Episode 43: Matthew Hayward – Street Legal

If you’re on the cutting edge of music, then you would be aware that there is a band hailing from unceded Kaurna Country (that is to say, the South Australian capital of Adelaide) that is one you definitely need to know. That band is Street Legal, a group whose sound might be rooted in the romanticism of ‘80s sonics and nostalgia, but heavily progressive, and boasting an approach to their music which is cutting edge, forceful, and – above all – a lot of fun.Having first made their recorded debut in 2020, a number of tracks have arrived in recent years, with the likes of ‘Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow’ and ‘Modern Ruins’ preceding the release of their debut EP, ‘Bruxism’. Released just last month, ‘Bruxism’ is a wonderful collection of tracks which showcases just what it is that makes Street Legal so special.If you’re someone who wants their music to be moving, to be impactful, and to be ultimately intriguing, then Street Legal are the band for you. But if you also want something that feels familiar, and with inspiration taken from some of the musical greats, then Street Legal is the band for you.I’ve actually been paying attention to the Street Legal story for a few years now because I’ve known frontman Matthew Hayward for quite a while now, having gotten to know him thanks to his work in the Adelaide music scene back in the day.As you can expect, it wasn’t exactly too difficult to coax Matt to appear as my guest on this week’s podcast, where I spent the whole time gushing about how much I really love Street Legal’s debut EP.If you're in New South Wales, Victoria, or South Australia this April, then you should definitely head along to catch Street Legal on their ‘Bruxism’ national tour.But in the meantime, I strongly urge you to check out Street Legal’s debut EP, and once you’re done giving that a spin, have a listen to our chat, and I’ll see you at the end of the episode for some general housekeeping.

If you’re anything like me, then the chances are good you’ve been spending the past few years eagerly awaiting a full-length return from Hachiku.Started as the musical project of Anika Ostendorf just under a decade ago, Hachiku rose to fame as part of the beloved Milk! Records stable, with a handful of releases preceding the arrival of her debut album, 2020’s ‘I’ll Probably Be Asleep’.Again, if you’re anything like me, you probably listened to that album and truly fell in love with it. After all, how can you not? It’s got Anika’s masterful musical approach towards dream-pop, indie dance, and much more combining to craft something truly special.However, for those eagerly awaiting a follow-up soon after, well, there was a bit of a wait – almost four years in fact – before Hachiku returned with new singles. Thankfully, it was all in the lead-up to a new album, with ‘The Joys Of Being Pure At Heart’ arriving today, on February 28th.It’s a stellar album, full of that exuberant, immersive dreamy indie-pop style that has won Anika and her musical collaborators so much praise.Of course, there’s no time to rest on those laurels, because Hachiku will be hitting the road almost immediately, with dates in the US, Australia, and Europe scheduled to keep them all busy for the next few months.Thankfully, before things got too hectic, Anika was kind enough to join the podcast this week for a chat, and I couldn’t be more grateful.Anyway, I strongly urge you to check out Hachiku’s latest album, and once you’re done giving that a spin, have a listen to our chat, and I’ll see you at the end of the episode for some general housekeeping.

If you’ve not yet heard of Kristin Hersh, well, I envy you because she has a rather storied career ready for you to dive into. Having first formed Throwing Muses alongside her stepsister Tanya Donelly in the early ‘80s, the group swiftly became an impressive musical force, with records arriving via the influential 4AD label.In 1991, Donelly left the group to form Belly (having co-founded The Breeders just a few years earlier), and Throwing Muses continued as a trio. By 1994, Hersh had kicked off a solo career, and in 1997, Throwing Muses disbanded and she went on to focus on her prolific solo work.By the early ‘00s, she’d become a little bit busy to say the least. More solo albums followed, Throwing Muses reformed, and she’d even begun a new band called 50 Foot Wave. For Kristin, downtime is not something that she does, because it wasn’t long before she became an author as well.I feel like I need a bit of a diagram just to help sum up how impressively prolific Kristin really is.But let’s fast-forward a few years, because in 2025, Throwing Muses are back with a new album, with ‘Moonlight Concessions’ arriving as their first new record in five years. It’ll actually release on March 14th, when Kristin is in Australia as part of yet another tour of the country.Somehow, her busy schedule allowed her to join this humble little podcast for a chat ahead of what will soon become another full year of music, touring, and songwriting.Anyway, I strongly urge you to check out Kristin Hersh’s extensive back catalogue (and the new Throwing Muses album when it arrives next month), and once you’re done giving those a spin, have a listen to our chat, and I’ll see you at the end of the episode for some general housekeeping.

If you’re a music fan from Melbourne, the chances are pretty good you’ve heard of Beth Seymour. By her own admission, it’s a name you might not be quite familiar with just yet. After all, as she says; new name, new her, new era.But for years, Beth has been a vital part of the Melbourne music scene, with an irresistible combination of earnest lyricism, power-pop melodies, and a punk attitude resulting in a sound that is – for folks like myself, at least – impossible to ignore.You might have caught Beth making music as part of La Famiglia, or even as part of the burgeoning Hormones. Now, you’re likely getting ready to experience Beth as a solo artist all over again, with her new era officially kicking off today thanks to a new solo single.It’s been a little while since we last heard from Beth, and in that time, quite a bit has changed. She came out as transgender, continued to work as a prolific musician, and has now reintroduced herself to the world with new single ‘Medication’. Backed by faithful backing band The Lizzies, ‘Medication’ is one of those songs that is truly arresting. It’s hard to not be moved by the honest, heartfelt lyrics, the raw performance, and the acoustic instrumentation which allows you to connect with it on such a deeper level. Give it a listen, and if you’re not a fan, I’ll… well, be very surprised.This week, Beth was kind enough to join me for a chat which is one of the longest this podcast has seen to date. If you like a couple of music nerds talking about songwriting, power pop, and more, you are well-catered to this week.Anyway, I strongly urge you to check out Beth’s new single ‘Medication’, and once you’re done giving that a spin, have a listen to our chat, and I’ll see you at the end of the episode for some general housekeeping.

If you’ve ever thought, “There just aren’t enough rock and roll bands out there who make me want to release my pent-up energy,” then you need to set your sights towards New Zealand and check out The D4. Around the turn of the century, The D4 were one of the more prominent rock outfits emerging from New Zealand, with debut album ‘6Twenty’ arriving as an all-killer, no filler example of what the band do best. Before long, they were a bit of a sensation around the world, with the group even managing to make their way onto US TV with a spot on the ‘Late Show With David Letterman’… though famously, Letterman himself was off that night. Following a few more years of shows and music, The D4 called it quits around 2006, waving goodbye with their ‘Out Of My Head’ album the year prior. Since then, members have gone on to other projects, with vocalist and guitarist Jimmy Christmas forming the likes of Luger Boa and Jet Generations. A few years ago, The D4 got back together for some shows, making their way down to Australia in 2023 (where my band actually supported them in Melbourne), and now, they’re coming back again for a run of east coast shows. This week, Jimmy was kind enough to join me on the podcast to chat about the band’s history and their rise to fame. Anyway, I strongly urge you to check out The D4’s exceptional back catalogue, and once you’re done giving that a spin, have a listen to our chat, and I’ll see you at the end of the episode for some general housekeeping.

There’s a lot of bands out there who manage to craft music that is as emotional as it is poignant, but I feel there are few who get quite the same reaction to their work that Melbourne’s Slowly Slowly does. If you’ve been listening to Australian music over the last decade, then I’m pretty sure you would’ve heard them at some point. First formed in 2015, Slowly Slowly released their first album in 2016, but soon turned heads thanks to 2018's ‘St. Leonards’ after they signed to the UNFD label. 2020's ‘Race Car Blues’ hit #7 on the Aussie charts, and 2022's ‘Daisy Chain’ increased that by two.  They've played amazing shows both at home and abroad, and they've crafted some truly inspired songs. Whether it's the upbeat catharsis of songs like 'Blueprint', or catchy cuts like 'Jellyfish' (the two tracks I use to turn people into fans of the band), there's really nothing they can't do. Pop on some Slowly Slowly and let yourself just get lost in the mesmerising mix of beauty, power, and raw talent that their music showcases. Now, in 2025, they’ve unveiled their latest record, ‘Forgiving Spree’. Like everything else they’ve done, it’s top-shelf quality that you simply can’t turn away from. Even more impressive, it’s such a brilliant record that comes barely a year on from singer and songwriter Ben Stewart’s ‘Pushing Daylight’ solo album. Needless to say, they’re a talented group, and this week, Ben was kind enough to join me on the podcast to chat about the band and their latest record. Anyway, I strongly urge you to check out Slowly Slowly’s ‘Forgiving Spree’, and once you’re done giving that a spin, have a listen to our chat, and I’ll see you at the end of the episode for some general housekeeping.

By his own admission, James Curd isn’t exactly a household name. However, the chances are pretty good that you’ve been exposed to his work at some point over the years. Having launched his musical career back in Chicago in the ‘90s, James rose to fame as part of the group Greenskeepers, which managed to find a bit of widespread fame thanks to songs like ‘Lotion’. If you found yourself listening to triple j back in 2004, then the 'Silence Of The Lambs'-inspired ‘Lotion’ is one that you probably remember very well. But apart from that, James is pretty prolific. See, he’s also made plenty of music for the Grand Theft Auto series as well. I’m going to guess you might have heard of that one.  But it doesn’t end there either, because in addition to scoring other projects, his name can be found as part of other musical endeavours as well, including Favored Nations, Tone Brigade, and Holy Models. Additionally, he’s also part of Modern Living, which is something of a full-circle moment given that the other half of the band is the Greenskeepers’ Mark Share. Together, they’ve been making plenty of amazing music, working with names like Josh Pyke, Jordi James from San Cisco, DRAMA, Nick Littlemore, and more to craft something that I think you really need to hear. These days, James is still a globe-trotting musician, though he’s based in Adelaide, South Australia, meaning that all these Australian collaborations are making a lot more sense. James was kind enough to join me for the podcast this week, and I can’t thank him enough for taking the time. So, I strongly urge you to check out Modern Living’s new material, bump some classic Greenskeepers gear, and once you’re done giving that a spin, have a listen to our chat, and I’ll see you at the end of the episode for some general housekeeping.

When it comes to the ‘Australian alternative rock scene’, it’s pretty hard to look past the likes of Screamfeeder. After all, they’ve been around for over 30 years now, and whenever anyone imagines an Australian alternative band, it’s a band like Screamfeeder they’re thinking of. Loud, melodic, critically-acclaimed, and commercially-overlooked, Screamfeeder commands an intense fanbase, and you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone with a bad word to say about them. While records like 1996’s ‘Kitten Licks’ are a brilliant example of the sort of music that both Screamfeedr and Australia were putting out, albums like ‘Flour’, ‘Burn Out Your Name’, ‘Fill Yourself With Music’, and ‘Rocks On The Soul’ are firm favourites as well. In the 2000s however, Screamfeeder remained a little bit quiet, and though the band never broke up, Tim, Kellie, Dean, and Darek, weren’t really doing a whole heap, with other musical projects filling that void. In 2017, they returned with a new album – their first in 14 years – and in 2022, they released their latest record, ‘Five Rooms’. More recently, however, they’ve been surprisingly busy. After all, there’s been loads of amazing shows, there’s been a book on ‘Kitten Licks’ by authors Ben Green and Ian Rogers, and Tim and Kellie even have ‘The Ending Goes On Forever’ podcast. But that’s not all, because now Screamfeeder are also readying the ‘Demolition’ compilation; 100 demo recordings from between 1992 and 2022. Don’t get too keen, however, because Tim warns you it’s “all filler, no killer” – even for diehard Screamfeeder fans. But you know what? I could talk about Screamfeeder for hours, or Tim could do that for me. Thankfully, he’s on hand to do so because he’s my guest on this week’s episode. Fortunate, eh? Anyway, I strongly urge you to check out Screamfeeder’s brilliant discography, and once you’re done giving that a spin, have a listen to our chat, and I’ll see you at the end of the episode for some general housekeeping.

If you were to ask me my opinion on the greatest Australian bands of all time, The Fauves would be found pretty close to the pointy end of things.  I’m sure I’m not alone in that assertion either, after all, they’ve been around for 36 years now, constantly and consistently performing as one of the country’s most underrated and underappreciated groups. You won’t be finding them performing headline dates in arenas, and you won’t often find their albums on the ARIA charts, but their songwriting is impeccable, their hooks unmatchable, their live shows astounding, and their self-aware humour is as self-deprecating as it comes. For casual fans, The Fauves are probably best known for songs like ‘Dogs Are The Best People’ and ‘Self Abuser’ from their 1996 album ‘Future Spa’, which was nominated for Best Adult Alternative Album at the ARIA Awards in 1997. For fans, their back catalogue is a rich one full of 13 albums, EPs, singles, and B-sides that are better than most band’s hits.  For me, The Fauves are a band I could talk about for hours and never even begin to scratch the surface of what makes them one of the greatest Australian bands of all time. Luckily, this week I was able to talk to someone else who knows The Fauves quite well; guitarist and vocalist Andrew Cox.  Why was I talking to Coxy? Well, The Fauves are currently on the road with Custard in support of their latest album, ‘Tropical Strength’, which arrived earlier this month. It’s a stellar record full of the classic Fauves songwriting and musicianship which makes you evoke lyrics from one of their earlier tracks as you say, “crank it up, I really like this bit; fuck that riff sounds really sick”. Anyway, I strongly urge you to check out The Fauves’ ‘Tropical Strength’ while you’re reading through old copies of their ‘Shred’ magazine, grab a ticket to see them live, and once you’re done giving that a spin, have a listen to our chat, and I’ll see you at the end of the episode for some general housekeeping.

I don’t know about you, but when I try to describe Andy Bull, I have a hard time. After all, to simply call him a musician feels like it’s not going far enough.  Sure, he’s released a handful of EPs and albums over the years (including 2014’s ‘Sea Of Approval’) and he’s shared plenty of wonderful songs, such as 'Dog' (with Lisa Mitchell), 'Baby I Am Nobody Now', 'Talk Too Much', and much more, but it feels like he’s a little more accomplished than just a regular artist. Then again, he’s also won an Encouragement Award at the 2014 Vanda & Young Global Songwriting Competition for ‘Baby I Am Nobody Now’, he’s been nominated for four ARIA Awards, and his work on Netflix children’s musical ‘Beatbugs’ has won seven US Daytime Emmy Awards. Still, it feels like he goes beyond that scope. He’s also a stellar performer, and he’s a relentless creative as well. In fact, that creativity has recently manifested a new record by way of ‘Collapse In Bliss’. It's full of that soulful, introspective pop sound he's known for, but it's a gorgeous release. Add in the fact he made it over the course of 40 nights this year, and that it's a wholly solo endeavour (save for a resurfaced demo penned by Andy and late Deep Sea Arcade musician Nick Weaver), and you’ve got a record you can’t go past. So maybe when I say that Andy Bull feels hard to describe, well you can probably see where I’m coming from. So I decided to put it to Andy, largely since he’s my guest on the podcast this week. As always, it was a wonderful chat, though by his own admission, he wasn’t being ironic when he penned that song ‘Talk Too Much’. Anyway, I strongly urge you to check out Andy Bull’s ‘Collapse In Bliss’ album, and once you’re done giving that a spin, have a listen to our chat, and I’ll see you at the end of the episode for some general housekeeping.