P R E S E N T :

[This official biography written in 2002] It couldn’t be more anticipated. After all, it follows one of the most successful debut efforts in Australian music history. It was almost four years ago that the Hooper kids from Violet Town were unearthed by Triple J, hooked up with bassist Warren Jenkin and drummer Adam Pedretti, recorded their debut album ‘Reflector’ and rocketed all the way to #1, half a million album sales and four 2000 Aria’s. But that was then. These days, the representatives of Killing Heidi are older, wiser and tougher. And so is their latest musical incarnation. “A lot has happened to me since we recorded ‘Reflector’. There have been lots of ups, definite downs and some real levelling out. You can hear it all on this album”, says 19 year old Ella Hooper, who had become one of the most recognisable faces in Australian music before even graduating from high school. Not that she’s taking exclusive credit for the album’s enhanced intensity. “I take my lyrical tone from the mood of Jesse’s riffs – and they were angrier, not just angrier – but more empowered”. Jesse agrees that “This album’s just a lot more grown up I guess. There’s definitely angst, but it’s also about breaking through and rising above whatever is pulling you down”. Putting the pressure of expectation behind them, the Hooper siblings headed back to Violet Town 15 months ago to half bake the musical direction of their follow up album. Then it was onto the sleepy town of Sorrento (on the Victorian Coast) with their band mates and Producer/ A&R Director of Wah Wah Music (through Sony Music) Paul Kosky. “Preproduction on this album was such a different experience because we had toured together for over two years since we recorded ‘Reflector’”, says Adam. “We are such a tighter unit musically and we worked these songs up together – as a band – for the first time”. Warren agrees, “We knew we had to keep the soul of that live, organic energy flowing through all the other production stages”. Paul Kosky custom built a beach side studio where a surf life saving club used to be, to cater for the recordings’ exclusively digital production environment. “Even the mixing and mastering stages were carried out in the digital format”, explains Kosky, “it gave us a lot more freedom because we could take a guitar lick from preproduction and instantaneously add it during mastering”. The other stroke of genius was surely enlisting the atmospheric touch of Addicted to Bass/Moulin Rouge arranger/producer Josh Abrahams as the main keyboard player. “When you hear most of the keyboards or atmospheric/electronic elements on the album – that’s Josh”, confirms Jesse, “I think he enjoyed not having the pressure of being a producer for once. Mostly, he could really have fun because he wasn’t ultimately responsible”. The atmospheric/funk elements on the album certainly create a more alluring and absorbing listening experience. “This album is much more of a journey”, says Ella, “we really wanted to pull you into an alternative reality that you can’t get out of until the end”. Much of this effect is injected by the six musical interludes that essentially sample unexpected combinations of the existing tracks. “We almost worked as hard creating them as we did the actual songs”!” admits Warren, whose melodic base line takes centre stage on the track Heidi Lude #4. The very first album track, Heidi Lude #1, instantly locks you into a more sophisticated and mystical musical universe. “Ironically, it was one of the last tracks we finished”, says Jesse of the hook-and-all, commercial radio destined AMMYL “We had this great riff for the verses but couldn’t find the chorus. It finally came during one of our band sessions before we went into the studio”. The song lyrically depicts the classic on again/off again romantic dilemma. “As much as I have tried to be cryptic”, says Ella, “I’ve projected a lot more of myself on this album and this is one of those pretty obvious songs”. The staccato like opening riff sets a grooving pace for the lyrically disgruntled verses. But there’s no time to get settled. Barely 30 seconds in, the song explodes into angrier, rockier territory, during which Ella bitterly demands “say what you want to say” one second, and begs permission to “come around” the next. The split personality cleverly culminates in a heated lyrical battle between two separate vocal attitudes. While SCARY ELLA sneers “why don’t you say what you mean” with heavily obscured intensity, WOUNDED ELLA still desperately wants to “come around” with unashamed clarity. “The song does end with hope”, ponders Ella, “there’s still a chance things might get sorted out”. Ella Hooper’s vocal diversity on this album is one of its most captivating features. The vocal production (which is the only the time the project temporarily traded the digital format for analogue), inventively captures her multiple vocal personalities and the loaded impact of her message. In the three years since she romped sentimentally through the “Weir”, Hooper has toured the world, loved and lost, become a national identity and undergone critical throat surgery. The later experience inspired the lyrical direction of the album’s most chilling track – COUNTING DOWN. “That song is all about frustration”, says Ella, “it’s about being trapped in limbo and screaming to get out”. The verses are characterised by haunting keyboards; Pedretti’s cautionary drums and desperately groaned lyrical declarations like “I’ve been counting down the ways in which I can make you pay”. “You almost feel uncomfortable playing the verses”, admits Adam, “but the chorus just explodes and you can let it all go”. That’s when the riff gets irate, the drums swing into machine gun intensity and the calculated groan turns threatening growl. “It was around the time I had to have surgery on my throat and I was counting down the days till it was over”, says Ella. Ironically, the very cyst that inspired the concern (and the cause for removal) – features on the track. “The day before I had the surgery we went into the studio and I just screamed out the words like I was never going to sing again. We kept some of that in towards the end of the song – when I become psycho girl”. It’s that kind of psychotic intensity that already has made Ella Hooper an Australian rock icon. Plus the fact that three quarters into the track; she proves that as quickly as dress you down – she can turn you on. It could be the ultimate Killing Heidi song. It bites from the beginning and schizophrenically swings between unrelenting rock and atmospherically tranquil pit stops. “It’s like one minute where four separate people in four separate songs”, says Jesse, “then we slow down, come back together for a second – and launch off again individually”. The atmospherics take over completely at 02:47 and that’s when Ella Hooper gets to strut her way through 40 seconds of the most sexually charged rapping ever committed to a rock record. The vocals fade with the soundscape into near nothingness before the song blasts ferociously back to life with the kind of chaotic cohesiveness that suggest this band may have only just begun to touch the depths of their collective musical capabilities. Killing Heidi’s latest album is as much a celebration of versatility as it is maturity. The stripped back ballad 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 lets the weeping picking of Jesse’s guitar, the fragility of the vocals and the space inspired soundscapes do all the talking. There’s even an infectious gospel sounding rollick called SWEEET, which lyrically addresses the issue of Aboriginal Rights. “Singing about political issues is not something we usually do – we wanted to make sure that it was fun and positive”, says Ella. More light relief comes in the form of the deliciously melodic HEAVEN SENT – (last summer’s most played song on commercial radio) and TAKE IT – Ella’s lyrical sequel to “Mascara”. “That song is kind of me looking back at my school days with much more affection than I was able to when I was there. It’s kind of ‘you don’t really appreciate some things until they’re over’”. It begins with a groove and ends with a bang, (quite literally). It inspires, it rocks, it liberates, seduces and devastates. It may have been a while coming, but Killing Heidi’s follow up album was definitely worth the wait. This is the freshest ROCK/ POP Album to emerge out of this country in years and will no doubt make the rest of the world stand up and listen…Loud.