New Electric Hippies Material Coming After 29 Year Hiatus

Yep, Electric Hippies are coming back!

Noiseworks guitarist Steve Balbi took to social media this week, revealing that he's been back in the studio with Electric Hippies (and Noiseworks) bandmate Justin Stanley working on new material. 

Electric Hippies emerged after Noiseworks' first breakup, hitting the ARIA Top 30 with Greedy People and peaking at #25 with their eponymous debut album in 1994. 

The duo then disappeared, with Balbi working on solo material and Stanley becoming an internationally renowned producer working with the likes of The Vines, Sheryl Crow and Eric Clapton. The duo also worked together on some of Balbi's solo material, but it looks like the Hippies are back! 

The band previously teased a comeback in 2019, but it never eventuated. Instead, Noiseworks released another album, Evolution, last November.

"It's been a pleasure working with the Noiseworks boys again, and being back in the studio with my brother. Came across something we worked on a few years back... so keep your ears open for new Electric Hippies sometime soon too," Balbi wrote on Facebook. 

Today, he also released a new solo single; We Were Lost, which you can stream here.

We're looking forward to Noiseworks and Electric Hippies existing simultaneously.

In an interview with The Music last year, Noiseworks' Jon Stevens discussed why it had been so long between releases. “It was just one of those things where, you know, a few years ago we'd always meet up individually or a couple of us here and there, and then we got together just decided to just start writing some songs every chance we could,” he said.

“Then in 2019, we finished an album in between everything else we were doing in our lives, so it was fun to be back together just creating and being in a room. The album was ready to go in 2019 but sadly our beloved friend and guitarist Stuart Fraser passed away from cancer. 

“Then COVID hit. And now here we are at 2022 – now feels like the right time to get the record out and go and do a bunch of shows for Stuart because he's all over this record. 

“The idea of it sitting on a shelf somewhere, it's just not a good idea; it’s not good for any of us. So, this year we will come out of the darkness, of COVID, of losing Stuey... [we're] getting out there and playing some rock to honour our mate.”

Listen to the self-titled Electric Hippies album here.