1-2-3 | With BOCCE

Welcome back to our interview series, where we explore the stories, snapshots, and sounds of some of the most exciting bands around. This time, we’re catching up with BOCCE, a five-piece indie rock outfit from Nipaluna/Hobart, Australia. With their latest single "How’s Your Mother?" dropping on March 14th, the band reflects on nostalgia, last-minute studio magic, and the highs of playing to packed festival crowds. From behind-the-scenes moments to their dream photoshoots, BOCCE gives us a glimpse into their world.

Keep reading & listen to "How's Your Mother?" if that is you:

People who still have that box of old gig tickets and mixtapes tucked away somewhere. They’re the type who get caught up in nostalgia - who reread old texts they swore they’d delete and wonder what could have been. They’re the ones who get a little too passionate arguing about their favourite album and who will never say no to a late-night drive with the windows down and the music loud.

1 Band

We are a five-piece band from nipaluna / Hobart, and we’ve been making music together since late 2019. Our sound is a mix of garage rock and indie alternative, pulling influences from bands like Ball Park Music, Spacey Jane, and even classics like The Rolling Stones.

Our latest single, ‘How’s Your Mother?’ is a nostalgic, bittersweet track. It’s about those unresolved feelings that stick with you - nostalgia, regret, and the way past relationships linger in your mind. Funnily enough, this song was close to never being born! We only had a rough demo going into the last day at the studio, but everything just fell into place at the last minute. We don’t usually write in the studio, but when a song comes together that naturally, you know it’s something that was meant to be shared.

We have a huge co-headline gig coming up in a few weeks to celebrate the release of 'How's Your Mother' in our local city of Hobart, as well as some HUGE shows we can't announce just yet!

2 Photos

This was taken by Zoe Lowry just before our NYE set at Great Escape Music Festival 24/25 - it was our first festival back since the year-long hiatus and we were so excited. Everyone we knew, all our mates and family, were there and packed out the tent where we played that afternoon. We all came off stage and just hugged each other, it was one of the best gigs we have ever played - both technically and with the amount of fun we and the crowd had together.

This was taken by our mate Lara at our last gig before a year-long hiatus - we called the gig "The Season Finale", which I guess makes this song the first release of Season 2.

We played in a local Hobart venue called Hobart Brewing Co., which is literally just a big red shed that holds maybe around 150 people... that night, I reckon we had close to 400 - people were spilling out of the roller doors and climbing on tables to make themselves seen, it was absolutely nuts. The bar staff came to us 10 minutes before we were meant to get on stage asking to please start early because they ran out of beer!

3 Questions

HOW DO YOU APPROACH PHOTO SHOOTS AND DO YOU ENJOY THE PROCESS?

It's always different!

Sometimes we create moodboards, are very meticulous with the venue, clothing and style, and have everything nutted out to the last detail. More often than not, we call in our good mate Jord Cowen, who has been shooting us almost since the beginning, and knows our style and what we like. Liam, our lead singer, has also been snapping pics all his life, and always has a collection of landscapes, people, and other random assortment of things caught on film, camcorder footage from backstage or in our studio, and much more - at times in the past, we have picked out one of his random photos and created an entire mood and style from that one photo.

...But sometimes, we really just don't have time! Quick and dirty shoots, we call these. Backstage at a gig, post show in a bar, or literally out on the street carting the gear into the venue... We usually get some funny shots out of these.

Honestly, our favourite photos are usually ones we didn't plan for - the random shots at gigs or when we're together in our studio, just hanging out. These ones mean the most to us.

WHAT CAN PHOTOGRAPHERS EXPECT WHEN THEY ACCOMPANY YOU BACKSTAGE AT A GIG OR ON TOUR?

Hopefully a good time! We like to hang out with them, take pics of whatever we're doing leading up to the show, whether that be backstage or out the front having a yarn to people who have come along. Some of us can be pretty lively up on stage, so there'll always be at least one good shot of us running around like lunatics.

We do love a pre-show huddle, nothing important is said, but for some reason we're always in close chatting nonsense. Post gig is always a big cuddle (if the gig went well haha), and definitely a beer and a sit down before we pack up. Vibes are always high! I don't think we've ever been down when playing a show, even if the show didn't go well - playing music live is just one of the best feelings you can get.

WHAT KIND OF PHOTO WOULD YOU LIKE TO HAVE TAKEN OF YOURSELF?

There's a few different ones that come to mind.

Firstly, I really want one of those photos where one of us is just doing a ridiculously huge jump and caught by the camera mid-air looking like a true rockstar - something high enough that people wonder how the hell he got up there. For reference, check out Mitch Lowe's photo of Ruel at Party in the Paddock 2024.

In terms of the whole band, we've had one of these already, but I think we all really want another photo with the crowd - one of those shots just after an amazing show, where we all stand on the balustrade with the front row, arms in the air, sweaty and covered in beer, looking back at the stage and all smiling together - it's just so wholesome.

Will, our lord of the drums, also wants more photos of himself, as drummers always seem to miss out on the cool shots!

Hooked? Then check out BOCCE's recommendations:

Middle Palms out of Tasmania, Australia are really kicking things into gear at the moment - they just won triple j's Unearthed competition to play at Party in the Paddock (Tasmania's, and one of the countries, biggest music festivals) which took place back in February. They've got this insane groove that's very Ocean Alley esc - sometimes when listening, the stank face is coming out, and other times, I'm swaying in the morning breeze; they've got range!

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