Vika and Linda Bull

The past 15 years have been relatively cosy for Australian singing sister act Vika and Linda Bull.

They made themselves familiar to the nation riding on the coat-tails of The Black Sorrows before a record deal set them on track as an act in their own right (Linda calls this post-Sorrows period the solo period indicating the bond between the Bull women).

But this year the cold cruel world of self-financed stardom has reared up on the Bulls after the sisters were dropped from their record label with their contract expired.

Their new album Love Is Mighty Close was paid for entirely by the Bull women, generating a little stress and a lot more creative control on the new project.

They also got a little help from their friends, with Paul Kelly, Stephen Cummins, Caroline Kennedy and Dave McCormack (formerly from Custard) amongst a celebrity-packed line-up of writing talent on Mighty Close.

We’re very lucky -“ I just get on the phone and ring them up, basically, laughs Linda over the phone from her North Fitzroy home.

All of those songwriters know what we do musically, so when we ask them for a song they already have an idea in mind of how we’re going to sing it. It’s a really easy relationship.

To mark the release, Vika and Linda have embarked on a national tour that has already seen them taking their newest emotionally charged love songs to Melbourne and Brisbane.

We’re doing every song off the new record, as well as a smattering of old songs that people want like Grandpa Song, Be Careful What You Pray For and We Started The Fire, Linda says on what fans can expect from the new shows.

Vika and Linda play the Metro in Sydney tomorrow night, 2 August.

We have a huge female following who we are hoping will turn out to these shows. Girls like to see girls -“ we share the same stories and we’re mums with the same down-to-earth problems as other mums.