Versace Boys dedicate song to a staunch community

A music duo from Bellingen and Mullum turned a dire situation into a beacon of hope for a desperate flood-stricken community. See how they spread hope in the darkest of times.

Releasing a debut single in the middle of the most catastrophic flood is no mean feat but for coastal music duo Versace Boys, it felt like a necessary uplift for their struggling community.

Will Henderson, 34, from Bellingen and Alex Johnson, 28, from Wollongong met while busking at Berlin in 2020 and immediately hit it off.

Their debut single was formed out of their laid-back beachy upbringing - though what the Northern Rivers was facing at the time was anything but.

Henderson was left in the dark as flood waters swept through, so public reaction to their debut single like everything else at the height of the inundation was not known.

“We didn’t have our phones or internet when the song was released,” he explained.

He said it “didn’t feel right” promoting it during what was a devastating time, so the duo took to sketching ways to make a bad situation lighter.

They released a music video in April to accompany the song, providing much needed joy in a time of loss and suffering.

“People needed a bit of laughter,” Henderson said.

They too had been heavily affected: Henderson had to be evacuated from his newly bought property in Mullumbimby, with his one-year-old child and 98-year-old neighbour in a tinny.

Henderson and Johnson banded with the community to mop, scrub and rebuild - and the aptly titled ‘Damage Control’ provided a soundtrack to this historic period.

The video clip is a celebration of the collective spirit in Mullumbimby: the pair sing and dance over the wreckage of their homes - not to mock a dark situation, but to provide hope.

The duo said the community reaction to the floods was “amazing and everyone banded together”.

Having met only two years earlier in Berlin through a connection to popular rockers Sticky Fingers, Henderson and Johnson had a spark from the get-go.

“Alex just got up and started rapping to my beat,” Henderson said.

Eventually linking up in the Byron Bay hinterlands, they teamed with talented producer ‘Miggy’ to create a song a day for five days.

Versace Boys’ music and positive spirit brought light to a dark time in the Northern Rivers.

“The tracks flowed so easily, it was the fastest I’ve ever produced music,” Henderson said.

The pair has an extensive music history, having played in several different bands including The Lips, Coast and Ocean, and Gimme Gimme – to name just a few.

“We’re both front people, so to share that duty with Alex is just the best,” Henderson said.

Currently touring Europe, the Versace Boys plan to return to Australia to tour in August – bringing with them needed positivity for a community rebuilding.