Almost two decades on from the toot and chugga of the Big Red Car, a brand-new shiny red vehicle is about to hit the road with the whole Wiggly band in tow!
The release of the new single 'Big Red Ute' from children’s group, The Wiggles, brings a sense of that '90s nostalgia of the old track we all know and love into the modern day, with electric windows and a new-age twang feel of a tune alongside a bigger boot for some yellow, red, purple and blue suitcases and instruments. First stop? The Tamworth Country Music Festival.
Someone who is no stranger to the old bringing in the new, is Blue Wiggle Lucia Field who has only been on the scene a short time. . . But a long time behind the scenes.
She put on the shirt her father, Anthony Field, one of the founding members of The Wiggles, wore on set when she was just a baby. We spoke to Lucia about the upcoming festival, her own artistic path, as well as what life was like growing up in a Wiggly household as a child.
Lucia was born in the thick of the band's success. Having just broken out onto US screens, earning themselves multiple Gold, Platinum and Double Platinum records and performing to an average one million people per year, she was almost naive to how big of a deal her dad’s band really was.
“It was very chaotic, very musical, and very I guess abnormal – but we didn’t think it was. My dad was touring pretty much nine months out of the year but we got to FaceTime every day and watch him on TV. I didn’t realise how big it was until I got older. Dad would come and pick me up from primary school and everyone would be freaking out and I’d be like 'why?'. People would ask me 'did you grow up with the OG Wiggles' and stuff. It was normal to see them passing by the house but yeah, I didn’t realise how huge The Wiggles were until I got older and I was like wow. . . This is a really big deal to a lot of people.”
Lucia has been dancing since she was four, and grew up performing. Ballet was her passion – at 16, she set off to Melbourne to study at The Australian Ballet School and was there for three years, but when COVID hit, she had to fly home.
“Honestly, being a Wiggle never crossed my mind. I was pretty set on being a ballerina. I believe everything happens for a reason and it wasn’t even dad who put me forward for it. Alex, our sound engineer suggested it. I had to learn a lot about singing. I was sort of essentially thrown into this and had two weeks after I found out before we were straight into filming.”
“I’m always going to Lachy for advice on singing and harmonising because he’s literally like a musical genius in my mind. Simon teaches me about operatic breathing, he never gets puffed out! They’re both vocal powerhouses and give the best advice, not just with singing but performing and life advice as well.
“I’ve pretty much danced every day since I started, and it does translate to what I do in The Wiggles. Getting to teach dances to kids, even if they’re really simple, takes a lot of thinking back to my training. I also think my drumming background as well has helped with the musicality of it all. It breaks it up on stage too, when I don’t want to keep dancing I can go play the drums for a bit and come back to it.”
Lucia, surrounded by music growing up, has played the drums since she was 10 years old. When asked who she draws her drumming inspiration from, the response didn’t disappoint.
“This is going to sound so cliché, but I really do look up to my dad with his drumming. All music comes so naturally to him and he does it so effortlessly. Me and my brother both started playing drums because of him and we love it. Every time he starts playing I’m watching like, 'gosh, how do you do that'. . . So I’d have to say my dad.”
It’s The Wiggles' first time posing in front of The Golden Guitar, two Australian icons coming together. They’re doing two family-friendly shows at the Australian Equine and Livestock Events Centre as part of Tamworth Country Music Festival – and will be driving the Big Red Ute from Sydney. If you see it, give it a toot toot!
'Big Red Ute' is out now. The Wiggles play the 2025 Tamworth Country Music Festival on 21 January.
