Interview: Soft Bait Speak About New Album 'Life Advice' + Release Tour

We chatted with Soft Bait's Joshua Hunter and Patrick Hickley at Tāmaki Makaurau's bustling Ponsonby Food Court about their smashing new album Life Advice, the post-punk group's debut release via Flying Nun Records. They hammer home today's good news with a suitably warped video for standout track 'Sooner', directed by Caleb Corlett and made with support from NZ On Air, plus details of a nationwide release tour. Absolutely dynamite on stage and on record, grip the details for Hunter, Hickley, Keria Paterson and Cameron Mackintosh's Life Advice album release tour, and listen up...

Soft Bait - Life Advice Album Release Tour 2025
supports to be announced

Friday 12th September - Meow, Te Whanganui-a-Tara
Saturday 20th September - Double Whammy, Tāmaki Makaurau*
Friday 26th September - Darkroom, Ōtautahi*
Saturday 27th September - The Crown, Ōtepoti*

*Tickets on sale HERE via UTR
More details and info at linktr.ee/softbait

Chris Cudby: Life Advice arrives about three years after your debut album Plot Points, and it's out via Flying Nun. The new record rips the whole way through — was there anything specific that you were aiming to do different with this album than the previous one?

Patrick Hickley: I think it was to capture the essence of what we had built with our live shows. Really just distill down the energy that we bring to a live show... Because that's what we enjoy about playing music, what we enjoy about writing the music — not losing that in the through line of getting into the studio. Not over complicating it.

Joshua Hunter: Still going into it with the idea of having fun, but very aware that we're writing an album rather than like a collection of songs.

When I've seen Soft Bait play live, it's always been a totally packed out crowd, where I could barely squeeze into the room. I was wondering if these songs were written in part with playing live shows in mind? Were you road testing them live?

Joshua: A bit of both. We're very in the moment — these songs capture that energy.

Patrick: I feel fifty percent were written during a period while we were performing and we got the opportunity to try them out a bit. A decent percentage we were just bringing ideas into the studio.

I guess at a point you can write stuff and know how it's going to be received in a live context?

Joshua: You hope people like it [laughs].

Patrick: I think also, the way we recorded reflected how we operate as a band. This album changed that as well. The first album, practically all songs Josh was on guitar. I think we were recording 'No Bad Days' or just after, we with De (Stevens, producer) figured out a pattern that worked really well, to get Josh off guitar and into a vocal booth. Then in the live room, Keria, Cam and I would perform and get a live take that we would get all the rhythm section and Josh's vocal take in one go.

Basically the whole record, all the vocal takes were live in one take. Translated great to the energy of the songs and not getting precious about things. Just leaning into quirks and made you feel more comfortable I think.

Joshua: I think it was weird in the past, approaching my vocals, hung up on the way my voice sounds and stuff.

You can feed off the energy of it actually happening.

Joshua: Yeah.

Patrick: And I think De was great at embracing imperfections. Particularly with my guitar playing style, because that's something I'm very conscious of. I'm like, "I hate how I did that" and he'll be like, "I fucking love that". Just all these little moments that make it feel more real, like we've done it in the room... to add to the overall vibe.

How would you write words in relation to the music? Would you write things separately and bring them in?

Joshua: It's kind of weird. Sometimes in songs the words are written first. Whether that's over a demo drum beat track or whatever, doesn't need to be the final drum beat at all. Then bringing it to the group, everyone has their say in how it's shaped. Or maybe with lyrics, Pat for example will be like, "That's the hook to it", from what I'm saying, certain lines and stuff. Then we shape the song that way. When I bring lyrics, it's usually four pages rambling of a madman. Then picking out what works.

Would that also help with figuring out the rhythm?

Joshua: Yeah, usually at least in my head there's an idea to the rhythm. Whether that's just the feeling to a track or something. Generally we're open to interpretation as well. So you don't hang on to stuff, which I also find very helpful in the writing process. If you need to change anything it can be done on the fly.

The way you approach things lyrically is pretty distinct compared to most local lyricists as well.

Joshua: Yeah for me, having that sense of honesty to it... The voice in my head, whatever they're saying that's what I write down.

 

There's a lot of rolling round of idioms, everyday figures of speech on the album. Tackling from different angles, you'll be saying the same things in different ways. How would you describe your lyrical perspective in writing for the new album — where does a song like 'Oh Well' come from?

Joshua: I suppose 'Oh Well', the angle of that song could be any sort of character. Like, "Fuck it", "What else can you do", "Oh well, can't be helped". I guess the idea of that one is... it's just problems. Really owning that this will not be fixed. Being proud of it as well.

Would you be different characters in different songs?

Joshua: I would say a lot of it is observational. I'm from a farming background, I'm an art kid. I belong in both spaces, but also I'm an observer from a different place. When I say they're different characters — they're different persons or they need to be, when I'm watching a certain character or thing.

Patrick: I think it is observational stuff that you see in the day, or the people around you. And you'll think about it in a different light. Also you're an avid writer, in that you'll write shit down all the time, not specific to song stuff. I think that comes through.

Joshua: It's usually conversations. There is something memorable from that conversation, or somebody says something and it's like, Oh woah!" And I'll write it down.

I like the line "top quality dribble". Your music videos — amazing, very stylish and a little bit gross. Is that your department Pat?

Patrick: Yeah I'd say so. Everyone's involved but I've been the production on all of them. It's been fun. It's been cool to build the world around the lyrics, but also to get the directors' interpretation on the lyrics... how they read into stuff as well. I think what was quite strong was, the world's kind of been created. I feel like there's a random Soft Bait world that has built out of this and we haven't been too precious. We let Ryan (Fielding) do what he thought the right video was and Caleb (Corlett ) on this new one. They all understand who we are as a band.

World building is a really good way to put it. With the 'Long Line' video, that's like a layered short film. What visual ideas were feeding into the video for 'Long Line'?

Patrick: Ryan Fielding was a massive part of that one, who directed it and was notorious for having so many ideas.

Joshua: I think it started off as a pizza shop idea, and then Blues Brothers and Max Max as a reference.

This speaks to me very personally, I used to work in a pizza shop.

Patrick: Mad Max meets Blues Brothers meets Waynes World was his words to us. And we were like, "Okay how do we make that?" He was like, "We gotta get a cage, we've got to find a pizza shop". Playing with different worlds and what reality are you really in? VR headsets obviously are a key visual cue to shifting spaces. It was a mash of those worlds and timelines.

I'm interested — with the first track 'Highly Recommended', there's a synth? Or is that a guitar?

Patrick: Yes! It's a guitar, I tortured myself by playing that. It's a bit crusher guitar effects pedal, but it's a metronomic arpeggiator for the whole song.

Joshua: Coz I think the demo of it was just an arpeggiator, that's like, "Do do do do". Play it live!

Is there anywhere on this tour you're playing for the first time?

Patrick: The Crown is the only place we haven't played on the tour. Which we are very excited for, because three out of four members are from Dunedin. I think it's going to go off.

What's your favourite show that Soft Bait have ever played together?

Patrick: The first thing that comes to mind is the Welcome To Nowhere set we did a couple of years ago. It was 9.30pm, maybe 10pm? It just got dark and it was a heaving set.

Joshua: It was crazy. I really liked The Others Way.

Patrick: Oooh, 2am or 2.30am, closing set of The Others Way at Whammy. There was so much crowd surfing, it was kind of wild with feet on the walls walking along, yeah.

Joshua: Made me anxious. It was good, it was fun.

That sounds good and scary. Is there anything else you want to share or speak to, in the Soft Bait capacity?

Joshua: Don't look at the sun for too long.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

'Life Advice' is out today via Flying Nun Records, order the vinyl LP edition HERE.