SOLD OUT SHOWS, INDIA, GANGSTERS & COUNTRY MUSIC... JUST ANOTHER CRAZY MONTH FOR 'SUNNY COAST RUDE BOYS'!
- Mick Hughes
- Aug 13
- 5 min read
We're at THE ROYAL HOTEL, NUNDAH (BRISBANE) Saturday 22 Aug! Click here! You know when people ask, "So... what have the band been up to?"
Where do you even start?
Last month we were playing a wonderful festival surrounded by fairy wings, kombucha and people discussing the spiritual benefits of fermented mushrooms. A week later we were in a packed hometown pub with a room full of ska fans skanking so hard they nearly shifted Kings Beach a few metres closer to New Zealand.
Life comes at you fast.
Fresh off the back of PRANAFEST, we rolled into our sold-out hometown show alongside our Melbourne mates THE KITTYHAWKS.
Now we'd been banging on about these lot for ages.
"Oh you'll love 'em."
"They're brilliant."
"They're got so much energy."
You're always worry you've oversold it. Like recommending a restaurant to your mates. "Mate, the steak will change your life." Then they get there and it's just... steak.
Not this time.
The Kittyhawks absolutely tore the roof off the place.
Attitude.
Energy.
Tunes.
Swagger.
The Sunny Coast crowd absolutely adored them. You could almost hear people mentally opening Spotify before they'd even finished their set. It's always nice when two bands click like that. Nobody trying to outdo each other. Just everyone wanting the crowd to have the biggest night possible.
Then it was our turn.
We thought we'd be a bit cheeky and sneak a few unreleased originals into the set.
This is always a dangerous game.
Play too many new songs and audiences suddenly remember they've desperately needed the toilet for twenty minutes.
Instead...
They absolutely lapped them up.
Singing.
Dancing.
Hands in the air.
Not one suspicious face thinking, "Can they just play that Madness song again?"
It was one of those moments where you think...
"Hang on... we might actually be onto something here."
Which bodes very nicely for the new releases coming through in 2026 and 2027.
Then...
The very next morning...
Our singer Mick disappeared to India.
Not metaphorically.
Literally.
Three weeks.
Solo.
Now most people go on holiday and come back saying things like...
"We found this lovely little resort..."
"There was a swim-up bar..."
"The breakfast buffet was unbelievable."
Not Mick.
He decided to do India properly.
Trains.
Chaos.
Street food.
Tuk tuks.
Sleeper buses.
Markets.
The Taj Mahal.
The Ganges.
Bangalore.
Jaipur.
Delhi.
Agra.
Varanasi.
Basically every place where crossing the road becomes an Olympic event.
He came back with incredible stories, approximately 14,000 photos and a brand-new appreciation for Australian plumbing.
We're still not entirely convinced he wasn't chased by a monkey at some point. It just feels statistically impossible not to be.
Thankfully he returned in one piece just in time to captain the good ship SCRB into the Burleigh Town Hotel on the Gold Coast.
We always seem to have a cracking crowd down there on the Goldy.
And this one was an absolute beauty.
You've got young punk rockers who've spent two hours perfecting pink hair that looks like they haven't looked in a mirror for six months. They were AWESOME.
Old-school ska heads who can tell you exactly where they were when they first heard Ghost Town.
Groups of lads.
Girls' nights out.
Yummy mummies who've somehow organised babysitters and are making the most of every minute.
British tourists who've been dragged along by Aussie relatives...
"Come on... you'll love it."
"I wanted to go to Sea World."
"You'll get over it."
By the end of the night they're all skanking together like they've known each other for years.
That's probably our favourite thing about these gigs.
Nobody really cares where you've come from.
Once the brass kicks in...
Everybody's family.
Meanwhile, things have been busy back at Sunny Coast Rude Boys HQ.
Sadly, we didn't make the cut for Woodford Folk Festival this year.
Bit of a shame really.
We absolutely loved playing there back in 2019.
Where else can you play a festival, buy handmade soap, accidentally attend a didgeridoo meditation workshop and eat Nepalese dumplings before lunchtime?
Still...
That's showbiz.
You don't win 'em all.
The good news?
On 30 August we're heading to the Gympie Muster, closing out the Blues Bar at 10pm.
Now THAT should be interesting.
Imagine thousands of country music fans minding their own business...
Then a dozen of us lot from the Sunshine Coast arrive blowing saxophones and shouting about surfing & Rude Boys.
Will they embrace a surf ska party?
We reckon they will.
If the festival crowds at Sublime and Camp For A Cure taught us anything recently, it's that good music and a bit of controlled chaos seem to work just about anywhere.
Then we're heading waaay up north for Wallaby Creek Festival and Cairns.
What a line-up.
The Bennies.
The Go Set.
The Strides.
Mama Kin Spender.
Loads of other cracking acts.
Basically enough talent to make us all practice an extra hour beforehand. CLICK HERE - TICKETS FOR ALL UPCOMING GIGS
And then...
Here comes the really exciting bit.
Our brand new single is out NOW.
It's called "Pretty Tilly & The Snow Queen."
We've teamed up with UK ska legends DEATH OF GUITAR POP.
Absolute legends, those blokes.
Imagine Rodney and Del Boy somehow ending up in a ska band...
Then chuck in a bit of Dushane and Sully.
If you know...
You know.
The song tells the story of Sydney's infamous 'Underbelly Razor' gang wars during the 1920s.
Think Peaky Blinders...
Except everyone's sweating because it's 38 degrees in Darlinghurst, someone's nicked your horse, and the pub serves Tooheys instead of Guinness.... maaaaaate.
It's a proper cinematic tale with enough twists, villains and razor blades to make your nan clutch her pearls.
Here's a little teaser...
Oh...
And because apparently we don't believe in sitting still...
We've got new merch!
T-shirts.
Pants?!
Socks??!!
CDs.
Vinyl.
Every purchase helps keep this glorious travelling circus on the road.
As we sit here looking ahead, it's hard not to smile.
In just a few weeks we've gone from sold-out hometown gigs to Indian adventures, Gold Coast parties, new music, festival announcements and plans stretching right across the country.
Sometimes we have to stop and remind ourselves how lucky we are.
A bunch of mates making music together.
Travelling Australia.
Meeting incredible people.
Sharing stages with amazing bands.
Having adventures we'd never have imagined when we first picked up our instruments.
But above everything else...
It's you lot.
The people who buy tickets.
Wear the shirts.
Bring your mates.
Learn the lyrics.
Dance like nobody's watching (even though everybody definitely is!!).
Whether you've been with us from the beginning or you've only just wandered into your first Sunny Coast Rude Boys gig because your cousin from Birmingham insisted, thank you.
You're the reason this ridiculous adventure keeps rolling on.
See you down the front.
Bring your dancing shoes.
And if you happen to be a country music fan at Gympie...
Don't worry.
We'll convert you by the second chorus! Big Love Sunny Coast Rude Boys
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