By Carrie Gibson

New date has been announced : April 3rd 2025 at The Baso. Tix are $45.40 via Oztix

EDIT: Steve was due to hit the stage at The Baso on the 9th Nov, but unfortunately he had to undergo emergency surgery last week. The show has been postponed and all ticket holders will be contacted by Oztix. We wish you all the best Steve and good healing vibes to you 💗

Now on to the interview.

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Steve Hughes is a national treasure. Don’t be fooled by his UK residence; Steve is as Australian as they come. From Slaughter Lord to Spicks and Specks, Steve has carved out a varied career, a sharp steer from his first love of drumming in a heavy metal band.

But make no bones about it; this is one funny guy. Thirty seconds into our chat, I’m already giggling.

So, what does lead one to transition from music to comedy?

“When you think about it, the themes you address in your sets are much like those in heavy metal; war, religion, and the establishment,” he wryly quips.

“Being in bands for 17 years, I mean… I’d rather be a musician than a comedian, to be honest.

“I grew up in Australia, the outpost of the world where nothing ever happens.

“So after being in bands, rehearsing for five years, making albums, touring – then seeing your base player or guitarist become a junkie or something, you realise you can’t leave your life in the hands of other people anymore.

“We were all kind of into comedy throughout the ’80s,” Hughes continues. “I was funny, and I could sort of act. I thought maybe I could do comedy.

“So, I enrolled into some improvisation and drama courses.”

And then, in the true spirit of his home country, Steve just gave it a red hot Aussie go.

“It’s a frightening thing,” Steve admits. “Compared to music, especially. You can practice music; you can practice sport.

“Comedy is like surfing; you have to start in the sea. You can’t start in the bath, can ya? Then your first show is always a complete failure.”

Yet Steve, hailing from the western suburbs of Sydney, was hard as nails, with the metal motivation to match.

Cited influences of Hughes include Richard Pryor, Bill Hicks, George Carlin and Eddie Murphy, comedians who notably eschewed political correctness.

Through these influences, Steve realised his brand of humour aligned, creating a performance pivot point toward expressing dissatisfaction with aspects of the social construct. Criticisms of political correctness, religion, war, drug laws, colonialism and corporate capitalism were all on the table.

“Some of my earliest material was about the whole 9-5 thing being a complete lie,” Steve recalls. “It’s basically slavery. But they don’t give us food or somewhere to live. This lie is still being realised today.

“I mean, I recently watched a clip on YouTube with some young lad coming to grips with it. The 9 to 5… I couldn’t fathom it. That, and university. I can understand if you want to become a brain surgeon or an engineer, but I was an uneducated kid from the West; what was I going to do? Work in a factory?” Steve says with a knowing roll of the eye.

This candid conversation continued, covering the state of Australia and the world, culminating with the terrifying fact that Twisties are now $7.50 a pack.

“And when were the cigarettes more expensive than the Jack Daniels?” Steve blurts out. With pursed lips and wide eyes, I aggressively concurred.

So, aside from the laughs, is it Steve’s deliberate intent to stir a social commentary within his audience, or is it strictly about the shits and giggles?

“It’s strange to be a comedian,” Steve ponders. “It’s strange to be a musician. Musicians are too… serious. On stage, I mean. Unless, of course, you’re Blink 182.

“That persona. When performing as a musician, the drama onstage is the complete opposite of a comedian. But I wasn’t that political. I didn’t start down this path of biting social commentary until the 2003 Iraq War.

“This is where I started going hardcore,” he continues. “Comedians aren’t supposed to be serious, right? I make people laugh, so I called myself ‘seriously funny.'”

This sounds rather like a cathartic release.

“Well, nothing is as cathartic as playing the drums”, Steve insists. “It was one of the initial things I noticed during my first comedy bit. Drums are a way better release. It’s more visceral, violent; you don’t get that from comedy, and you can’t get that visceral or violent in comedy.”

And so concludes the 10% of the conversation I am allowed to report, with the other 90% of this conversation being off the record.

Catch Steve at The Baso on April 3 2025. Tix are $45.40 via Oztix