Hussy Hicks Release New Single and Game That Hits Close To Home
'Same Boat' is an 80s style banger that tells the story of their coming to terms with the world being put on pause and trying to deal with the state of tour dormancy.
Musical globetrotters, Hussy Hicks have released a new single, Same Boat, and a video game of the same name, despite being caught up in the Lismore floods disaster.
One of Australia’s best live blues ‘n’ roots bands, Hussy Hicks are a tour de force featuring powerhouse vocalist, Leesa Gentz and award-winning guitarist, Julz Parker. Prolific and accomplished musicians, the duo have honed their sonic dexterity over the past 13 years with six studio albums, multiple industry awards and more than 1,000 live shows under their belts, from Australia’s biggest blues, roots and folk festivals to 15 international tours.
Last week, the duo made headlines when they helped save the life of their 87-year-old neighbour, by lifting him onto the roof so he could be rescued in Lismore’s life-threatening floods. The Gold Coast-based band have a studio near Wilsons River. Now they, like many, have lost everything.
They captured the harrowing ordeal on Instagram, sharing a combination of two videos from different stages of their evacuation.
They shared, “At the time of rescue I had been sitting on the roof in the driving rain watching the water steadily swallow everything for about 3 hours. Julz had heroically paddled over to our next-door neighbour to swim him out of the house and hold him above the water, also for several hours. It was harrowing to separate, but we only had one single kayak stable enough to make the paddle and getting over there was the difference between life and death. If we weren’t prepared with an escape plan, we would have been in a lot of trouble…
Our studio which stands 3.2 meters above the ground was completely inundated over the roof. We have lost so much, but we are safe, and we are dry, and we are starting to come to terms with our reality. Thank you for all of your kindness and offers of support. I’m sure there will soon be a time when we need to ask our people for help, but for now we just need to recover emotionally and physically.”
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We’ve been trying to work out the best way to communicate the events of the past days with you - it’s difficult to know where to begin and what to share ... so here is a combo of two videos from different stages of our evacuation - first as we leave the inside of the studio at 4:46am and then an hour later as we’re waiting on the kayak and surf ski under the cover of the balcony roof. We really want to stress that we were absolutely prepared for a flood as big as any on record, we had done everything we possibly could to avoid being a burden on emergency services and, as it turned out, we were eventually rescued by family who came and found us in their boat. At the time of rescue I had been sitting on the roof in the driving rain watching the water steadily swallow everything for about 3 hours. Julz had heroically paddled over to our next door neighbour to swim him out of the house and hold him above the water, also for several hours. It was harrowing to seperate, but we only had one single kayak stable enough to make the paddle and getting over there was the difference between life and death. If we weren’t prepared with an escape plan we would have been in a lot of trouble. The neighbours contacted the SES around 2am (when the water overtopped the levy) and at around 5am were informed that they wouldn’t get to us until at least daylight. They never came, there were far too many people in trouble by that time. We were so lucky to have another option to get out, Stevie, Vickie and Scott Hill are all literally lifesavers. Our studio which stands 3.2 meters above the ground was completely inundated over the roof. We have lost so much, but we are safe and we are dry and we are starting to come to terms with our reality. Thank you for all of your kindness and offers of support. I’m sure there will soon be a time when we need to ask our people for help, but for now we just need to recover emotionally and physically. Leesa xx
Posted by Hussy Hicks on Monday, February 28, 2022
On March 9, Hussy Hicks shared a video update of the aftermath. Sharing the damage caused by the floods, including beloved possessions they were drying out and others needing to be thrown away, they joked, “We aren’t going to miss a gig” and “We’re alright, we’re still smiling.”
Flood update
Posted by Hussy Hicks on Tuesday, March 8, 2022
Although written about the COVID-19 pandemic before the floods, the title and lyrics of Same Boat could almost also be an autobiographical euphemism for the past couple of weeks.
The 80s style banger tells the story of their coming to terms with the world being put on pause and trying to deal with the state of tour dormancy. In a nod to the inspirational female musicians of their youth (Pat Benetar, Chrissy Amphlett, Cyndi Lauper etc), the song is fast, fun and features a killer guitar solo that would no doubt make Jennifer Batten proud.
And if that's not enough, Hussy Hicks have created a video game to complement the release. Designed by James Clark and Jordan Barrington from Monkey Noise, the retro arcade-style game sees the duo, along with band mates Tracy and Ali, hop a boat, avoiding obstacles such as alligators, rocks, sharks, various birds and more, to get to their stage gig.
Play the game here … you know you want to!
If you haven’t gone to https://hussyhicks.com/game to check out our interactive film clip/video game yet, here’s a peak at all the fun you’re missing out on! The aim is to help us get to the gig through a series of challenges... and the high score board is getting very exciting!!! Get above 573 and you’ll knock Leesa off the top 20 🤣🤣
Posted by Hussy Hicks on Tuesday, February 22, 2022
Tour Dates:
11/3 - Nightquarter, Sunshine Coast QLD
18/3 - Brunswick Picture House, Brunswick Heads NSW
19/3 - Lakeside Festival, Tuncurry NSW
20/3 - Girl PWR Music Fest @ The Hoey Moey, Coffs Harbour NSW
24/3 - Little Alberts, Bathurst NSW
25 & 26/3 - Moruya Blues & Roots Festival NSW
27/3 - The Vanguard, Sydney NSW
15-18/4 - Bluesfest Byron Bay NSW
22/4 - Tamworth Services Club NSW
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Keep up to date with Hussy Hicks on their Facebook page here.
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