I’ve never seen Vika & Linda Bull solo, but I suspect this is true for many; the sisters rarely perform apart. Most recently, I saw them backing Paul Kelly (a bucket list performer of mine), to which I’d bought front-row tickets.
Vika’s powerhouse vocal contributions were astonishing. But my eyes kept returning to Linda. With her iconic flower in her hair, she sang and swayed with a time-keeping tambourine in hand, and joy written all over her face.
I realised what Paul Kelly and Joe Camilleri before him already knew. Everything is made better with Vika & Linda.
The sisters grew up surrounded by Tongan culture, with music, dancing, and gospel harmonies infused in their souls. In her late teens, Vika worked as a recording studio receptionist.
After stepping up to sing when someone got sick, she got noticed and released several singles. Both sisters were performing together and apart on the Melbourne music scene when singer and saxophonist Joe Camilleri, who’d had hits in the ‘70s as part of Jo Jo Zep and the Falcons, was looking to complement his bluesy rock band The Black Sorrows with some backing vocalists.
“Joe brought us up front early after the fourth or fifth gig, showcasing us as singers,” Vika recalls. “He liked our sound and wrote songs for us to sing.
“Joe was highly generous, gave us a break, and took us worldwide.”
But credit where credit is due.
“It was Peter who first thought we could work in The Black Sorrows,” Linda chimes in. “We were lead singers before then and parked our solo ambitions to join that band.”
What was to be a six-week contract became six years. Songs such as Chained To The Wheel and Never Let Me Go would not have been the same without Vika & Linda’s contribution. From that commercial breakthrough, they contributed to other artists’ albums, with icons John Farnham, Deb Conway, and Hunters & Collectors being but a few on their list.
It was through Archie Roach that they met Paul Kelly, who produced Roach’s debut album, Charcoal Lane. He helped Vika & Linda assemble their debut self-titled album which, if you would believe it, was released 30 years ago this month. As a testament to the impression the sisters’ left on their former collaborators, many of the artists they had worked with contributed to the album.
“Our first time travelling interstate to try out that new material was at Tilley’s, which became our Canberra home for a long time,” Vika reveals. “Pauline was really kind to us and gave us a go. The audience would sit up close and listen. We made many mistakes, but we learned fast, and you’ve got to do that to grow.
“You brought back some memories there!”
“It was tough having that audience there and so close because if you came unstuck, everyone could see and hear it,” Linda reflects. “And that’s what these shows now are. They are a throwback to that period, as it’s just us and a piano; no band.
“But we’re better at it now!” Linda jovially assures. “Canberra audiences have always been good to us when we try new things. They love music and stories.”
Since then, seven more albums have been released, embracing gospel, country, blues, and even festive music via 2022’s Gee Whiz, it’s Christmas! Their unofficial Chief PR Officer, Peter Luscombe, recommended them to the Rockwiz team, giving them semi-regular work supporting featured singing guests.
Vika & Linda released their Best Of anthology entitled Akilatoa just as COVID hit, their first to reach No. 1 on the ARIA charts. During the pandemic, with their Facebook live Sunday sessions and the associated gospel album, their voices uplifted and supported us in a totally different way.
Vika & Linda represent many brilliant and talented women team players in a male-dominated environment. They bring joy, harmonies, percussion, and dance to the betterment of anyone’s song, album, or show—an icing to a cake, perhaps, or the banana leaves essential to a traditional Tongan umu.
“There are a lot of great backing singers around the world,” Vika states, “whose careers have stalled when they’ve been brought into these great bands, and trying to get their careers going has been a struggle.”
“People get how hard that is,” Linda adds, “and everyone’s been rooting for us. I feel supported as a singer.”
Despite boasting a lengthy career awash with accolades, the sisters aren’t slowing down any time soon.
“We want to keep going well into our old age and not just continue to be backing singers for someone else,” Vika enthuses. “We have songs we want to sing and stories we want to tell. We’ve turned down a lot of jobs, tours and money to re-establish ourselves again as lead singers.
“We can’t go back there. We’ve got to go forward.”
The duo will elaborate on this small portion of the story at the Canberra show. Like at Tilley’s 30 years ago, we, the audience, can provide vocal support for Vika & Linda, who truly deserve to be in the front row of any roster of Australian music legends.
An Evening With Vika & Linda is on Friday, 21 June (8pm) at the Canberra Theatre. Tickets are $79 + bf via the venue.
Listen to Akilatoa on Spotify and Apple Music 💕
