Just days after returning from a European tour, Editor in Chief Michelle Giglio sat down with The Rions to chat about their new album and incredible rise since forming in high school.
Noah Blockley is moshing it in the pit at Amsterdam’s Bitterzoet. The crowd in the tightly-packed venue is all smiles, arms raised as they sing along to the band’s indie-sweet vibes, the universal themes of love, belonging and heartache easily translatable for these Dutch fans.
Amsterdam was the last stop in The Rions’ first headline tour of the UK and Europe, boasting four sell-out shows in London, Leeds, Bristol and Manchester. The venues are on the smaller side, but this is how you make it in the music world, building up your base in well-known locales, and when your international fans are already singing along to the lyrics, you know you have begun to make it in the cut-throat music industry.
Last year was a significant one for The Rions, finally releasing their debut album in October after forming the band at the tender age of 12 and 13 some nine years ago, while in Year 7 at Barrenjoey High School.
In November The Rions also did their first headline international tour, having previously opened for Aussie rockers Pacific Avenue. “It was incredible,” guitarist Harley Wilson says of the solo tour. “We got so many more people at every show than we expected. We assumed that everyone would be Australian (at the shows), but it was a pretty good split, 70% non-Australian, 30% Australian. So we’re very proud of that.”
Avalon’s Noah Blockley, Harley Wilson, Asher McLean and Tom Partington may only be aged 21 and 22, but they are no novices in the music scene. Signed at just 15 to a management company, the quartet won Triple J’s Unearthed High, for Australia’s most talented artists still in high school, while doing their HSC. Named after Harley’s inability to pronounce ‘lions’ as a child, The Rions have amassed 72 million global streams for their catalogue, and enjoy over 500,000 monthly listeners on Spotify, with 2021 hit Night Light amassing 13.3 million streams alone.
Proving they are developing some longevity in the business, fans at the band’s UK shows were wearing old merch and calling out for set-list favourites, showing they were long-time followers, says Harley. “They’ve been waiting over there on the other side of the world for years. And that’s crazy!”
Sometimes the fans line up from 4am to see their idols. Right: Enmore Theatre was a sold out show in October, 2025
While the boys have been touring domestically for years, they only started going across the seas in 2024. Harley acknowledges that while touring may seem glamorous, it is gruelling. “I think the lifestyle is very much something that you can be exhausted by and fed up by,” Harley surmises. “Because it’s late nights and early mornings and constant travel. But I think compared to regular life, I always miss it because it’s so exciting.”
The Rions show love for Amsterdam during their November 2025 tour
Song Tonight’s Entertainment on debut album Everything Every Single Day shares their thoughts about being on the road. Lines like ‘I miss my neighbours, I miss my PlayStation’ reflect the reality of a life away from the Northern Beaches – where they all still live at home with their parents. “We’re trying to milk it as much as we can before we get kicked to the curb!” jokes lead singer Noah.
The song was written in the studio of ARIA award-winning producer Chris Collins, during a week of writing by all four of them. “It was cool that the four of us could write that one together, because we are all obviously living the same life and all grew up in the same area,” says Harley.
Noah, Tom and Harley went to Avalon Public School together and met Asher at Barrenjoey High. It’s quite remarkable that they came together in Year 7 and had such a sense of musicianship they could grasp a concept of their future potential. It’s something Harley still finds hard to believe. “When we started we had no idea what we were doing, and we still often feel like we don’t,” he admits. “It’s a really interesting feeling to compare ourselves now to (being 12) because holy crap, we were like literal babies, yet we’re lucky enough that we stuck to it.
“Because you can’t really picture someone that young having the drive or even the thought in their head like, ‘Oh, maybe if we just stick this out, it can turn into something great.’
“But we were lucky enough to be such good friends that we did, and we are forever thankful that we did because now we’re here and we’re doing this.”
All four boys have a credit for every song on the album, and I suggest getting the group together for composition must be no mean feat. “I feel like we all do have an involvement at some point in the writing process, whether it’s even just writing the main guitar line or Tom (as drummer) is composing the drum line,” Noah says.
A lot of the time Harley will bring his ideas to the group and Noah will sing his melodies over it and see what works. There are also days when the boys go into the studio and do full writing sessions, ‘pitching in for every instrument.’ “So there is always going to be a cohesive (approach), but it changes every time, and we have so many different songs on the album that were all written in a different way.”
Everything Every Single Day is pitched as ‘the most open wound we’ve allowed the world to see thus far.’ “It’s all our triumphs, our regrets, our shortcomings, our philosophies, our hopes, and our dreams on a 13-track silver platter,” the publicity reads. The album debuted at number one on the all-important ARIA Australian Albums Chart in the first week, and reached number five in the Albums Chart.
“They are songs that are very personal,” reflects Harley. “You’ve got to be specific with how you word it and what you’re getting at, because it’s real life, it’s not just making stuff up.”
One of Harley’s heart-felt rock ballads is Scumbag, matched with a cool black and white music video. The lyrics exclaim: “Would you believe me if I said, ‘I love you, I love you,’ but I can’t give you my heart just yet?’”
The Rions formed while in Year 7 at Barrenjoey High School, aged just 12 and 13
Harley explains: “Scumbag is a pre-emptive plea for patience. I felt pretty quickly that I knew where the connection I had with this person was going, but at the same time I knew I wasn’t ready.” It’s all part of the emotiveness of the tracks which explore themes you would expect from an older outfit – but these boys show a distinct maturity in their song-writing, honed from starting so young in the game.
Song Cry has a sharper edge to it, an exploration of the rise in toxic masculinity. “Call it discipline, call it love. Call it teachin’ ‘em how to be tough. You know who that creates, but you don’t care.”
The response to Cry has been ‘profound,’ Harley says, which has highlighted their power as musicians to influence those who listen to their songs.
“Young boys who are our age or younger than us have come up to us and said, ‘Thank you for writing that song,’ because it gives a voice to something that maybe in their own family or house dynamic, they don’t have the confidence or the place to talk about,” Harley reflects.
“And that’s part of the issue and why we wrote it. It’s serviced the exact people that we wanted to.
“We hope that it has a positive impact.”
As for their ‘sound’ or ‘type,’ The Rions are aiming for universal appeal which doesn’t box them in to a particular style.
Harley going wild at the Great Escape Festival.
Harley explains: “We wanted someone who doesn’t know us to think, ‘Oh my God, I can’t believe they’re from Australia. I would never expect these boys to write music like this,’ because Australia is such an influential environment to the music that comes out of it.
“We wanted to isolate the music we were making to ourselves, and not where we’re from,” Harley states.
“For us being influenced by bands like The Beatles, we’ve always strived to not be restricted by what we’ve done in the past and just let what we need to say be said in whatever way it needs to.”
The music-writing process can be tortuous, with The Rions writing up to 40 songs which were then distilled into the 13 chosen for the LP. Given they are independent artists not tied to a label, they have the flexibility to ‘make our own decisions and have our own freedom,’ Noah says proudly.
On the big stage at the BTV Festival
“(A label) is going to hold us down to doing something that we don’t want to do. This way we get to do what we want to do and people love it.”
Making it in the crowded music scene is a challenge, which means touring becomes a crucial way to engage the fans – and bring in new ones. “In today’s age, everyone’s releasing music every single day,” Noah says. “You can get to number one in the first week you release an album, and then the next person releases music and everyone gets on that. So (we try) to keep that momentum going by playing shows.”
One of the few national musical festivals still going in Australia is Spilt Milk. At the time of interview, The Rions were looking forward to featuring in the multi-artist shows last December, next to global superstars like Kendrick Lamar and Sombr. The crowds were expected to range from 6,000 to 30,000 across Perth, Ballarat, Canberra and the Gold Coast.
Playing live is what they love best, and in 2024 The Rions sold over 20,000 headline tickets. “Since that point, I feel like it’s just been an upward trajectory, it’s been awesome,” Noah says. “I don’t want it to end. I want to ride this wave for a long time, so it feels really, really awesome that people are invested in listening.”
Adds Harley: “We know how lucky we are, living the most insane life and every day we wake up and get to do it all again.”
For those looking to ‘make it’ in the industry, Noah advises ‘just keep trying.’ “We entered a whole lot of competitions and never won. And we entered competitions that we did win, and we posted on Instagram all the time. Social media is so influential in this day and age of music.
“But also we tried to play as many shows and put ourselves in front of as many people as possible.”
Harley says the Northern Beaches is ‘an incredibly fertile area for music,’ with INXS and Lime Cordiale two successful examples. “As long as you believe what you’re doing and you think what you’re doing is good, then post about it all the time, write as much as you can, and never stop doing it for anything.
“We’re not that big yet, but we’ve gotten as far as we have by doing exactly that.”
