Get lit with Versace Boys debut album ‘Get rich or cry trying’

Byron pop-hop duo Versace Boys lift the lid on why their satirical anthems slap, the secret sauce behind their debut album and how a little “magic” between the boys can result in banger tunes.

Versace Boys living their truth of the title of their debut album – “Get Rich or Cry Trying”.

A chance meeting in Berlin circa 2018 between Will Henderson and Alex Johnson is where the magic – the satirical pop-hop duo the Versace Boys – all began.

Both musicians had attended a Sticky Fingers concert and afterwards decided to bounce to another gig and shared a taxi together.

Moving to the Byron Shire, the two met up, again by chance, in a Northern Rivers recording studio. The result of the second chance encounter – writing and recording five songs together in five days.

The duo, who have built up a huge following on social media and streaming platforms, have just released their debut album “Get Rich or Cry Trying” and new single “Vegan” through independent label Origin.

Will Henderson and Alex Johnson, Versace Boys. Photo supplied by PR: Rain Fuller – [e-mail]

Henderson said there had been “magic” in working with Johnson via the pair’s “effortless collaboration”.

“In all of the other bands I’ve had over 15 or so years I’ve never had such ease and fluency,” Henderson told this masthead.

Will Henderson and Alex Johnson of Versace Boys celebrate the release of Damage Control after the 2022 Northern Rivers floods.

Both of the accomplished musicians are high energy, freestyling funsters.

“I’ve always had an excess amount of energy so it’s good to harness it in a way that makes other people happy,” Henderson adds.

“When you play music, you create an energy cycle, in a sense because if the audience is close to you and giving you vibes that they're enjoying it rather than it taking your energy away.”

Will Henderson and Alex Johnson, Versace Boys. Photo supplied by PR: Rain Fuller – [e-mail]

And the Versace Boy fandom is totally there for their unbridled cheekiness which pokes fun of the struggles of the rich, famous and gorgeous such as their earworm track — “Break-up At Wategos”.

But the pair are so much more than their tongue-in-cheek anthems — they’ve created a complementary look and vibe that sticks an anti-fashun finger to the influencer lifestyle depicted by the likes of the Byron Baes cast.

Their fashion choices and all around wild vibe have been described as “trashthetique”.

“It’s a vision of something you’d be wearing if you woke up at the tip, so in essence we would also be binfluencers,” said Mr Henderson.

Make no mistake, the catchy hooks, raucous energy and pure quirky chaos of the Versace Boys are here to play.

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