Spirits of the Hoey

Fully illustrated and filled with never-before-seen images and accounts, Spirits of the Hoey takes readers back through Australia's musical history.

Spirits of the Hoey: A Love Letter to the Hopetoun Hotel is indeed a love letter: to an iconic Australian landmark, and a unique time in Australian music history. The Hopetoun Hotel, affectionally referred to as the Hoey, was built in the 1830s and was a performance venue frequented by many Australian music legends before they became legends – Hoodoo Guru, Paul Kelly, the Jezebels, Michael Hutchins, Jenny Morris, Mental as Anything, and many more.

This stunning visual compilation records the stories of a now-closed live performance venue that lives on in the hearts and minds of many Sydneysiders, and Australians around the country. Fully illustrated and filled with never-before-seen images and accounts, Spirits of the Hoey is a nostalgic journey into a unique and intimate space of music, art, and community.

Spirits of the Hoey honours the community of artists, punters, managers, journos, bar staff, bar flies, roadies, and fans who built versions of themselves via this little pub in Surry Hills. 'Think of this as less of a time capsule,' Giouffre and Ferris write, 'and more frozen dessert waiting to be thawed; there really is so much to (re)discover about the scene that was.'