Words by Patrick Staveley.

Sydney’s very own RedHook have been around for five years merging rock music with metalcore, pop punk and rap rock and they’ve already made quite the impression in not just Australia, but overseas as well. RedHook have just spent time in Europe playing shows where they’ve gained a big following, especially off the back of their smash hit Bad Decisions, which has reached over five million streams on Spotify. Futuremag Music’s Pat Staveley spoke with lead singer Emmy Mack on the return of live music, touring and updates on new music.

FMM: With the band growing not just in Australia but Europe as well, is this where the band becomes a full-time role now? I know you’re working on the band full-time now but what about the rest of the band? 

Emmy: Making a living from doing music full-time is the ultimate dream, hey! The truth is, for me and Craig at least, the band has actually been a full-time job for the last few years now - just one that we’ve had to balance on top of our actual full-time jobs and all the other demands of adult human life. But right now, we’re at this pivotal point in our careers where we’ve had to take a big leap of faith. On the business side of things, RedHook is profitable and self-sustaining and continuing to grow. But we’re not yet at a point where it pays the bills for any of us individually. So, as our touring schedule in both Australia and overseas has exploded, we’ve all had to pivot to more flexible working arrangements to be able to accommodate all the travelling and live shows, while still affording to eat and, you know, exist! For me, that’s meant quitting my full-time job in favour of more flexible casual work as a music journalist and radio presenter and moving in with my partner’s family to remove the stress of rent. It’s definitely a scary dive into the unknown, but as the saying goes, it’s now or never!

FMM: Obviously, it was a rough couple of years with Covid and the inability to tour but live music is well and truly back and RedHook are in good touch at the moment in their recent shows. What’s it feel like to be back doing what you love and playing to people who adore your music?

Emmy: Oh man, it’s been the most incredible feeling! The Aussie tour we just did with The Dead Love felt like a big family reunion. We’ve been so lucky to play so many incredible gigs this year from UNIFY to Groovin The Moo to Rock Am Ring, and the one consistent thing across all of them is the overwhelming sense of communal gratitude that radiates from every single person involved - from the fans to the crew, to the other bands. Everyone is just so stoked and grateful to be back doing what they love after the past two years of fearing it could be all over, and it’s palpable. It’s made all these shows even more beautiful, memorable and special.

FMM: Being on the road touring has its ups and downs, but at the moment to have some good mates in other bands along for the ride with you, does it make things easier?

Emmy: Oh yeah, definitely! When you surround yourself with people you love and trust, the lows are a lot easier to deal with and the highs are even higher. Plus, it never really feels like work because you’re always laughing, joking and having fun, even when things are stressful.

FMM: Is there a favourite song you like performing as a collective? Each song in a way generates a different audience reaction and response such as I Don’t Keep Up or Bad Decisions with the introduction of pillows into the crowd. But is there a certain one that you all as a band love playing together most?

Emmy: Oooooh that’s a tough one! Bad Decisions is the clear standout because it’s such an all-in brawl. There’s so much crowd participation and we normally like to get some extra musical mates up to help us out as well so it’s just a huge feel-good party to end the set. Another big fav of ours is Dead Walk because it’s such a heavy groover and everyone gets to go a little bit psycho on stage!

FMM: It’s been great to see at the end of your shows so far on this tour you’ve been involving everyone else as much as you can. How far back does your relationship go with these bands, especially The Dead Love?

Emmy: Oh man, we’ve been mates with The Dead Love foreverrrrrrr! I’ve known Stevie Knight [frontman] for what would have to be close to ten years now, since I was trying to live out my Axl Rose dreams in my old high school hair metal band. Most RedHook fans will know he’s one of the best rock producers around and has produced most of our songs (not to mention bands like Stand Atlantic and Yours Truly), but he’s also one of my dearest mates –we even lived together in Redfern for a few years around 2016-2017 when I first moved to Sydney. Also, fun fact: Miles Cochrane, [drummer of The Dead Love] was actually RedHook’s original drummer! It’s all very incestuous. But those relationships are so important to us. The music industry is rough and tumble at the best of times so it’s critical to surround yourself with good, wholesome people who are always there to lift you up when you’re down.

FMM: You have a big year this year with a couple shows in Germany before a jam-packed schedule back in Australia from August to October. What do you want to be able to get out of this tour, apart from a ton of great memories? 

Emmy: Oh, the memories are definitely important! I think a big one is also finally getting to play for our fans in far-flung places that we haven’t been able to visit before. Coming off the back of this European tour, it’s been so incredible and humbling to meet RedHook fans in cities like Paris, Glasgow and Southampton who’ve been waiting years to see us live and realising just how far our music has managed to travel. It’s crazy, man. We’re so ridiculously keen to do the same thing here in Australia with this In Hearts Wake tour! It’s going to take us to so many regional spots we’ve never played before like Hobart, Darwin and Albury and we’re so excited to finally meet our fans there!

FMM: With such a busy schedule, are there certain plans in place for the release of new music soon or the writing of new music?

Emmy: Oh, you betcha! We get home from Europe this week and have almost two months off before the tour with In Hearts kicks off. We’ve already got a stack of demos in the bag, so we’ll be hitting the studio with Stevie in July to smash out the next batch of tunes, so there’ll be plenty more music coming your way before the year is out!

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