Hockey Dad

History

The band was founded in 2013, although the members claim to have played together before being an official band. The duo cites a band called 'Abstract Classic' as an earlier project that fizzled out before they became Hockey Dad. Fleming and Stephenson were both born and raised in Windang Australia and lived two doors down from each other on Boronia Street in New South Wales where they still reside. The members met in 1999 at the ages of three and four when they were playing a neighbourhood game of football on the street. Continuing to reside in the same town, the duo spends their time surfing at the beach and skating at the local park.

Name

The name of the band, Hockey Dad, derived from a joke on an episode of The Simpsons. On the episode, Hockey Dad is a very quickly shown video game played between Bart Simpson and Milhouse Van Houten. Stephenson and Fleming claim that the name simply stuck as they could not think of anything else.

Influence

Hockey Dad credits the era of '60s garage as their main influence. The duo also credits their musical inspiration to bands such as Bass Drum of Death, Sparkadia and Band of Horses. Growing up, Fleming quotes that listening to his brother's collection of '90s punk music helped develop his musical style. On the contrary, Stephenson indulged heavily into his father's '80s Australian punk and rock musical selection. For music videos, they are said to be based on the band's days growing up in suburban Australia - surfing, skating, and drinking beer.

Record labels

Hockey Dad is currently associated with two record labels. Firstly, they are signed with the Australian independent label Farmer & the Owl/Inertia Music since 2014 for all dealings within Australia and the remainder of the world with exception of North America. The second label they are signed to is the independent label Kanine Records since 2015, for dealings within North America.

Zach Stephenson

Zach Stephenson was born on November 15, 1994 in Windang, Australia. For Hockey Dad, he plays the guitar as well as provides the main vocals for all their songs. Along with this, Stephenson can play bass and drums and is learning the behind the scenes of recording and producing music.

Billy Fleming

Billy Fleming was born on July 7, 1996 in Windang, Australia and plays the drums for Hockey Dad's records. Fleming can also play guitar and bass and is learning recording and production with Stephenson. Additionally, he is learning mastering in audio post production.

Discography

Hockey Dad released their first EP in 2013 via Farmer & Owl titled Dreamin'. In 2016, the duo released their debut full-length album Boronia via Kanine Records. All of Hockey Dads songs are co-written by Fleming and Stephenson.

Dreamin'

Dreamin' was produced and mixed by Tom Iansek at Mixed Business Studios and was mastered by Rick O'Neil at Turtlerock Studios. The EP featured five tracks and was released by record label Farmer & The Owl.

Singles

Lull City, I Need a Woman and Seaweed all became singles off of their EP Dreamin'. Their music videos were released on November 26, 2013, June 26, 2014 and September 23, 2014 respectively.

Boronia

Boronia is Hockey Dads debut album and is named after the street they grew up on, crediting the name to the personal vibes of the album. The album is said to be inspired by growing up together, partying, love, and friendship. Boronia features 11 tracks and released by Kanine Records in the U.S.A and Farmer & The Owl in the rest of the world.

Singles

To date, Hockey Dad has released four singles from their album Boronia. Can't Have Them, So Tired, Jump the Gun and A Night Out With had their music videos released on June 23, 2015, May 18, 2016, July 31, 2016, and August 31, 2016.

UK/Europe Tour 2016

In May 2016, Hockey Dad announced their UK/Europe tour hitting 16 shows across United Kingdom, Netherlands, France, and Germany. The tour began on May 12, 2016 in Reading, England and finished on June 44th,2016 in Nederweert, Netherlands. Due to the successful shows, Hockey Dad extended their tour and added another date on June 7, 2016 in Brighton, UK performing alongside other bands.

US/CAN Tour 2016

Hockey Dad also ran a tour across United States and Canada in support of their debut album. Lasting from the 10th of August to the 1st of September 2016, the tour consisted of 18 shows across fourteen states and two provinces. Musical group Muuy Biien played alongside Hockey Dad for this tour for all dates except that in San Francisco. This is the first tour Hockey Dad has performed in North America, previous visits only for music festivals.

Boronia Album Tour

From September 24 to October 8, 2016 Hockey Dad performed a short Australian national tour reaching Brisbane, Brunswick, Sydney, Adelaide, and Perth. This tour was to locally promote their debut album and was completely sold out across all locations.

Benefit of the Doubt Tour

On November 17, 2016 Hockey Dad announced their 2017 regional tour titled 'Benefit of the Doubt' tour. The tour is from February 3, 2016 until March 4, 2016 and consists of 8 shows in 8 cities across Australia.