INTERVIEW: JOEL TYRRELL, HANDS LIKE HOUSES – April 2026

INTERVIEW: JOEL TYRRELL, HANDS LIKE HOUSES – April 2026
By Melanie Scrafton

Bass guitarist Joel Tyrrell took a little time out before the last show of Hands Like Houses’ Australian tour to answer a few questions, before delivering a great show and packing bags ready for Europe in a week.

1 – How do you feel about this last Aussie mini tour, now that you’re at the end?

This tour has been incredible, it was hard to know what to expect on this run. We were competing with so many bands in our scene, and doing so being independently booked and managed meant we had veery little marketing resources and backing to compete with the big promoters. But people showed up and the tour was 80% Sold. We are at a stage where we are genuinely having so much fun that numbers, perception and media doesn’t hold weight like it used to for us. Our mission is to enjoy every second we have on stage and hope that translated into a memorable experience for the fans coming along.

2 – What’s next?

We are flying over to Europe next week!!! To kick off a European headline tour then finish off in the UK at Slam Dunk Festival. We are really excited for this and love being over in that part of the world (despite the million hours of travel to get there.. haha). We have The Lótus EP dropping on May 22 just before we play slam dunk festival, so we are excited for this little chapter. From there we will take stock and start dreaming up the next album and tour schedule.

3 – Have you relocated from Canberra – or will you?

Currently we are all over the world. Josh (Raven – lead vocals) is living in Perth, I’m on the far south coast of NSW in Bermagui, Parky (Matt Parkitny – drums) and Coops (Matt Cooper – lead guitar) are in Canberra but potentially on the move, and Alex (Pearson – rhythm guitar) is still living in Nashville. We are pretty spread out.

4 – Do you feel at home with the fan base in WA?

We have always loved playing in WA, but since Josh has joined, it feels like an extra level of love has come in, it’s almost a home show for us now. We really love getting out west and have rarely had a bad show over here. We wanna keep pushing and bringing back bigger shows for our west fam. But yes, we feel the love out there.

5 – Thoughts on the music industry and your genre progression in general.

The Music Industry is a wild one, unlike any other industry in the world. We are really grateful to still be here and a part of it, but boy is it tricky to stay alive. We were really blown away by the support we got on this tour for including local bands in each city, it was a step back to our roots and gave some perspective on where we came from and where we are now. We frothed these opportunities when we were a young band starting, and seeing the energy from up and coming bands as well as their talent definitely gave us inspiration and drive to keep this movement up.

 

 

Category: Interviews