The Hindley Street Country Club are a cover band from Adelaide, South Australia, formed in 2017 by Constantine Delo and Darren Mullan. Widely regarded by their fans as the “greatest cover band in the world”, the group has achieved a staggering quarter of a billion views on their official YouTube channel, which now has almost 600,000 subscribers.
Their cover of Dire Straits’ “Sultans Of Swing” has reached over 3 million views on YouTube. It’s a crystal clear performance, mix and production from the band and a must watch if you’re a Dire Straits fan.
Their cover of “Just the Two of Us” was their first to go viral, although they had already been producing content for around a year by this point.
Commenters praise the quality of the music: “How the hell do these guys in some suburban home jamming out produce such a high level crystal clear sound?” one commenter by the name of Ross Papas says, “Studios have spent millions to get this sound and feel!”. The saxophone solo towards the end is sublime.
Delo is in charge of picking the songs and the arrangements. He will tell whoever else is playing that day if he wants the song played in a slightly different key, or if a chord needs changing, any way they can make the song their own. However, it is Mullan who owns the studio and who is in charge of recording, making them the perfect team.
The two founding members team up with a variety of local musicians, many of whom are local legends, to produce and perform covers of hits from the 70s, 80s, and 90s. These live performances are broadcast weekly on a Friday afternoon.
Performing much loved hits from the past fifty years has made them popular with audiences of all ages, but they seem to appeal to the over fifties in particular. Speaking to Manopod, a lifestyle podcast for men over fifty, Delo said he covers music that takes you back to a time where you have your whole life ahead of you. To him, music is “like love: you think you pick it, but it picks you”.
The group’s name pays homage to Hindley Street, Adelaide, and its buzzing live music scene, where many of the band’s ever-changing line up started out. But they do not limit themselves to only playing with established musicians. While they may appeal to a more mature crowd, The Hindley Street Country Club have been known to perform at schools, inviting young, budding musicians to join them for a jam session or two.
The Hindley Street Country Club are set to tour Australia, starting November 2022. Co-founder Darren Mullan also runs a similar project, “Sing it Live”. If you want to see more from this talented band from Australia, you can subscribe to their YouTube channel or follow them on Facebook.