The Hot Lies

Hot Lies came together at the start of 2004 in Adelaide, and within eight weeks the national broadcaster Triple J had already started spinning tracks from the band’s demo EP across its airwaves, catching the rising tide of Australian pop-punk at an ideal moment. The founding five-piece featured Pete Wood on vocals, Josh Delsar handling lead guitar, Benjamin Pix on rhythm guitar, Leaton Rose on bass and Jared Brown behind the drums. That configuration shifted in 2006 when Delsar departed; after holding auditions the group recruited Mikey Valentine, yet he too exited six months later, shortly before sessions for the debut album Ringing in the Sane were due to begin. Luke Szabo stepped in at the eleventh hour, relocating from Melbourne where he had previously played with Scissor File. While working on the record the band traveled to Perth and collaborated with Eskimo Joe on a co-writing session that produced the tracks “Tokyo” and “Under Your Skin.” Ringing in the Sane appeared in 2007.