The Importance Of Being Positive On Purpose

"We've only technically been on one tour prior to this," says Emma Fradd, "and we had a blast. We were a bit spoiled, we were playing much bigger venues. But we're really excited to have this tour that's our own. We really love the opening bands that we get to play with. It'll be a nice little test, because we've never headlined; we've always been supporting or in the middle of the afternoon on a festival bill or something. I think it'll be a proud moment for us, it will feel quite special. I kind of like that they're smaller, more intimate shows. You can get to know people more."

Fradd says that last point is particularly important to Heaps Good Friends. "We kind of make it a thing that we don't just go to a town to play a show, we want to get in with the crowd and meet the people and get to know them. We don't just want money or support for our band; we want to build relationships with everyone that we meet and spread the love, I guess. I don't know if that sounds cheesy or vague. We didn't even talk about it, really. But, particularly for Nick [O'Connor, bass/vocals] and Dan [Steinert, drums], it's just who they are; they're just big bundles of fun."

Fradd knows that not everyone is that way, because it's not exactly her natural tendency, either. One of her favourite things about being in Heaps Good Friends is their emphasis on spreading fun and joy. "I'm a really deep thinker and I overanalyse things," she says, "and if I don't take the time and be intentional about positivity, and things like that, I can just go days without thinking about it. So it's really great being around the boys, because it comes so natural to them. But I know that there's a lot of people out there that it doesn't come so naturally to. And we love love, and want to share that."

It has felt especially important lately to celebrate things like friendship and positivity, Fradd says. Although, as she points out, there's never a bad time for such things. "I would say at all stages it's good to share love," she says, "even if you're not really feeling it. Just to choose it - choosing to love - and be intentional about those good vibes."

This mission informs every decision the band makes, including naming both their first headlining tour and upcoming EP, Hug Me. Fradd says the title wasn't necessarily intended as an instruction, but she's quite happy for fans to take it literally. "Whenever we're meeting people or anything we always like to have a little hug. Hugs are nice! Who doesn't love a good hug? Everyone has different love languages, I guess. Not everyone likes physical touch, but something gets released in your brain, you know? For us, we've found that it's really cool and a real positive statement."

Hugging has been made more difficult for the band itself lately, since Fradd relocated to Brisbane while O'Connor and Steinert still live in Adelaide. But she reckons, aside from the obvious logistical difficulties, living in different cities also has its perks for a band. "It's really cool," she says. "Obviously we don't get to be together as much as we'd like, but it means that if we're in the same place for a weekend, all of our time is really intentionally put towards rehearsing. We say, 'Okay, we have two days, let's work on these two songs and add them to the setlist and be really focused about this.' So it's fun, it's like a power weekend. Same with songwriting: 'We've got a day, let's try and finish this song. Let's get our heads in the game.' And it's really fun to push yourself in that way. If I lived in Adelaide, perhaps we'd dick around a bit more [laughs]."