{"id":272766,"date":"2026-02-24T10:19:51","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T21:19:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.muzic.nz\/?post_type=interviews&p=272766"},"modified":"2026-02-24T10:28:03","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T21:28:03","slug":"mnz-interview-julia-deans-fur-patrol","status":"publish","type":"interviews","link":"https:\/\/www.muzic.nz\/interviews\/mnz-interview-julia-deans-fur-patrol\/","title":{"rendered":"MNZ Interview: Julia Deans \/ Fur Patrol"},"author":40,"featured_media":272787,"template":"","class_list":["post-272766","interviews","type-interviews","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"meta_box":{"interview_text":"

Fur Patrol, one of Aotearoa\u2019s most beloved bands, are gearing up to hit the road again this March, marking their first tour since 2024. From the release of their debut EP Starlifter<\/em> in 1998 through to their final album Local Kid<\/em> in 2008, they\u2019ve carved out a catalogue of unforgettable songs. Their debut album Pet<\/em> held its place on the New Zealand charts for an impressive thirty weeks, while the genre\u2011blending hit Lydia<\/em> famously dethroned Destiny\u2019s Child\u2019s Independent Woman<\/em> from the number\u2011one spot and remained on the charts for 19 weeks. Now, with Homegrown Festival (14 March) on the horizon, Julia Deans (guitar, vocals), Andrew Bain (bass), and Simon Braxton (drums) are reuniting on stage once more, joined by longtime collaborator and Pet<\/em> producer David Long (The Mutton Birds). Ahead of the shows, Muzic.NZ's Tim Gruar had a k\u014drero with Julia Deans about what coming up for her personally, Fur Patrol, and \u2018hairbrush\u2019 heroes everywhere.<\/p>\n

Getting the \u2018band back together\u2019, Deans tells me, is a bit of a challenge. After years of living in different cities - and even different countries (Braxton still lives in Melbourne) she says, it did seem like a logistical challenge. Yet it\u2019s turned into something surprisingly joyful. Preparing for Homegrown and a run of warm-up shows has been altogether positive.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe've just been enjoying like hanging out and playing music. And we've had, you know, like, just had a couple of like because we live in different cities, and one of us lives in Australia. It's not as easy as just getting together to have a hangout and have a play whenever. So, if somebody comes and says: \u201cOh I want you to play this gig or festival, in this case, Homegrown, we sort of need to make it worth our while, and also because we're not constantly in the same town. So, in playing music like we used to, well, we need a bit of a practice run before we get to the big gigs. We'll spend a week rehearsing, and then play a couple of smaller shows to help get us back up to speed and also to share the love, because you know, getting together from one show is a bit like that was fun\u2026 and we\u2019re thinking, why can\u2019t we do more?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Fur Patrol formed in Wellington in 1996, but by 2000 they\u2019d relocated to Melbourne - where they operated for more than a decade. \u201cSo, yeah, we were a band in Melbourne longer than we were a band in New Zealand,\u201d she laughs. Those years shaped their sound and their bond, but the years apart have reshaped them too.<\/p>\n

Asked how the band\u2019s dynamic has changed, she doesn\u2019t hesitate. \u201cIf anything, we\u2019ve softened. There\u2019s more love and more affection now. Simon and Andrew have daughters, and watching those little women run them ragged delights me.\u201d That affection runs deep. \u201cWe\u2019ve always had each other\u2019s backs. A lot of my confidence in Fur Patrol came from knowing they were right behind me, supporting me artistically, with the musical decisions and all of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

https:\/\/youtu.be\/rnEOuptghZo?si=MaB-mCJrU68wQjBi<\/p>\n

I ask about playing the old material again. Obviously, Lydia<\/em> and other songs from Pet <\/em>come naturally, like muscle memory, she acknowledges. But the band has also more recently been revisiting Local Kid <\/em>- their final album as a three piece. \u201cIt was a dark and strange time,\u201d she says candidly. \u201cWe\u2019d fallen out of love with playing music because we were just burnt out.\u201d Listening back now brings a completely different feeling. \u201cWith distance,\u201d she muses, \u201cthey\u2019re really beautiful recordings. I\u2019ve been re-learning some of the songs and thinking, \u2018Oh, I actually recorded some really cool guitar stuff!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

https:\/\/youtu.be\/Nfd8AzxGsT0?si=sD-OmI9sVjFdS9Yc<\/p>\n

For the upcoming shows, they\u2019ll be joined by long-time collaborator David Long (The Mutton Birds), whose production fingerprint is already part of their history. \u201cHe\u2019s amazing. It feels totally natural having him back in the mix.\u201d Long, of course, produced their seminal debut Pet<\/em> (released in September 2000). It became a major commercial success, reaching No. 7 on the NZ Albums Chart and went on to be double platinum. Long scooped \u201cProducer of the Year\u201d at that year\u2019s New Zealand Music Awards specifically for his work on Pet<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Deans agrees that Long is a natural fit for the band, noting his long history with them, praising his \u201cvirtuoso\u2011level skill\u201d, experimental creativity, and richly textured sound. She remembers that his artistic influence shaped much of what Pet<\/em> became. She says that having him involved in the current shows feels effortless and entirely right, as though his distinctive musical \u201cflavour\u201d has always been part of their identity. \u201cIt\u2019s so it's nice to listen to these songs that we\u2019ve only ever performed live as a three-piece (Steve Wells, the band\u2019s original lead guitarist, left in late 2004 to pursue a photography career in France), being able to pull in all the extremities that we originally put on the album, which David can now add back in (on stage).\u201d<\/p>\n

Alongside the band\u2019s return is a more personal project: her new solo album, Goliath<\/em>. The album stems from her experience with cancer, diagnosed in 2016. It's a story she approaches with honesty but also caution. Along with the release concert, scheduled for the upcoming Aotearoa New Zealand Festival, the album, she tells me, will navigate an intimate and deeply personal chapter, exploring themes of love, mortality, and resilience as she moves from confronting the reality of cancer to rediscovering strength and hope. Through this work, Deans hopes to lay bare her experiences while celebrating the hard\u2011won courage that carried her back to health, offering audiences a powerful portrait of vulnerability transformed into creative force. She\u2019s clear now - and grateful. But the emotional weight remains. \u201cIt took me a long time to claw my way back\u201d, she concludes. \u201cI decided that if I was going to get something out of that experience, I should write about it\u2026Music is such a good place for solace. I wanted the album not to be just about me, but about everyone I met who\u2019s been through it, or loved someone who has.\u201d<\/p>\n

The release date is still to come - delayed slightly after a rough flu knocked her out over summer - but the album is nearly ready. She\u2019s not quite ready to talk in detail about what festivalgoers will get at the big reveal in March. Which makes it more tantalising, in a way. The pressure\u2019s on, though. Given we\u2019re already nearly through February, \u201cI\u2019m still quite guarded about it,\u201d she admits. \u201cBut I\u2019m getting there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Over the years she\u2019s been part of many women-led projects and naturally slipped into a mentor role. \u201cI feel like I\u2019ve been doing that for years - encouraging women to make noise. It\u2019s exciting seeing more young women taking centre stage, side of stage, front of house\u2026 all these areas that used to be so male dominated.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fur Patrol\u2019s audiences aren\u2019t just the loyal fans from uni days and pub crawl singalongs in the 90\u2019s. It\u2019s gone so much wider. There\u2019s a whole wave of new listeners, she\u2019s noticed. \u201c(At our shows) there are kids! With their parents or not. And we love that. It shows the music had more impact than we imagined.\u201d The appeal is multi-generational.<\/p>\n

Later this year she returns for another season of Atomic, celebrating the women who shaped generations of musicians. The project has been going now since 2023. There were multiple shows, different towns, and a variety of lineups with Deans and a whole host of iconic wahine including (at various points) Boh Runga (stellar*), Dianne Swann (When the Cat\u2019s Away, The Bads), Vera Ellen, Gussie Larkin (Earth Tongue, Mermaidens), Gin Wigmore, Karen Hu, Rebel Reid, Louisa Nicklin, Mareea Paterson, and Ilayda Tunali (Ladyhawke). Deans says she missed Joan Jett when she was out here recently. But her music was part of their set. Had to be - she reckons. \u201cThese are the songs we danced around our bedrooms to with a hairbrush or a wild guitar,\u201d she says. Her own hairbrush heroes, she says included Joan Jett (of course), Robert Plant, David Bowie, Annie Lennox, and Debbie Harry - artists whose influence still echoes in her sound.<\/p>\n

So, there\u2019s plenty for fans to consume in the coming months. Deans\u2019 dance card is filling up quickly. And whether as a solo artist, as lead singer in Fur Patrol or as part of the upcoming Atomic shows, she\u2019s not just simply \u2018reappearing\u2019. Julia Deans is stepping into a well-earned spotlight.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/youtu.be\/YpxYMazXspo?si=VLHQEHPPfy3Dbg50<\/p>\n","linked_artist":["12689","12671"]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.muzic.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/interviews\/272766","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.muzic.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/interviews"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.muzic.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/interviews"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.muzic.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/40"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.muzic.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/interviews\/272766\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":272788,"href":"https:\/\/www.muzic.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/interviews\/272766\/revisions\/272788"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.muzic.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/272787"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.muzic.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=272766"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}