As far as Australian music history is concerned, Killing Heidi owned the year 2000. Their album Reflector went platinum five times, topping the ARIA albums chart, and spawning smash singles like ‘Weir’ and ‘Mascara’.
The tracks received virtually non-stop play all over radio and on television, appearing on high rotation on programs like Video Hits and Pepsi Live, which were still things back then.
The band, led by Ella Hooper and initially founded as a folk-pop duo with her brother Jesse, went on to sweep that year’s ARIA Awards, nabbing Album of the Year, Best Group, Best Rock Album, and Breakthrough Artist.
Six years later, Killing Heidi embarked on what was seemingly a permanent hiatus. Their MySpace (again, still a thing at the time) described the group as taking a break and the members embarked on separate projects.
Hooper launched a solo career and told It’s My Kind of Scene in 2013, “I don’t think I could sing such youthful, and youth based songs convincingly any more. It really did just run its natural course and I think it would be very unnatural to start it up again now.”
But Hooper and her bandmates feel like the time is right to get back on course. They’ve confirmed they will reunite to perform as part of the lineup for the upcoming Queenscliff Music Festival in November.
The lineup already boasts the likes of Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals, Peter Garrett, Urthboy, Pierce Brothers, Ash Grunwald, and another much-loved Aussie 2000s throwback in a newly reformed George.
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Speaking to News Corp, Ella Hooper said she’d repeatedly turned down offers to reunite, but felt the time was right to look back on that era of her career and celebrate it. “I’m really glad we’ve waited this long,” she said.
Queenscliff Music Festival is set to run from 25th till 27th November in Queenscliff on the Bellarine Peninsula in Victoria. Hooper told News Corp there are no plans for future Killing Heidi shows at the moment so QMF is your only chance to see them again.
Photo: Kim Tonelli
