_{Cover Image: Vika & Linda. Image supplied.}

Q: For decades, your voices have defined Australian music, both as frontline leaders and through landmark guest contributions – from The Black Sorrows, Paul Kelly and Archie Roach to John Farnham and Kasey Chambers. Having spent 2021’s The Wait interpreting tracks penned for you by a “who’s who” of Australian songwriting royalty, what internal shift prompted you to claim the primary songwriting roles yourselves for Where Do You Come From?

A: The internal shift came once we finished writing our memoir, No Bull, which gave us the idea that some of those stories could be explored more deeply and potentially become interesting songs. That meant we had to have a bigger involvement in the songwriting. It was important to tell our own stories in our own words.

Also, the political landscape in Australia – and the conversations about immigration and multiculturalism in the media, along with the displacement of people through war – made us look at our identity and our thoughts on the rich, mixed cultural household we were raised in. It was all fodder for songwriting.

As far as the primary songwriting roles go, we have always enjoyed collaborating, so we asked our friend Mark Seymour to help. That was a great success because we co-wrote four songs with him. We are big fans of his songwriting and thought he would give us a bit of an edge. We also participated in a productive session at the Whitsundays Songwriter Festival where three songs were written. It was a wonderful boost to our confidence as writers.

Q: Paul Kelly famously described your vocal interaction as having an “elusive twinned quality”, balancing Vika’s raw throttle and cut with Linda’s honeyed warmth. Given that your vocal education began in the Tongan church under your mother Siniva’s instruction, singing tracks such as “Everything Is Hunky Dory Children of the Lord”, how did those sacred harmonic structures and early Tongan vocal traditions shape the writing and key arrangements of this new material?

A: Listening to the Tongans sing in church, and hearing our mother’s own ability to sing, is something that has been instilled in us from a very young age. She recognised early on that we could sing, and she taught us how to harmonise. She understood that Vika could sing high and Linda could sing low, and she taught us our parts from there. So harmonising really is in our DNA now; it comes very naturally. We are so lucky to have been given that gift. The Tongans are terrific singers.

Because of that early training, we do not think about it too much when we are singing; it just flows. But when it comes to writing and key arrangements, that is where the real effort goes. Because we can cover a lot of range between us, we experiment to find what suits each song best. Even if one of us really wants to sing a particular song, it always comes down to whose voice it actually suits. “That’s How I Pray” is a good example. The song lifts and builds into a gospel harmony, so you can really hear that early church training coming through in the arrangement.

Q: In your biography, you noted that reaching the top was never the goal – longevity was. Following the publication of your 2022 memoir No Bull, your Order of Australia honours and the Between Two Shores stage show, you stated that after nearly 40 years you feel you are “just hitting your stride”. Did documenting your story from suburban Doncaster to the ARIA Hall of Fame give you the narrative momentum required to address themes of identity, mothering and Tongan heritage so directly on this record?

A: Yes, we think so. Writing the book and putting it out into the world was very hard. It meant exposing ourselves, but it definitely gave us the confidence to put our story into song instead. Singing is a much better way for us to express ourselves. It forced us to look back at everything we have lived through, the highs and the lows. There have been many highs, but life is tough – you get through it. You pick yourself up, brush yourself off and get back up again. “Waiting on the Kid” is a good example. It is about being a single mother, which was tough, but writing about it has been incredibly healing.

Q: Across nine studio records, your catalogue has moved fluidly through rock, country, R&B, gospel, reggae and traditional Tongan songs such as the title track of your 2020 anthology ’Akilotoa. When taking full control of the songwriting, did you find yourselves leaning naturally into a specific musical vernacular, or did the songs demand a synthesis of all those genres to carry your personal history?

A: We did not consciously lean into one style over another. If anything, the songs pulled from everywhere – a bit of gospel, a bit of country, some Tongan tradition – because that is who we are as artists. We treated each song on a case-by-case basis. We worked hard with our producer, Cameron Bruce, to arrange each one and talk through what feel it needed. We have dabbled in many styles over the years, so yes, this record does carry a lot of those influences you mentioned. It actually started out as just piano and voice, but as we worked on the songs, we realised they needed more. Cameron helped bring to life what we were hearing in our heads. An example is “Little Baby”, the first track. It touches on the Tongan language, with guitars and ukuleles running through it, while Cameron’s keyboards brought in some beautiful modern textures too.

Q: You have performed before the King of Tonga, Nelson Mandela, the Dalai Lama and 100,000 people at the AFL Grand Final, yet your work always anchors back to family. When writing songs explicitly about your own lineage and shared past, did the process alter how your individual voices interact or negotiate space within a song?

A: Whoever’s voice suits the song will sing the song. There is negotiation, but it always comes down to whose voice suits it best. Usually it is pretty obvious, but occasionally it is not. We had a few moments on this record where we experimented, trying each of us singing a song individually, singing in harmony all the way through or singing in unison. There were some tricky conversations, but ego needed to be put aside. It always came back to: who sings this song best? For example, we both tried to sing “The Boy with the Broken Wing”. We changed the feel many times and discussed it a lot, and ultimately Linda got to sing it. It is beautiful for her voice.

Q: Your upcoming WA dates with The Bullettes range from the acoustic intimacy of the Kalamunda Performing Arts Centre and the historic theatre atmosphere of the Astor Theatre to the open-air setting at Ravenswood. Given Marlon Williams’ observation that the room’s temperature changes the moment you step on stage, how do you adjust the dynamic projection and storytelling of such personal new songs across these vastly different physical environments?

A: Of course, as soon as you walk on stage you must immediately read the room. This is a theatre show, so there is a lot of storytelling in it, and every venue on this run gets that same show and the same energy from us. Old favourites and new songs – there is something for everyone. What changes is simply how we deliver it to suit the space. In a more intimate room like Kalamunda, or in the historic Astor Theatre, the storytelling really breathes and you feel every word up close. At an open-air venue like Ravenswood, we bring the same stories and the same vibe, just projected out to fill the space and reach everyone in the crowd. We can also tweak the set list if the energy requires us to as we go. That is the beauty of having such an experienced and well-prepared band like The Bullettes with us.

Vika & Linda will perform at the Kalamunda Performing Arts Centre on Friday 11 September 2026, the Astor Theatre on Saturday 12 September 2026 and Ravenswood Hotel on Sunday 13 September 2026.