When Killing Heidi burst onto the scene in the late ’90s, their anthemic debut album Reflector gave voice to a generation. Twenty-five years later, the songs that soundtracked the coming-of-age of countless Australian teens are back on the road—and they still hit just as hard.
Released at the turn of the millennium, Reflector arrived during a golden age of Aussie rock — flanked by acts like Grinspoon, The Superjesus, and Silverchair — and offered something a little bit different: raw vulnerability, grungy hooks, and a teenage girl front and centre. It didn’t just crack the charts — it crashed into the cultural psyche of a generation.
For guitarist and co-songwriter Jesse Hooper, the band’s ongoing relevance is down to a mix of nostalgia, musicianship, and a whole lot of sibling chemistry. Speaking with Rolling Stone AU/NZ ahead of Killing Heidi’s first headline tour in several years, Hooper sounds genuinely thrilled to be diving back into the record that changed his life.
“We thought it was going to be a year of a little nostalgia,” Hooper says of the band’s 2016 reformation. “And here we are, still rocking. Apart from the COVID years, we’ve basically been touring every summer — festivals, headline tours, Red Hot Summer… It feels like we’re back in the saddle, which is crazy.”
Killing Heidi’s catalogue spans three albums, but it’s Reflector — released in 2000 when Jesse and his sister Ella were just teenagers — that has remained the gravitational centre. The record went quadruple platinum, won multiple ARIAs, and spawned hits like “Weir” and “Mascara”, cementing the band as icons of the Y2K alt-pop explosion.
“There were two singles off the second album, two off the third that got a lot of airplay,” Hooper says. “But Reflector was the behemoth. It really is those songs that helped open the door to all our other songs.”
To mark the anniversary, the band are releasing a deluxe edition of the album packed with demos, rarities, and live recordings. For Hooper, curating it was a time-travel adventure.
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“There were boxes of tapes, old cassettes, demos. It was a lot to go through,” he laughs. “Some stuff didn’t make sense — just like someone’s sketch. But then you’d stumble on these great embryonic versions of the songs we all know, and that’s what made it so special.”
“I think fans will be surprised by how intimate some of these recordings are,” he adds. “You can hear the uncertainty, the experimentation… It’s not polished, and that’s what makes it beautiful.” The reissue also includes long-forgotten live cuts from early TV and radio appearances. “We were doing those every week,” he laughs.
That evolution is something Hooper hears every time they step on stage now. While Reflector captured a spark of teenage magic, the current live show is a masterclass in seasoned musicianship.
“It’s like we’re reinterpreting it with 25 years of touring and experience,” he says. “It’s still the same songs, but they’ve got a different intensity and maturity now. We’ve rehearsed Reflector in full, and it opens with all the heavy hitters… it’s a very different kind of set.”
Expect a few surprises, too. “We’re playing songs like ‘John’s Song’ and ‘A Jar Labelled Small’, and we haven’t played them in 25 years,” Jesse says. “They’re longer, heavier, more intricate. They don’t usually make it into the festival sets, so it’s a real treat.”
There’s also a new dynamic within the band. “Me and Pedro [drummer Adam Pedretti] are now in the minority — there’s a strong female energy onstage these days,” Hooper jokes. “Phoebe Neilson on bass is killer. We’ve added keys and more backing vocals to flesh out the sound of Reflector in a way we never could before. We’re in a much better position to recreate that album live.”
But even with the benefit of hindsight and technical upgrades, some things remain hilariously unchanged. Asked what Reflector might smell like, Hooper doesn’t hesitate.
“Hair gel, festival dust, teenage bedrooms… maybe a bit of weed,” he laughs. “And if we’re talking tour vans in 1999? You don’t want to know. It wasn’t glamorous.”
While Hooper confesses he doesn’t pay much attention to lyrics (“Ella always says, ‘You don’t even know what I’m singing!’”), there are still moments that hit home in unexpected ways.
“That line, ‘Will we make it in the end?’ It kind of feels more relevant now than ever,” he says. “It’s like we were talking to our future selves. And here we are.”
Looking back, Hooper admits he didn’t always have time to savour it. “I think I’d tell my younger self to slow down, be more present, and back yourself,” he says. “There was a hecticness to it all, and some memories are a blur. But I guess that’s youth, right? You’re just riding the wave.”
For both of the Hooper siblings, the journey has always been more than just music. It’s a shared experience, deeply rooted in family and shaped by their late parents, Jeremy and Helen.
“They were super proud. I don’t know if I could send my own kids out on the road like that,” Hooper reflects. “But they had faith in us. There’s a real sentimentality about Reflector, not just as a creative project, but as something we did together as siblings.”
Reminiscing on Reflector also gives Hooper insight into how dramatically the industry has changed. Now the head of music performance at Melbourne’s Collarts, he’s helping shape the next generation of artists — and his students have opened his eyes to new perspectives.
“When we were coming up, you had radio. That was it,” he says. “Now there’s streaming, social media, content that can go viral. But there’s also so much noise. The challenge is cutting through with something authentic.”
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While Hooper had the benefit of a development deal and time to refine Reflector, his advice to young musicians today is about resilience and sustainability.
“You might not build the profile you want in five years,” he says. “It could take ten or twenty. But that’s okay. Music is the long game.”
In a world of rapid-fire releases and TikTok trends, there’s something grounding about returning to a record that wears its heart on its sleeve. “Those songs still mean something,” Hooper says. “Maybe even more now. And for us, that’s the real reward—seeing them take on a life beyond what we imagined at 19.”
That longevity is playing out in real time for Killing Heidi. At recent shows, Hooper has noticed something heartwarming happening in the crowd: generational crossover.
“We’re seeing people bring their kids,” he says. “Some are discovering it on social media, others grew up with it because their parents played it. They’re having their own Reflector experience now, and that’s just amazing.”
For those lucky enough to catch the anniversary tour, Hooper hopes the takeaway is simple.
“Joy. Fun. A little time warp,” he smiles. “Whether you’re reliving your youth or discovering these songs for the first time, we just want to share that moment with you.”
And when the final note rings out? “Hopefully people leave feeling uplifted,” Hooper says. “Because we still love doing this. And if that energy connects, then we’ve done our job.”
Killing Heidi’s Australian tour kicks off in Adelaide on Friday, June 20th. Ticket information for the tour is available here.
