Despite debuting back in the ‘80s, the last few years have been some of the busiest for sister duo Vika and Linda Bull.
In mid-2020 came their career-spanning collection ‘Akilotoa’, followed by gospel album, ‘Sunday (The Gospel According To Iso)’ just a month later.
In 2021, they released their first album of new material in nearly two decades, ‘The Wait’, before coming out with their eighth studio album, titled ‘Gee Whiz, It’s Christmas!’ and their memoir, No Bull in 2022.
According to the duo, it felt just as busy for them as it did for fans.
“We just took it one day at a time – when you’ve got a workload, I think that’s the only way you can deal with it,” Linda said.
“It was a very productive three years, and it was great fun. When you enjoy your work, it’s not really work – we were just having a ball doing it all.”
The period came along with plenty of highs, with two of their albums landing in the number two spot on the charts, and ‘Akilotoa’ earning them their first ever number one – a ‘best of’ that they were convinced no one wanted.
“To get that number one in our 50s, I was very proud of that because of our longevity, and just being in the industry for so long and not quitting,” Vika said.
“There were many moments there where we really wanted to pack it in, but we kept going purely for the joy of singing.”
Heading into 2024, they’re kicking off a brand-new venture in the form of a new tour, ‘An Evening with Vika and Linda’.
The tour will be bringing audiences a trio show, with just their close collaborator and producer Cameron Bruce on piano to create a night more stripped back than ever before.
“He knows our repertoire and he knows how we sing, and we wanted to just strip it right back to the bare bones and just deliver songs with the three of us,” Linda said.
However, with this comes a sense of vulnerability for the singers, who will be leaning on one another to put on the best show possible.
“You do feel completely naked. There is nothing to hide behind, and that can be a very stressful situation. If the nerves get the better of you, your voice cracks and breaks and does all sorts of weird things,” Vika said.
“I do think that it’ll be a great support, though, having someone else there singing with you.”
The show is set to have a special and unique setlist, complete with new songs, and old songs that have become new favourites.
“You tend to brush songs aside quickly when you get a live set happening, you forget that there’s a whole lot of songs that you did that maybe if you just thought about them differently, would come about in a better way, which I think is what we’re finding with the trio tour,” Linda said.
This includes debut album track ‘Love This Time’, which was revamped as part of a Christmas show last year after not being performed since its release.
“We listened to it and thought, ‘The lyrics are beautiful’, and then Cameron said, ‘How about we just try it with piano?’, and it took on a brand-new life, it was a completely different song that we really enjoyed singing,” Vika said.
“The way it was recorded, it was great, but it was a little daggy, and I think that’s why we shied away from it, so then when Cameron came in and turned it on its head, it became a whole new thing.”
The show will be heading to Riverside Theatres as part of Great Southern Nights.
“I think Australia needs to get behind their artists a little bit more, and I think it’s great that [Great Southern Nights] is doing that for Australian acts,” Vika said.
‘An Evening with Vika and Linda’ will be on at Riverside on Saturday, March 23. Tickets are $68. Visit riversideparramatta.com.au.
Cassidy Pearce is Parra News' entertainment journalist and beauty columnist. She is a graduate of the University of Technology Sydney.