Interview: Foley

So you guys have been in Australia just over a year now. How did you adapt to that first summer in a different space?
‍Man, it's a lot hotter, let me tell you that. Thirty-seven all weekend in Sydney. But yeah, it's been really good. It's nice to challenge ourselves a bit more and be amongst new creatives and new experiences and kind of live in a bigger, more different city. It's really come through in the songwriting and a lot of the stuff that we've done.

We used it as a bit of a launchpad. We did a massive tour around Australia at the start of the year for our second album, we've just since been to Korea, and we've met so many incredible people. All of the musicians in the industry here have been super welcoming - we've been able to make some really good friends and write some different music. The creativity has been great over here.

How much planning went into the move?
‍There's the partners and there's the riffraff, you know, the whole gang. But you couldn't really make it easier to move countries with the New Zealand passport. We'd come over to Australia a few times, played some festivals, did South by Southwest, did Big Sound, and we'd been gathering friends and people along the way. It just felt like a natural next step. Another challenge, another thing to try and conquer and spread our wings a little bit. It just so happens that it's now a three-hour flight instead of a couple-minute drive.

Has it exceeded expectations?
‍Yeah, definitely in terms of the creative stuff. It's really nice to find new people in a new city - even just something as simple as a video or a visualiser. You put up a story, reach out to some friends, and you figure out what works. It's interesting to meet new people and get challenged a little bit. At this point we've done a couple of albums, countless songs, countless videos, and it's really nice to be in a fresh spot to spark some new stuff. Our expectations are pretty high anyway, so yeah, it's been lovely.

That's Life Baby came out earlier in the year. Did that feel like a good way to close out that chapter?
‍Yeah, I think we were actually here when it dropped. Our Spotify was still set to New Zealand time, so it came out at 10pm instead of midnight. We were coming back from the Billie Eilish show and listening to it in the car as it first released. It was a nice way to firm that period of time up, because that album was such a moment in time anyway - written on Waiheke across maybe three days. It was a nice reminder of how great New Zealand is and how great our collaborators back home are. But since then we've just been working on new stuff. We had Sucker Punch come out, just had Honey come out, and yeah, many more to come.

Sucker Punch, Honey - they feel different. More acoustic, more organic. Where did that come from?
‍When you move, you often just have one guitar out. For me it's the acoustic guitar - just sitting on my couch, turtling away at it rather than having a full studio set up with electric guitars and everything else. Ash brought hers over as well. And the collaborators here, like the duo Max and Nico - Max is an incredible guitarist and they have a bunch of random acoustic guitars throughout the studio. And then there's a guy called Butterbath, real name Toby, who's an incredible producer and his studio is also filled with a lot of acoustic power. So it became this random theme we didn't really plan to stumble upon. Now that we're here and doing it, it's like, okay cool, that's a really clear example of how it's been super different in terms of how we write and how we produce.

You guys are getting on for a decade of doing this. It must be nice to return to those roots a bit.
‍Return to the roots, yeah. I've always said you should probably start playing guitar on an acoustic because it's a little trickier. But yeah, it is nice, and it's nice to continuously be challenged. The whole Foley project has always been about Ash and I pushing each other to try new things. At the very start it was, can we write a good pop song? The answer to that is out of our hands - that's for people to judge. But we're learning the structure, learning how to push the envelope a bit further, how to break the rules. The longer we go on, the more things we find that we didn't know before and want to try out. Moving over here and having the year we've had has just made that stronger.

I keep hearing your songs in supermarkets. Do you notice that too?
‍Me too. But you know what's funny is sometimes I don't recognise it straight away. It'll be a deep cut - the song that wasn't a single on one of the first EPs - and I'll go to Shazam it. And then I'll be like, oh, wait. It sounds so facetious, but it's true. You just forget.

You just got back from Korea. Five shows - how was that?
‍It was an incredible tour. Hard to believe, being a couple of best mates from New Zealand. The reason we went is we had a song that went sort of semi-viral a few years ago on the Korean streaming platform Melon, which I will forever love. We paired up with Paige, who's incredibly popular in Korea - multiple platinum EPs. The crowds were really gracious. They brought all this old merch, stuff we'd put out four years ago, wearing the t-shirts, wanting us to sign everything, giving us gifts. It was really affirming.

It's such a beautiful country and very welcoming people. We played this spot in Daegu - a central Korean city - and there was this incredible record bar where they press records of local Korean artists. This massive wall of art, very kind and beautiful setup. Just in the middle of a city you'd have no idea existed if you're from the bottom of the world.

What's the plan heading into next year?
‍Over summer we're taking a bit of a breather - Ash has her engagement party, so we're recharging the batteries after a big year. But we're finalising new music at the moment. Anyone that's followed us for a few years will kind of be aware that once we start putting out music, there's something bigger coming. I won't spoil a surprise, but there's plenty more to come. We're not done yet.

And finally - what are you missing most about New Zealand food-wise?
‍I don't want to say too much against Australian burgers. I will say the fries here are really good - I haven't had a bad fry yet. But BurgerFuel aioli? There's no BurgerFuel aioli. It's just a bit of a wasteland. The sacrifices are heavy and they weigh on my mind.

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Foley's latest single Honey is out now on Spotify and all good streaming platforms. New music is on the way in early 2025, with something bigger in the works. Follow them on Instagram for updates and keep an ear out - you might just hear them in your local supermarket before they announce anything.