The Buoys keep stepping up.

To say it’s been a busy past year for Sydney rockers The Buoys would be something of an understatement. It seems like every couple of weeks they’re posting with glee about the next big news from their camp. Whether it be racking up thousands of plays in under a fortnight for their latest single ‘Gold’, or national tours supporting Pist Idiots/DZ Deathrays, or earning spins on triple j and FBi, they’re always taking that next step on their journey to bigger things.

‘Gold’ is a great example of what people love about The Buoys; tender lyricism backed by fuzzy guitars and driving rhythms with a hint of surf/punk attitude. It translates live effortlessly too, with the instantaneous nature of their tunes endearing them to audiences almost automatically (if you haven’t witnessed it, you’re missing out).

Good news is they’ll be taking ‘Gold’ on the road this August for a run of East Coast shows too (info here dates below). But what’s life like behind the “buzz band” label and chirpy social media posts, you ask? We caught up with the group to find out:

Over the past 12 or so months, The Buoys have played a lot of shows, including some big supports. What’s been the highlight gig-wise so far?

This one’s hard! Everything is a highlight in its own way! Bad Friday’s lineup was a dream to be a part of and the regional NSW tour with DZ Deathrays was a wholesome experience to remember.

You’ve clocked up a lot of K’s in the van too right? Any horror stories from the road you want to share?

Tess and Zoe had to pick up Jaryd (from 100) at like 5am and Zoe kooked it and got the house wrong. At first no one answered the door so we thought… we’ll have to wake him, and started banging on the doors and yelling his name into the door until we got a super angry response (warranted) “NO JARYD, NO JARYD”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPdbyg-wHPI

So far we’ve heard a bunch of rad singles from The Buoys, are they all part of one wicked longer release? Do you have plans to do and EP/LP anytime soon?

Our direction changed a lot after our first few singles, probably a result of getting to know each other and our instruments better. So our newer singles will be part of an EP due 2020.

We’re loving ‘Gold’. Tell us about some of the themes behind the tune?

‘Gold’ was a bit of concept name pulled from the opening line “it’s been a golden year” and it fully encapsulates the feeling I had when writing this song. It was written from a real high of warmth I was feeling at the time, but also represents the allure of something that was totally fleeting. The song is totally about jumping head first into that allure though, and just letting yourself enjoy it.

It’s no secret that gold is also pretty expensive heavy metal, what is the most “metal” thing The Buoys have done recently?

On the NSW regional tour with DZ Deathrays, Courtney made it her mission to crowd surf every gig. In Albury she finished with a full boot footprint on her stomach.

You worked with Antonia Gauci on your previous single ‘Inside Outside’ too (and maybe some more?). What’s she like to work with?

We loved working with Antonia! It is really challenging to capture the energy of a live show in a recording. She would make us run around, skull a beer, then play the track to record so we were really amped up when it came to playing, and I think she has really captured that energy we have when we’re on stage. She is also just so on top of her artistry, she knows exactly what to do and it is awe inspiring watching her brain fire at a million miles an hour.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rrq7-QZSOMM

The single cover is pretty cool too. Where’d that snap come from?

Haha so this is a photo of Zoe and her big sister playing dress up in their Nan’s kitchen. When Zoe was going through old film she saw this and was filled with so much warmth and happiness, and since warmth and happiness is celebrated in this song it was a great fit. Being a child is a beautiful experience, a short lived one, and although challenging, it’s nice to look back upon the good bits.

We’ve heard there’s a clip for ‘Gold’ on the way too. What can you tell us about it?

For ‘Gold’ we wanted to work with another amazing and talented woman, Clover Ryan and on board we had a majority female crew. Clover did our clip for ‘Inside Outside’, and we loved it so much we wanted to work with her again. The film clip for ‘Gold’, which is out on the 31st of July, documents Zoe’s character, Zoe, speed dating and finding no luck, thinking only of her one true love, Mikel’s character, Mikel from Crocodylus. Zoe ensures an extensive and convoluted journey back to Mikel. It’s full of sweetness and warmth and all of our closest friends!

What have The Buoys got coming up for the rest of 2019?

There’s a few things we can’t say yet that you’ll have to keep your ears to the ground for ;) our first festival season yeh ;). What we can say is we’re touring ‘Gold’ on the east coast all of August! Followed by a mammoth national album tour for DZ Deathrays with Polish Club and VOIID in October/November.