I once again decided to go to Melbourne to witness Knee in their bid to take over the Last Chance. The journey however came with another mission: To interview one of the freshest acts coming out of Melbourne, Arabella and The Heist. For those fortunate to see them perform at PFR Lounge and Mo’s Desert Club House earlier this year, you’ll know why I had to do this.
Arabella and The Heist are a smouldering hot, QOTSA infused, femme-punk four piece. It’s faux white fur coats, marked with all the shades of ruby red lipstick. If the shredded guitar doesn’t melt on your tongue, the Rocky Horror Show-esque vibes will. This band is the musical equivalent of a melting Cherry Ripe served with a blood red peppery Shiraz in a crystal chalice.
Knee-dless to say KNEE, sold the room out, delivering a powerhouse performance for punters. After the set, I sat outside the venue with Holly and Joe on a chilly winter’s night to hopefully warm them up with our Five Quickfire Questions!
Arabella and the Heist are:
- Holly Arabella – Vox
- Joe Humphries – Guitar
- Ryan Jones – Drums
- Luke Parker – Bass
But before all of that they did have something to say about my earlier pre-amble:
Holly: I love that! That is so cool.
Joe: Cherry Ripe is my favourite chocolate bar, so you nailed it there.
OB: Thank you, shall we?
1. Where is somewhere you like to go M.I.A when you’ve had enough and need a break? Where’s your Heaven?
Holly: You love a walk…
Joe: I love to go for a walk, it used to be surfing but it’s too cold for that down here in Melbourne, especially in winter. But a walk down the beach, and getting your toes in the sand is good.
Note: Joe is a Sunny Coast native.
OB: Where is your favourite surfing spot in QLD on the Sunny Coast?
Joe: Oh probably… that’s a tough one. The points are fun, the Noosa Points, but it gets really busy there. So, I’d say Sunshine Beach, the northern end of Sunshine Beach. It is tucked away in a pocket, it’s nice.
Holly: We are like day and night, because I go MIA at night, I am nocturnal. I’m a “coming home at 5AM” type of girl. So, we are kind of opposite there.
OB: Where would you go MIA in Melbourne?
Holly: You’ll probably find me somewhere incredibly similar to this. You’ll find me in a corner of the Last Chance, with them kicking me out at 7am.
OB: And on tour, is there any change to that routine?
Holly: We were so boring on tour! We didn’t do anything chaotic on tour. We tried to go out and cause drama, but it didn’t happen. We were stealing beers off the rider, to stop them having a crazy night.
OB: You are talking about W.OM.B.A.T, they would have ensured there was plenty of antics going on right? They like to mess around.
Holly: Yeah ha-ha! It was so fun watching those guys. They are hyper balls of energy, those ones, so good!
2. If you had an Arabella Festival, who would you love to cause a Ruckus with? Who is on the line-up?
Holly: I’m going to throw Knee out there; they were so cool! That was sick. Who are you chucking on Joe?
Joe: Well, if it is anyone, it’s IDLES. They cause the biggest ruckus of anyone out there.
Holly: Oh yeah! for sure, and he is a big IDLES fan. He saw them, what three times last year?
Joe: Wherever they play, however many shows they played here, I went to all of them – ha!
OB: So, IDLES, Knee, we need a few more to make this festival.
Holly: Who have I been liking a lot recently… Ooo, a band I really like recently called Getdown Services, they are really cool I’ve been listening to them on repeat. There are so many good bands kicking around at the moment.
Joe: Local guys, probably The Unknowns, another Sunny Coast represent!
Holly: And The Antics were sick tonight too, I really like them.
OB: They sure were. I’m loving The Antics 2.0, really pleased to see just how far they are coming on, the performance is tighter, with more drive…. That’s not a bad festival, I’d pay to see that.
Holly: Yeah, The Antics are just, really, really cool…. I think a bit of brainstorming around that and we can make this festival work.
OB: I’m very surprised you didn’t say QOTSA.
Holly: I…would love to see QOTSA, in the 2001 time-frame. Like that era of Dave Grohl in the band, and the guy that screams….
Joe: Lanegan.
Holly: Lanegan, that era. Sexy Homme in a leather jacket. So that’s my answer, 2001 QOTSA.
3. So, on that who do you think you’d award the Crown to as Australia’s King and Queen of Aus music?
Holly: Oh! We are coming off the back of the Triple J Aus Hottest 100, and it has had me really thinking about the significance of Australian Music. There’s so many strong females that have come through. Like at the moment we’ve got Amy Taylor who is just killing it. And the past like the Divinyls, Chrissy Amphlett, I’m thinking something femme-led that’s just where my brain goes… A king, that is a hard one for me.
OB: Maybe we don’t need a king, just two queens instead?
Joe: As the IDLES sang: “Fuck the King, he aint the king, she’s the king!”.
OB: Sausage hands, move over! We have Chrissy Amphlett and Amy Taylor as the two queens? I think that is a fucking great answer.
Holly: I’m going to stick with that. Two queens, a proper Aus rock matriarchy!
4. You and the team are Electric right now. What’s the plan for the second half of 2025?
Joe: We’ve got a couple of singles coming towards the end of the year…are we allowed to ahh…
Holly: Yeah, do it! We have a single coming out late September called Maraschino.
OB: Maraschino?
Joe/Holly: Maraschino, like the cherry.
OB: Like the cherries! So I was on point with the Cherry Ripe reference.
Holly: I am really excited about this kind of punk, electronic fusion, we have that is going on in the studio. So that is leaning into this dance sound.
Joe: Yes, it’s so good.
Holly: So, it’s a dance sound. We’ve had a lot of fun just walking that line with that sound, this one I’m really excited for people to hear.
OB: Cool, and being true to yourself, and where you want to go with it.
Holly: Literally. It has taken us a long time as a band to figure ourselves out. And this, well… (adopting a formal and official voice and stance) now we are working on a body of work. An important ‘body of work’ at the moment… dare I say ‘album’. Which I am very excited about, because we’ve been a band for what like six years now?
Joe: Yeah, six years.
Holly: So doing it feels right. We’ve got the sound right and locked in. I’m excited about it
OB: That’s great news. I mean you’ve got the stage presence, the industry clout, hardworking healthy habits that draw a crowd…
Joe: And we are having fun!
OB: Fuck yeah, that is the most important thing.
Joe: That’s it, singles, shows…fun.
Holly: Yeah fun, singles, shows, album… Having more fun causing a Ruckus and being Electric! I’m sounding like you now, ha-ha! I am going to get that tattooed.
4. (I intended to write five but it seems like I only wrote four!)
OB: Ok. Now you have the honour of the last question as I am one question short.
Holly: Oww… no, no, I want to hear what is your dream festival lineup?
OB: Oh mine! Oh boy. Well that’s contentious as I shouldn’t have favourites!
Holly: Well, you put us on the spot, I’m sure you’ve had a think about this! Ha-ha!
OB: I have to put you on, I can’t say no to that (we all laugh) And Knee of Course… I mean DZ Deathrays are my boys. But for me, it’s all Australian, the bigger a band is the less likely I’m going to put them on there.
Holly: Yep, all Australian, 100%!
OB: It’s so hard because I do what I do as a volunteer because I’m inspired by and I love the Australian artists. It’s the people, the Artists, the crews that keeps me motivated, traveling and writing to showcase them, and help give exposure to their art. You know, bands like C.O.F.F.I.N, Drunk Mums, Split System, Stiff Richards, DZ, These New South Whales, Full Flower Moon Band, The Buoys.. etc. oh boy!
Holly: We’ve got such an Australian… energy to our music, it is important. It’s so precious right?
OB: I love it, because the music, the gathering together for shows, it’s all about creating a positive community through it all.
Holly: We’d be nothing without it.
OB: Probably a vague response in all, but pretty much every band I’ve ever interviewed I want on there!
Holly: That’s why you are doing it right, because you love it.
OB: Thank you so much for that question and the interview. And keep making more music and doing more shows. I’ll have to grab your actual names as it isn’t actually Arabella.
Holly: I’m a fraud, I’m a fake and I’m a phoney! We’ll answer anything ha-ha!
I tell you what isn’t fake, a fraud or phoney, it’s the shows from this band. And with the promise of a cherry red leather-clad album in-bound, the stakes are getting higher. Get into them now, so you can give those satisfactory head nods of approval to your mates, when they discover them and fall crushingly hard for Arabella and the Heist, just like you will straight after reading this interview, perhaps while savouring a Cherry Ripe.
A big thank you once again to Raani Jade (@raanijade) for all the photos in this article.
You can listen to the band’s latest track, appropriately titled Maraschino below: