In Partnership With Sailor Jerry
Being in a band might look like nonstop chaos and fun, but behind the noise comes the grind: the writing, the recording, the endless tours — and the creative clashes that can tear even the tightest crews apart.
For Brisbane punk outfit WAAX, that tension eventually proved too heavy. A decade after exploding onto the scene with their debut EP Holy Sick, the band called time in 2023, leaving fans clutching to their anthems and wondering if they’d ever return.
Three years later, the silence has broken: WAAX co-founder and frontwoman Maz De Vita is charging back into the fray with a raw new vision.
Rolling across August and September, she’ll hit the road on Sailor Jerry’s Jerry Can & A Van tour — promising no rules, all heart, and the unrelenting energy that made WAAX a household name. Rising like a phoenix, De Vita is armed with a fresh single, “UR A RAT”, and an adrenaline-fuelled determination to prove she’s only just getting started.
Supplied
Carving out her own creative space in Los Angeles over the past few years, De Vita admits she’s missed Australia but has drawn inspiration from the hustle culture of Hollywood. “I feel creatively grounded here. Everyone is doing cool stuff, so you get into a groove of hustling creatively, which is something I’ve always craved. It’s a tough and wild city, but I feel peaceful in the chaos.”
After a “soul searching mission” to figure out what her new music would sound like, she eventually teamed up with songwriter and producer Gab Stum to bring a fresh new blend of punk pop lyricism to WAAX, as well as producer Miro Mackie, who produced “Wild & Weak” with De Vita in 2017. “It felt like a full-circle moment, mixing old WAAX energy with something super fresh.”
So, what can WAAX fans expect from the upcoming Jerry Can & A Van East Coast tour? Intimate venues, sweaty crowds, and genuine connection. It’s not about polished performances but rather energy, vulnerability, and that classic DIY grit that both WAAX and Sailor Jerry stand for. “Audiences can expect to feel every emotion possible — to cry, scream, and laugh. I plan to bring the new song into the set, as well as a bunch of tunes fans know and love,” explains De Vita.
Supplied
“I feel like there’s more fire in me than ever before, so I’m bringing my A+ game. The lineup is a bunch of my buds who also play in epic bands, so it’s kind of a super group,” she adds.
To celebrate her fiery return to the stage — and connect rebellious music roots and tattoo culture — she’ll be joined by legendary celebrity tattooist, Lauren Winzer, in Sydney. De Vita, who has 30 tattoos herself, says it was too good an opportunity to pass up. “This was a big moment for me after working away and writing a new record for the last three years. When the opportunity to work with Sailor Jerry and Lauren Winzer came up, I thought it would be the perfect fit to hit it hard.
Revered for her ever-evolving, conceptual style, Winzer echoes this sentiment. “I feel like Maz and I are powerful, expressive, artistic personalities — this collab is final boss energy.”
Winzer will be joining the tour exclusively for the Sydney event, giving WAAX fans the chance to wear the tour on their sleeve. Drawing inspiration from both De Vita’s songs and the original Norman ‘Sailor Jerry’ Collins tattoo book, the legendary artist behind Sailor Jerry, Winzer says the tour poster also works as a flash sheet.
“I listened to each song and mentally noted imagery I knew from years of using his books for reference, and then matched up for which song was giving which attitude and then found an image that matched. I loved turning the iconic Sailor Jerry hula girl into an iconic Maz. All of those images will be available for tattoo at the show — so make sure you get your tickets and keep an eye on Maz and I’s socials to see how you can be in with the chance to get one! I’ll be ready and waiting to make as many memories together as possible.”
Kicking off in WAAX’s hometown of Brisbane at The Brightside on August 29th, the Jerry Can & A Van tour will make its way down to the University of Canberra (Sept 5th) and UTS Underground in Sydney (Sept 6th), before finishing up at Howler in Melbourne (Sept 11th) and Pelly Bar in Frankston (Sept 12th).
Tickets for Jerry Can & A Van featuring WAAX and Lauren Winzer are available here. For more information and tour updates, visit the Sailor Jerry Website.
