock outfit.

They haven’t used the term break up, but the ARIA Award winning band has announced that after nine years they will be taking an indefinite break to work on other projects.

Brother and sister duo of Jesse and Ella Hooper have been performing their own acoustic material at venues around the country and the New Year will see them emerge as their own separate act.

Drummer Adam Pedretti has returned to his first love – heavy metal – with his new band, Monster Truck Extravaganza. Originally from Perth, Pedretti joined Killing Heidi from a band called Non-Intentional Lifeform (NIL).

Bassist Warren Jenkin, who has worked extensively with Merril Bainbridge, has been generating electronic music with computers, synthesisers and keyboards.

The different directions away from Killing Heidi suggests that the band was sick of their chart topping pop/rock, but as frontwoman Ella Hooper explains they have all just grown as individuals.

“There is a time limit of how long you can enjoy one kind of music,” she said. “We all need to get a little bit of light and shade in our careers, so he (Adam) has gone back to something more heavy and I’ve gone back to something more folky.

“We just want to make music that pleases us and I know we have said that before. In the Killing Heidi format we felt like we were making good music, but maybe there had to a departure to make music that was purely in line with what we want to do now.”

For Ella and Jesse it is not so much a new direction, it is more like a homecoming. The pair grew up in nearby Violet Town, where their parents worked as music and drama teachers.

The natural songwriting team have been coming up with acoustic/folk tracks since Ella was just 13. They played an acoustic gig together at the Violet Town Arts Festival in 1996, where a local recording studio owner offered them some studio time to record with a couple of school mates.

These songs were submitted in the Triple J Unearthed competition in the same year, and their track ‘Kettle’ won the title for rural Victoria. A few years later the smash hit ‘Weir’ was released under the guise of Killing Heidi and everything snowballed from there, that is until now.

Ella said they have gone a full 360 and returned to where they started. 

“It (acoustic) just feels really natural and we tend to like that music,” she said.

“We want to use some different instruments and just do things a little differently. Challenge ourselves a little bit and mature the sound. Hopefully that comes across.

“We are doing quite a few gigs and doing some demo recording. Hopefully something for the acoustic duo thing will come out in a couple of months.”

When they are not doing mini-tours, Ella and Jesse are holed up in their home studio that drifts between Melbourne and Violet Town completing demos. Artists such as Nash, Van Morrison, Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan have influenced their new material.

Ella said they find it easier to write in a rural setting where there are less distractions.

“We find it (Violet Town) really inspiring and easy,” she said. “The songs just come about when we are in the country and it really suits the music we’re writing. Maybe that is why it’s all meant to be.

“I think the lyrics are less self-conscious and are a little bit more honest. Not that my lyrics in Killing Heidi weren’t honest, they were a bit more crafted. I spent more time trying to be cryptic or trying to create word pictures and this time its just like whatever comes out, that will have to do, its got an honesty to it.

“We keep adding to the batch of songs. Every time we get together we write a couple of other songs. It jumps between country, bluesy and folksy. Like a weird little mix. So hopefully we’ll have a good selection for that album.

“Once we get all the demos finished, we’ll think about where to record and who to record with. Who knows the perfect producer might be in America or they might be right here in Melbourne.”

Despite all the hard work, Jesse and Ella’s as yet unnamed side project has not been signed to a major label. In fact, the business side of things is the furthest thing from their minds.

“I’m not really worried about being picked up or not,” Ella explains. “As long as we can record it and even if our friends hear it and we hear it, we can feel proud and relaxed.

“I’ve gotten pretty confident and it is not about huge success this time. I have never really enjoyed the business side of it (the music industry), but the music part I’ve always loved and I can’t see myself doing anything else.”

Killing Heidi’s contract with Sony/BMG expired in late 2005 and after three top 20 albums, they decided not to renew it. Reflector (2000) was certified five times platinum, while Present (2002) and Self-titled (2004) both reached gold status.

Success seems to follow Killing Heidi around and that is why Ella cannot rule out a comeback or a ‘best of’ album down the track.

“We’re not ruling it out, if we want to get back to it in the future, we will,” she said. “We all want to go and do different projects and that usually takes quite a while. That is the tricky thing.

”(A ‘best of’) is definitely not on the agenda, but it is not a bad idea.”

Killing Heidi’s last gigs (for a while, anyway):

Saturday, January 13: Rockarama at Thompsons Beach in Cobram, Victoria. With Bodyjar, 28 Days, The Casanovas, The Custom Kings, The Gingers and more. Tickets are available on the day for $60, with gates opening at 5.30pm. There is free camping available for ticket holders, food stalls and a bar available.

Thursday, January 25: Oxford Tavern in Bathurst, New South Wales. 8pm.

Friday, January 26: Paramatta, New South Wales. 8pm.

Saturday, January 27: Doyalson, New South Wales. 8pm.