KILLING HEIDI - Present Tense: By Scott McLennan

Following a lengthy hiatus due to pop songstress Ella Hooper’s health problems, studio boredom and a case of post-debut burnout, Killing Heidi have returned to the promotional trail in the wake of their second album, Present. Named due to a feeling that it authentically indicates where Killing Heidi is at in 2002, the album’s strong sense of direction and fluid delivery marks a giant leap from the apprehensive sounds of 2000’s debut, Reflector.

When Jesse and Ella Hooper won the Benalla region final of the Triple J Unearthed competition in 1996, it could have easily been the beginning and end for the folky duo, but with Paul Kosky signing Killing Heidi to his Wah Wah Music label soon after their win, it set the siblings on their way to success. Kosky quickly ditched the original rhythm section and paired the Hooper teens with two musicians he had worked with previously at Melbourne’s Platinum Studios. Along with bassist Warren Jenkins, former Non-Intentional Lifeform drummer Adam ‘Pedro’ Pedretti also received the call to join Killing Heidi.

When Pedretti gave Rip It Up a call recently, preparations were well under way for the AFL Grand Final at which Killing Heidi were performing the following day. Adam outlined the problems during the rehearsal earlier in the week.

"We’ve had the big rehearsal and actually it didn’t run all that smoothly," laughed Adam. "Mike Brady got up to do That’s The Thing About Football and by the time he got up on stage, the first verse had already finished! Hopefully it doesn’t run that way on the day."

Apart from the damp weather, Killing Heidi’s Mascara and Heaven Sent appeared to go off without too many problems during the grand final celebrations, although the appearance marked the beginning of a gruelling live schedule for the band.

"Our promotional schedule is just of the Richter!" Pedretti remarked. "We’ve managed to fit in a whole lot of regionals that we haven’t done for a long time or haven’t done at all. When the record drops we’ll be pretty much be out to play for everybody that we possibly can, and there’s a lot of places that we want to play like Northern Territory and Western Australia - especially the hotter climes!"

While his past with Non-Intentional Lifeform is a distant five years ago, I was interested about what his hard rocking mates from NIL thought of his move to Killing Heidi.

"My best friend Andrew, who was the guitarist, didn’t actually talk to me for a year when I said, ‘I’m leaving’," Adam explained. "Paul Kosky, who produced the NIL record, was starting to do demos with Jess and El. After NIL packed in, Paul asked me to come in and do some sessions with Jess and El on Reflector. And the rest, as they say, is history!"

And what a history it’s been so far.

"It’s been pretty cool little history so far! Now we’re in for round two!"

Following the disruption that Ella’s throat surgery and vocal rehabilitation caused to the recording of Present, the band reconvened in the popular Victorian coastal retreat of Sorrento to begin pre-production of a number of the album tracks.

"We did pre-production down in Sorrento for three weeks," Adam explained. "Every day we’d work on a different song. We’ve got all these cool CDs at home that I’m sure some of our fans would love to hear. It’s just our songs played absolute bare bones. They sound pretty cool."

So would there be an option of those appearing as b-sides later on?

"Probably not," Adam answered. "We’re actually going to write some b-sides pretty soon. We’ve been enjoying writing acoustic songs lately."

With new single Outside Of Me being available in two cd formats, I wondered if Killing Heidi had much say in the marketing strategies implemented by their record company.

"Our relationship with Sony hasn’t been a very long relationship but it seems to be working out pretty well," Adam stated. "We’ve got to fight for our good fight and they’ve got to fight for their good fight, but if we meet in the middle then we can have a good relationship.

So was that a Sony decision for Killing Heidi to appear on Big Brother?

"That was something Sony were pushing for, obviously because they like their artists to get as much exposure as possible," Adam began. "Ella wasn’t too keen on the idea in the beginning. Once we decided it was going to happen, it was actually quite a lot of fun. Sometimes it will be asked to do something so ridiculous that I’ll want to do it because it’s so wanky. It might just seem like fun because it’s so daggy."

With the new release, bassist Warren Jenkins received some credits as an additional writer on some of the tracks alongside Ella and Jesse. When will we be seeing similar Adam Pedretti credits?

"Not yet," countered Pedro. "I do a lot of writing at home but I don’t know if it fits in with what we’re doing at the moment. Who knows? The next record might be a 15 track masterpiece written by all four band members."

And then you can release that stripped back anthology.

"We’re thinking of doing something seriously with all our acoustic stuff," Adam exclaimed excitedly. "We’re thinking of maybe digging up all our b-sides and putting them on a record or doing an unplugged album. It’s just a great way to see the band - stripped back and bare bones. It’s kind of a refreshing change for us to play that way and hear people go, ‘hh wow, they can actually play!’"

Killing Heidi’s Outside Of Me single is out now. Present is out on Mon Oct 21 through Sony and they play Adelaide Uni Bar on Sat Oct 26 and Sun Oct 27. The band will also make an appearance at The Muses, Rundle Mall, at 2pm on Sun Oct 26 to sign copies of their new album.