TOMORROW'S FORECAST
- ballpointpressbne
- Jun 26
- 8 min read
Words: Aysha Swanson
Images: Charlie Falconer, Lex Svensson, Jade Morley, Phoebe Faye
Comprised of Olive McCagh (Vox/Guitar), Bonnie Kruger (Vox/Guitar), Isaac Whittle (Bass) and Rohan Frawley (Drums), Tomorrow’s Forecast aren’t interested in playing it safe. On Speaking Terms, their second EP, the Meanjin-based four-piece lean into discomfort—emotional, sonic, and everything in between. It’s a six-track dive into breakups, rebound attempts, and the sharp, often awkward process of piecing yourself back together.
Produced by Emily Hopley at Hunting Ground Studios, the record trades clean edges for rawness, sitting somewhere between garage-rock grit and diary-entry vulnerability. The band worked exclusively with female and gender-diverse creatives on this project, and that intention bleeds into the energy of the whole thing—supportive, collaborative, a little chaotic in the best way.
They’ve already played with the likes of Holy Holy and Full Flower Moon Band, but Speaking Terms feels like a step into something more fully formed. You can hear it in the jagged charm of ‘Pocket Money’, in the gut-punch honesty of ‘When Won’t I Dream Of You’, and in the way the band talk about this release as their most experimental yet.
We caught up with Olive and Bonnie to chat about the EP’s making, the shift from the Gold Coast to Brisbane’s more expansive scene, and what it means to build something on your own terms—even if you’re still figuring out what those are.
AYSHA: Hey guys, thanks so much for coming in! Let’s start from the beginning — how did Tomorrow’s Forecast come together?
OLIVE: I feel like it started with Bonnie and I - we became really good friends then got into music - even more than we had - we started playing guitar and had shared this dream of being in a band and we were seeing all these bands around us. That was at the end of 2018 and we started an Instagram where we would sing covers and just play the same chords and sing the same melody. We asked a couple other people to join the band back then, and then we officially had Tomorrow's Forecast in 2019 and they were all with just other high school music students 'cause we joined the music program. That's how it started off.
BONNIE: Then last year, Isaac and Rohan joined, cause our previous drummer left the band. It's been a nice change to have Rohan and Isaac.
AYSHA: And how did the name 'Tomorrow's Forecast' come about?
OLIVE: I think it was in 2019-
BONNIE: -Was that vocal group camp?
OLIVE: Yeah, at our vocal group camp. I wrote a story and the fake band in the story was called Tomorrow's Forecast. When we made a real band, we were like, wait, that's a good name. So we kept it from my little story that I wrote.
AYSHA: You’re originally from the Gold Coast — how has the shift to playing more in Brisbane shaped your sound or your shows? Do you notice any major differences in the crowds or scenes?
BONNIE: I think it's a nice community here and there's a lot more girls in the scene, which is cool. We kind of got used to being on these lineups with a lot of older people or a lot of male dominated acts. So it's nice to be able to be on a lineup here with all these girls and it not feel like "oh my God, this is random, like this never happens". It's just kind of normal now, which is amazing.
OLIVE: Yeah and I think in Brisbane people like to go out and see live music and there's a really strong scene. I think people are really open to discovering new bands and to create a loyal following. I think that's really unique to the city of Brisbane for sure.
AYSHA: Huge congrats on 'Speaking Terms'! It’s such a vulnerable and punchy body of work. What was the recording process like this time around — any moments that really stuck with you?
OLIVE: We started with 'pathetic', probably just over a year ago. That was the first time recording with Isaac. So that was really cool to have like this full band sound. Then I think coming back to do the EP it was really exciting cause it was the first time we had started a body of work knowing it was gonna be a complete body of work.
I enjoyed pre-production and just kind of working through the songs and really going through them section by section, critiquing it all and absolutely making it the best it can be. I feel like with songs, we write them and then we play them and then they stay as they are until we get to record them. So it's nice to bring a little bit more life into them. Yeah. Pretty proud. What about you?
BONNIE: I think I liked being able to be pushed with my vocals - I'm sure you feel the same - Emily's a big perfectionist in the studio - they'll get you to record something over and over and over again until it sounds right and in the moment you're like hating it, but when you hear the finished product, your like, "oh wow, that paid off".
AYSHA: The EP feels emotionally layered — from loud, grungy frustration to quieter heartbreak. What’s your writing process like? Is it collaborative from the start, or does someone bring in a skeleton and the rest of you build it up?
BONNIE: It definitely depends on the song. There's songs there, I know for both me and Olive that we wrote fresh off breakups, but like very isolated on ourselves by ourselves and then you bring it to the band afterwards. But I think then there's other songs on the EP that we worked on all together, which was nice. So it shows a bit of the difference in songwriting and how it can change based on your environment and who you're working with. I like how every song is kind of different and you can kind of hear the difference in writing.
OLIVE: That's right. 'When Won't I Dream of You' we rewrote that completely in the studio. So that was a very collaborative process. Then 'Pocket Money' I wrote that with Isaac and Rohan. I started it off with them and then we built it all together collaboratively, and that was the first time we had done that. So yeah, I think it's cool cause I think, a lot of the skeletons come from us [Olive and Bonnie], but it's cool that some of them we started with everyone.
AYSHA: You’ve mentioned that this EP is your most experimental — was there a song that challenged you the most to finish, either musically or emotionally?
OLIVE: I think there's two that really stick out to me personally. 'Pocket Money' I think that's a little bit more attitude and a bit of a character that I play and I think that can be challenging in itself. We're kind of having fun, you know, and not being so serious. Then with 'When Won't I Dream of You', that's when I feel challenged mostly instrumentally. What about you?
BONNIE: Yeah, definitely. I think 'When Won't I Dream of You' is one that sticks out for me, 'Pocket Money' too, because it's just so different to anything that we've ever released. I feel like most of our songs kind of have a lot of sadness, but 'Pocket Money' isn't really sad at all. So it's nice to have something that's very chill, you can just play it. I think some of the songs that are on the EP are kind of challenging because they're so emotional. I think that also makes it kind of better in a way, especially for live performances 'cause it just like the lyrics are so real that you just relive all and it kind of just enhances the performance in a way.
AYSHA: What are your big creative inspirations right now — whether that’s bands, solo artists, or even stuff outside music?
OLIVE: I think for the EP there's a few main ones. It definitely changes from song to song. I wouldn't say there's this distinct sound or inspiration. I think for 'Pocket Money' it was a bit of Wet Leg and Pip Blom's early stuff. You know, something kind of funny. I think there's a lot of Wolf Alice in there, Momma, beabadoobee and then Bikini Kill and Le Tigre for 'Pocket Money' as well. Any anyone else?
BONNIE: I feel like I was listening to a lot of The Breeders when I wrote some of like 'Ribbons' and 'Holding Onto You'. I feel like we all kind of leaned into a grungy sound and the instrumentals of this EP a bit more.
OLIVE: Definitely, I think we're always drawn to strong female voices is what we say. I think that's something that can be said that's a genre in itself is female storytelling. That's the common theme of them all.
AYSHA: You’ve already played alongside acts like Holy Holy and Full Flower Moon Band — what’s been your favourite venue or gig moment so far?
BONNIE: I think my favorite is still when we played in Townsville. We played at this awesome uni bar, which is like surrounded by trees and stuff, and it felt like you're in like a wildlife sanctury, it was so cool. That was awesome. Yeah, I think that's probably one of my favorites.
OLIVE: Yeah, I think even when we played with the The Delta Riggs at the Northern, and it was just like the busiest night and there were so many people there. I think that was really fun and they were so receptive.
BONNIE: Even schoolies. It's a massive stage on the beach-
OLIVE: -and everyone's really living it up, everyone's feeling it.
AYSHA: If you could open for any band in the world — dead or alive, who would it be?
OLIVE: I feel like we've always said probably the same as before - Wolf Alice, Wet Leg.
BONNIE: Opening for Yeah yeah yeahs would be awesome. Just any like kind of front runner.
OLIVE: Yeah, anyone who's huge right now.
[All laugh]
BONNIE: Sam Fender.
OLIVE: I think I really just wanna play a big festival. That's what I want. That's the goal. That'd be fun.
AYSHA: The EP was made with a team of female and gender-diverse creatives. Was that intentional from the outset, and how did that shape the energy in the studio?
BONNIE: Yeah, it was definitely something we went in intending to do. It was really nice to be in the studio with somebody who you can relate to a bit more. Of course it's good working with very gender, but there's just a certain comfortability that comes from working with women and non-binary people. It's just, it's nice.
OLIVE: Yeah, that's right. I think they understand being in the industry as well. They'll also be working with male musicians a lot of the time. So I think it was kind of felt both ways. That was the intention of the, of the EP. I think that's kind of our intention always to try and build spaces and employ people. The best way to raise everyone up is by employing them, you can advocate all you want, but if you're not gonna give out jobs and help each other out and get up together, then what's the point?
AYSHA: I hear you guys have a tour coming up, can you tell us a little bit about that?
BONNIE: We're going to be going tour to Sydney, Wollongong, Melbourne, and then we're doing some shows in Byron, Brisbane and the Gold Coast. So super exciting. It's our first time playing Melbourne!
OLIVE: Yeah, I'm really excited, it's our biggest tour ever. We're really stoked to get these songs on the road and test them out.
AYSHA: Lastly, do you have any advice for emerging musicians in Meanjin/Brisbane trying to build a scene or sound for themselves?
BONNIE: I think just like go to shows, find artists, local artists especially who inspire you and you'd like to work with or play with and just write a lot - every day you write you're gonna get better.
OLIVE: Yeah, no, I agree. I think that's right about, you know, the local scene. It's something that's there and it's something that's achievable. So I think, you know, if you don't get into that, then you can't get very far.
TOMORROW'S FORECAST
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