Hayley Mary returns to Bad Friday

Hayley Mary is no stranger to Bad Friday. This will be the energetic performer’s third appearance at the inner-west festival. Last year she even got her Mum up on stage for a memorable moment. While she is a long way off the record of most Bad Friday’s ever played (Reg Harris’ 7 times – DMA’s, World Champion, The Tsars) we are more than excited she’s answered the call-up!

The end of 2019 saw Hayley go out on her own. Stepping aside from The Jezabels and releasing the first taste of this year’s debut EP, “The Piss, The Perfume” out via I OH YOU.

We caught up with her to chat about….

The Piss, The Perfume was one of our favourite tracks last year and snuck into everyone’s best-of lists when it was released late in the year. There’s a bit to unpack in that title, what’s it about and is it a theme that carries through the rest of the EP?
Yeah, it is. The simplest way I see the meaning in it is that it’s about the lows and the highs, the happy and the sad, together at once in all of the moments. I wanted to capture my feelings of hope for the future and my nostalgia for an era in my life in Sydney, but I didn’t want the nostalgia to be one dimensional and only evoke the sweet perfume, the rose-tinted images. I wanted to remember the piss as well. I think it’s also funny that piss (alcohol), piss (urine) and perfume are actually all pretty toxic in their ways, but we love to romanticise our toxins, don’t we?


You’ve moved a lot the last few years between Edinburgh, Sydney & Melbourne. How did this effect the EP and was there a city that had more of an impact on the final product?

 Maybe it explains why the songs are allover the shop haha. Being in one city gave me perspective on another and the memories I had of it. It’s probably a matter of distance making the heart grow fonder.


What was your favourite Bad Friday memory to date?

I did enjoy falling off the stage and climbing the barrier to the back of the festival and then running back through the crowd a couple years back.


Who will you be watching at this year’s Bad Friday?
I’d like to catch Pond. Great band. And Caitlin Harnett & The Pony Boys

Bad Friday Tix on sale now via Oztix.