2023 has been an incredibly busy year for Hockey Dad. The Windang duo have toured the UK, Europe, SOLD OUT the massive ‘Hockey Fields’ Australian tour with good mate Ruby Fields, made a quick stop for a show at surfing mecca Uluwatu in Indonesia before heading to the US for an 11 date tour through August and September.
Somehow, they found some time to write and record some new music. The first fruits have arrived from those sessions with new single Still Have Room out now.
In creating Still Have Room, guitarist and lead vocalist Zach Stephenson and drummer Billy Fleming worked with Alex Burnett (Thelma Plum, Sparkadia) and Oli Horton (Foals, Alice Ivy) who co-wrote, produced and mixed the song alongside Tim McArtney (Gang of Youths, Jarryd James). The result is a feel good melodic pop song which still sounds quintessentially Hockey Dad.
Zach Stephenson on writing Still Have Room: “I think initially it seems like a song from someone who can’t move on from a romantic relationship. After a while I noticed it becoming more about past friends who drift into different lives. It’s about moving forward in your life through different phases, but still having that connection and special place in your heart for people you grow apart from. Acknowledging their impact on your life for good or bad and keeping those memories and lessons with you.”
The video for Still Have Room was shot locally around Wollongong and the steelworks with director Jamieson Kerr. The gritty working class heist story, set sometime before smoking was banned on airplanes, looks to be a storyline that may see a part two for another video.
“We play down on their luck artists who are in a fight to save their creations from an eccentric art thief,” Stephenson said. “Our bass player Steve Bourke came in and stole the show as per usual. It was great to work with Jamieson as he really brought our initial ideas into a whole new dimension and worked super hard running the shoot. We can’t wait to go deeper into the story and see how everything plays out later down the line.”
Still Have Room is the first song to come from a planned new album, the band’s 4th long player, due for release in 2024. It follows the #2 ARIA Album ‘Brain Candy’ released in 2020.
Australian fans are in for a treat when Hockey Dad kick off their East Coast Regional tour on Thursday 2nd November at Coffs Harbour’s Hoey Moey with a couple of new songs planned to get a run live. The tour runs up the New South Wales coast stopping at Yamba, Newcastle and Gosford, Castlemaine, Frankston and Torquay in Victoria and up to Queensland with show at the Gold and Sunshine Coasts and up north into Cairns, Townsville, Arlie Beach and Mackay. Special guests for most shows are Crocodylus and The Belair Lip Bombs – CHECK OUT FULL DATES AND DETAILS HERE.
HOCKEY DAD REGIONAL TOUR
W/ CROCODYLUS + THE BELAIR LIP BOMBS
THURSDAY 2 NOVEMBER – HOEY MOEY, COFFS HARBOUR NSW
FRIDAY 3 NOVEMBER – BOWLO SPORTS & LEISURE, YAMBA NSW
SATURDAY 4 NOVEMBER – MIAMI MARKETTA, GOLD COAST, QLD*
SUNDAY 5 NOVEMBER – SOLBAR, SUNSHINE COAST QLD*
FRIDAY 10 NOVEMBER – KING ST BANDROOM, NEWCASTLE NSW#
SATURDAY 11 NOVEMBER – DRIFTERS WHARF, CENTRAL COAST NSW*
THURSDAY 16 NOVEMBER – THEATRE ROYAL, CASTLEMAINE VIC
FRIDAY 17 NOVEMBER – PIER BANDROOM, FRANKSTON VIC
SATURDAY 18 NOVEMBER – TORQUAY HOTEL, TORQUAY VIC
WEDNESDAY 22 NOVEMBER – SEABREEZE HOTEL, MACKAY QLD
THURSDAY 23 NOVEMBER – MAGNUMS, AIRLIE BEACH QLD
FRIDAY 24 NOVEMBER – JCU UNI BAR, TOWNSVILLE QLD
SATURDAY 25 NOVEMBER – EDGE HILL TAVERN, CAIRNS QLD
* PLATONIC SEX REPLACING THE BELAIR LIP BOMBS
# FUNGAS REPLACING THE BELAIR LIP BOMBS
‘STILL HAVE ROOM’ IS OUT NOW – STREAM / DOWNLOAD HERE
With thanks to Six Boroughs Media
