Ella and Jesse Hooper were teenagers when their song “Kettle” won a Triple J Unearthed competition in 1996.
As an early gateway into what would become one of Australian music’s brightest success stories, the Hooper siblings did not have to wait long following this initial win for the industry to discover their talent as songwriters and young performers.
Fast forward four years later, and Killing Heidi made an official impact with their debut album Reflector – an album that, at that point, would become the fastest selling Australian in history.
With songs like “Weir” and “Mascara” dominating airwaves and becoming instant classics, Reflector became a four-times Platinum selling album and enshrined Ella and Jesse as two of the country’s best to bring their wave of Australian rock music into a new decade.
Almost 25 years on from its release, Reflector still holds a special place in the hearts of music fans, as it does for the Hooper siblings. Being able to celebrate this music with fans on the 2024 Good Things Festival tour has been an opportunity neither Jesse or Ella have taken for granted.
“It’s been a bit of a whirlwind,” Jesse remarks backstage at Good Things. “Every time, we’ve tried to give it as much as we could, and also squeeze as much as we could out of it. It’s been awesome fun and we’re excited, relieved…it’s been a great time.”
Love for Killing Heidi in the live space was first reignited in 2016; the band reuniting to celebrate their 20th anniversary across a series of shows. The buzz and the hunger for the energy and timeless nature of their music has kept them on radars in the years that have followed.
For Jesse and Ella, the love for the music they created as teenagers still remains – key to this is their natural connection as musicians and songwriters.
“The chemistry is always pretty fun. Even if we just sit down and play at my house or whatever, the chemistry is always there,” he smiles. “We could be sitting there just playing acoustic guitar and of course, we have the brother-sister family connection. It’s such a special thing.”
“Half the set we haven’t played in 22 years,” he laughs. “It’s been amazing to step into it. I mean, the generational thing is really interesting because we had a lot of really young fans when we were big and had that busy window, they probably couldn’t get to a lot of shows. There weren’t a lot of all ages shows. So there’s people that would have loved to have seen us play back then, and then see us play a long time after.”
Currently based in Melbourne, both Hoopers have remained in creative spaces: Ella performs and tours regularly with her solo material, as well as working in broadcasting, while Jesse is the Head of Music Performance at the Australian College of the Arts (Collarts).
Being able to see Australian music shift and change in trend, sound and impact over the years has kept the fire burning for both Hoopers and when it has come to Killing Heidi being able to re-enter the space in 2024, they have been re-energised by the reception they have received.
“We get a taste of it with the other shows, but to actually come to this festival, which has got so many of our peers [performing], as well as having such a big audience and mixed demographic, we’re so grateful,” Jesse says.
“That’s what has kept us wanting to do shows. When we reformed in 2016, the idea was just to do a couple of shows. The fact that people just know all the material, it’s a celebration of the time and we love it. It really is uplifting when these songs still resonate with people; we’ll be here as long as they keep singing along!”
And as Jesse teases, this summer festival run has the best of training grounds for Killing Heidi to lead into the official 25th anniversary year, in 2025.
“We’ve got plans,” he muses, sitting with Rolling Stone AU/NZ backstage in Brisbane. “It is the 25th anniversary of Reflector next year, so this has been so much fun.”
