Q&A with

HEY BABY!

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Interviewer: Georgia Dickinson

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Brisbane quartet Hey Baby! are on the rise. Their debut single ‘1-800 WEED’ received critical acclaim with triple j’s Bridget Hustwaite calling the song, “Cheeky, catchy and bursting with energy…”. Now, Hey Baby! releases their heartfelt successor ‘Kids’ – a three-minute masterpiece filled with feel-good lyrics and dynamics that keep you on the edge of your seats.

We caught up with frontman and founding member Kacper Majchrowski to talk more about the band’s formation, ‘Kids’ and what it was like to work with The Belligerents bassist Konstantin Kersting.

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First of all, how did Hey Baby! form?

Hey Baby! formed when I (Kacper) moved up to Brissie in 2016. I met Jaeger at a house party that had a bunch of rad bands playing (Concrete Surfers, Dangerpenny, Guava Lava). Jaeger is the brother of the bassist from Port Royal (also playing that day) and we just kind of clicked. We bonded over punk tunes and skating and just started jamming together.

Whilst we jammed, Sam (guitarist) hit me up on Bandmix.com and when she came round I was amazed about how we liked all the same bands and books, and our guitar playing styles meshed really well. Chicken (Dan – bassist) jumped on after hearing the ‘Kids’ demo. He really dug it and messaged me asking to play right after he heard it. We had a different bass player at the time but general problems happened and the second he was out Chicken was in, and we’ve been a pretty tight family ever since!

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Are there any artists that influence your way of writing music?

Man, I think there’s a lot and they’d be different for each member. For me, it’d be bands like FIDLAR and Jay Reatard. Sam would probably have The Strokes and I hear a bit of Surf Curse in her leads. Chicken would probably have PUP and a strong influence stylistically would probably be Brent from Dune Rats. Jaeger is just a nutcase on drums so I dunno – he’ll play any beat you want him to, but I know these days he’s pumping bands like The Frights and Beach Goons, and you definitely can’t ignore the Travis Barker/Blink 182 influences that have clung to him like glad wrap since he was a kid.

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Tell me a little more about the meaning behind the new single ‘Kids’.

It’s definitely a nostalgic song for me. I was thinking about how I felt running around the Blue Mountains with my close friends when I was younger. It’s basically a middle finger to living a life in a structured, mind-numbingly controlling environment. We weren’t all that chaotic but we just didn’t fit in and didn’t enjoy everything that was being taught in school. So we studied books that interested us or made art and music that we wanted to. We were all probably a bit weird but I think everyone in our group enjoyed each other’s uniqueness, which contrasted greatly to how a lot of people could have been crucified for those differences outside of the group. To cut it short, I think the main message of the song is to celebrate our individualities, and not to judge everyone with the same measurements cause we don’t all fit within that scope.

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How was the writing and recording process for ‘Kids’ different to ‘1800-WEED’?

Uhhh, ‘1-800 WEED’ was just an improvised jam that happened by accident! Sam and I were joking around making clichéd stoner lyrics for a made up jingle that would feature for a weed delivery service. ‘Kids’ was a little bit more thought out in terms of its structure and dynamics. We wanted to keep the energy there but dialled it back to create more of a flow and to make certain parts fee more exciting and powerful. I mean it’s not Mozart… but it’s much more structured and throughout than ‘1-800 WEED’.

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You recorded the song with The Belligerents’ bassist Konstantin Kersting. What was it like working with him?

Konstantin is a good dude! He’s really chill and gives you your space whilst simultaneously managing time and the studio really efficiently. He’s also really good at what he does, I don’t know if it’s hard to make us sound like we want to sound like, but we basically gave him a concept and he did it straight of the bat – cheers matey!

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Can fans expect more songs like ‘Kids’ in your upcoming releases?

Hmm, I guess in terms of the EP there’ll be one more song that will blend nicely with ‘1-800 WEED’ and ‘Kids’, but the other two will be curveballs… that’s for sure.

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You guys are currently in the midst of your ‘Kids’ single tour, how have the shows been so far?

Yeah, the shows have been great! Always love playing in different venues with different crowds. Hearing different bands from different scenes is always a highlight for me, plus I get to party with my best mates at every show… so I really can’t complain!

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Is there a city or venue you guys are most excited to play?

We always love a loose crowd, and the loosest we’ve ever had was at The Bearded Lady in Brissie. So I’m pretty pumped for that! I’m really keen for the Gold Coast and Melbourne for their tasty lineups.

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Last but not least, what’s the plan for Hey Baby! for the rest of 2018?

Jam, record, tour, party, repeat!

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