Hey hi hello! Zoe here.

So… how did The Buoys (pronounced “The Boys”) come to be?

It’s 2016 in Cronulla, Australia. I’m going to shows and wondering, where are all the women on stage? So, I picked up a guitar and started The Buoys.

If you’d told me back then that I’d be writing a blurb for a website, I’d have called you mad.

The Buoys today is Courtney on bass, Hilary on lead guitar, Tess on drums, and me – Zoe – on lead vocals and rhythm guitar. But let’s rewind for a sec...

Back in 2016, I’d just started learning electric guitar and didn’t know any women in my area who were gigging or keen to start a band. So I reached out to friends of friends, showed up at a stranger’s house with a handful of songs and zero idea what would happen next. We played our first show just weeks later.

Moral of the story? Even if you don’t feel ready, and even if you don’t know anyone — you should definitely start a band.

Fast forward to now, and we’ve had our current line-up since 2019. Just like the first iteration of The Buoys, none of us knew each other before playing together — we were strangers brought together by mutual friends and a shared love of music.

Since then, we’ve released two chaotic and beautiful EPs — All This Talking Gets Us Nowhere and Unsolicited Advice For Your DIY Disaster — following our debut Soft Boy EP (the OG line-up, still up on Bandcamp!).

Over the years we’ve played shows with bands we look up to — Arctic Monkeys, Wet Leg, DMAs, Soccer Mommy, The Dandy Warhols, IDLES, Ball Park Music… and yes, we’re still pinching ourselves… EVERYDAY!

2024 was an insane year. We released our debut album Lustre and embarked on our first every international tour. Lustre was Triple J Album of the week AND scored a nomination for Triple J Best Australian Album of the Year, plus we got to do our first ever Like A Version! It’s been a wild, wild ride, and we’re so grateful we get to do it with you.

Thanks for being here. We couldn’t do it without you!

Love,
THE BUOYS