Bachelor Girl reimagines

BACHELOR Girl is celebrating 25 years since its award-winning debut album with a redux tour that will stop in the Northern Rivers next month.

The duo’s 1999 debut, Waiting for the Day, is a much-loved part of the ’90s Australian pop canon, and they have reimagined the entire album for the limited live run.

Tania Doko, half of the pop/rock duo with James Roche, said she was excited to stage a show on her new home turf. She relocated to the Tweed two years ago after a decade in Sweden.

“We’ve been here at Cabarita for two years and loving it,” Doko said.

“We started in Melbourne, where I lived most of my life, but when we arrived during COVID, it was a terrible time, and we just couldn’t cope.

“If anything, it just pushed us faster into paradise.

“We’re very lucky to be here, and I’ll always love Melbourne, but this is where we need to be. It’s a great antithesis to the craziness of the music industry as well,” she said.

Waiting for the Day won the duo an ARIA for Producer of the Year and a US release through the iconic Clive Davis (Arista Records).

Buses and Trains was APRA’s Song of the Year and remains the most played Australian composition on radio in the last 25 years.

Between then and now, Doko and Roche pursued individual projects as writers and producers for other artists in Europe and the UK. The two reunited in 2018 to release their socially conscious single Speak.

Subsequent tours included support slots with the Eurythmics and The Goo Goo Dolls, and more recently the band has joined festival bills such as Day on the Green and the Red Hot Summer tour with Icehouse, Boom Crash Opera, and Simple Minds.

Reimagining their hit album for the redux has been a fun and creative process for the duo.

“We just have a play, quite literally,” Doko said. “The songs have been in our DNA for so long, so what if we just went modern country on the said song, or a bit punkier, or ACDC’ish,” she said.

“There’s no restriction; you’re just in the songs as they are, and then you just use your imagination. It’s like a playground.

“We just had fun and went from pop to punk to soul, a bit of early ’90s Brand New Heavies influence here, some John Mayer-inspired ballad vibes there, and some electro, slightly doofy treatments as well.”

Committed to coaching and mentoring emerging artists, Doko also helps young musicians navigate the complex industry.

There is also a hint of a new album dropping in 2026, but the singer is circumspect.

“We can’t reveal too much about the project yet except to expect some great collaborations,” she said.

For tickets, head to brunswickpicturehouse.com/bachelor-girl-3-may .