It's a Friday when I call Billie Star of Brisbane psych-rock ensemble Nice Biscuit.
I've been watching their kaleidoscopic music videos and revisiting their back catalogue – a mood-lifting trip in itself. The call connects. She's warm, sweetly shy.
Then the connection drops out. We both laugh when she rings back. "Sorry, I accidentally hung up," Billie chuckles. That casual ease is a glimpse into the soul of Nice Biscuit – a band that doesn't take themselves too seriously, but whose music swirls with intention.
It all started in 2015 with a serendipitous introduction. "Grace [Cuell, co-vocalist] and I were both singer-songwriters who hadn't released anything," Billie explains. "A mutual friend said, 'you two need to hang out'. We met and became best friends instantly."
That bond became the heart of the band. "We had some other friends over to jam at my place. Then my mum was having a party and said we had to play. So we pulled a set together.
"We didn't have a strong vision back then – it just evolved. We have visions of who we are and what we want to say which is quite cohesive, it was never intentional at the start."
What they say is often unsaid – it pulses in basslines and glimmers in harmonies. The lyrics are shared, layered and often draw from quiet reflections between friends.
"A lot of the songs are about being women, being soft, observing the world in a certain way. Sometimes we're just sitting on the grass outside going, 'what's this about?'"
The 2024 track 'Fade Away' hums with that same tender weight: 'I will not fade away / I will not fade away,' – a refrain that loops like a vow in the wind. It's witchy.
Not only do they bring the sound, but the visuals too. Bright, often retro-futuristic outfits that lean into their psychedelia. "We just happened to have the same matching clothes and it kind of gave us this power, because on our own we wouldn't do it.
"Sewing our own costumes kind of built our onstage identity." The result was less stage costume, more cloak of courage. "We don't talk onstage. It's better that way. We're awkward!" Billie laughs.
Their community has been key to keeping the music alive, especially Brisbane's iconic independent radio station 4ZZZ. "From the beginning, they've just been behind us. Plugging our songs and inviting us into their world," Billie says.
The relationship is more than airplay. It's mutual care. "I wish they had all the money in the world to keep doing what they do," she says. "They nurture artists. They get it. Without that support, it's hard to breakthrough."
Nice Biscuit are among the line-up for ZED50 celebrating 50 years of 4ZZZ, joining the likes of The Saints '73-'78, Regurgitator, Tropical F... Storm, Full Flower Moon Band and others. "It feels really cool to be a part of it, and they could have chosen so many other people and they chose us, so it feels really nice," Billie says.
There's a lyric from another of Nice Biscuit's 2024 songs 'Love That Takes You Up' that lands like a quiet mission statement for the band: 'Lift you up to the sky / Through the darkest of nights.'
That's the magic of Nice Biscuit – they don't just play tunes, they conjure something that lifts. I think more than ever we need that kind of music on our radios to lift us into a better funk.
Nice Biscuit's origin name? Classic. "It's a boring story, but we were rehearsing in one of our shared houses. You know when you get really locked in and forget to eat?
"So, there was this old packet of Nice biscuits and they were already opened and kind of glad-wrapped and they'd been there for so long. We joked, then ate them. We were that hungry. We made a group chat and named it Nice Biscuit. It stuck. If we chose any other name, it would have been more lame."
Their psych-rock spell should be heard with your best mates, in matching outfits, speakers loud, and ready to dance your silly socks off. So, what's your biscuit of choice? Me, well, I'm here for Nice Biscuit.
ZED50 takes place at Roma Street Parklands (Brisbane) on 25 October.
ZED50: A Market Day Celebration Of 50 years Of 4ZZZ Radio Line-up
The Saints 73-78Regurgitator
Tropical F... Storm
Full Flower Moon Band
Big Noter
Butterfingers
Screamfeeder
Nice Biscuit
Party Dozen
Dancingwater
Flangipanis
Platonic Sex
Velociraptor
