Rodney and Hayley Fisher met in 2013 and are both are musicians and creatives. Photo / Dean Purcell
Rodney and Hayley Fisher met in 2013 and are both are musicians and creatives. Photo / Dean Purcell
Movie makers call it a Meet Cute - an amusing first encounter between two characters that leads to the development of a romantic relationship. Every fortnight Reset shares a real-life origin story.
Rodney and Hayley Fisher are musicians and creatives. Rodney was vocalist and guitarist for Goodshirt and played with Zane Lowe’s band Breaks Co-Op. He now works at the NZ Music Commission and has a solo album coming out this year, with its first single debuting soon. Hayley produces music under the name Dead Little Penny. She is also a keen cook, and posts on Instagram under @theformicatable. The couple, who met in 2013, live in Auckland and are parents to Rodney’s daughter Evie, 13, Conor, 8, and Emmylou, 5.
Rodney says…
We met when I was DJing a Dolly Parton song and she came up and danced with me at Portland Public House in Kingsland.
I was DJing on stage and played 9 To 5, not thinking that people would totally be into it, but that was what I wanted to listen to.
She got up on stage behind me, dancing, and I was dancing around, too. So, it was kind of an affirmation that we both liked the same music and having fun.
After that, we just ended up talking about music until the bar closed.
I thought she was really beautiful, and she was wearing really stylish clothes, which kind of made an impression on me as well. But yeah, just that bubbly personality, which is just really infectious.
I looked up her music and when I told her I liked her music, she thought I didn’t like her music, I just liked her.
We were pretty much in a relationship straight away. We were spending every day with each other.
I proposed on her birthday in November 2016, with lots of little presents.
I didn’t have a ring – just a Burger Ring. She said it was ‘like a Simpsons episode’, which we had joked about before, and she couldn’t stop laughing.
I thought I would push the joke even further and actually do that. She got a proper ring later that day.
What do I love about Hayley? There’s so much, really. We can be really straight up with each other, and I think that’s quite rare. We’re not afraid to have a heated discussion, because we’re both quite opinionated, but respectful of each other’s different opinions.
I don’t know if that seems like something to love, but I do love that. We feel comfortable enough that we can be real with each other.
When we spend time together, we have fun and we’ve got lots to talk about. She’s a super-caring, lovely, warm mum, but also this super-glamorous, beautiful woman as well. She’s really down to earth, which I love.
Hayley says…
I basically went up to him and told him the noise of the beat [in the beginning of 9 To 5] was Dolly’s false nails [clicking together].
It was just a Friday night, and I wasn’t even going to go [to the bar] but I was at somebody’s 21st.
I had just started writing my own music and playing it. And he was like, “Yeah, I looked you up and I was listening to your SoundCloud” and I was like, “What the hell, how did you even find that?”
We went to a lot of gigs and shows. He never asked me to be his girlfriend. He just started going around telling people that I was, and I was like, “what’s going on?”
Our relationship moved really quickly, and it felt like I’d known him for a really long time. It just felt right.
We moved in together when I found out I was pregnant with Conor. Exactly one year to the day after we got together, Conor was born.
We got married in 2017, a few months after Emmylou was born, but it was the worst wedding.
Rodney and Hayley Fisher on their wedding day. Photo / Supplied
Conor and I got gastroenteritis, and I spent the whole night vomiting my guts out. It was the most revolting thing.
We got married at the registry office and our kids were there. That part was awesome, before the gastro hit. Later, we had a bigger thing, but it was just a shambles. I’m not very bridal anyway, so I find it all a funny story. I just wanted to marry my bestie and I did. He surprised me and got our friend, who performs under the name Erny Belle, to sing 9 To 5.
He’s a super sensitive soul, he’s really creative and a fantastic dad. We don’t collaborate on our music at all. We did once and that was not a good idea. If we do that again, it’s going be like a true crime documentary.
Last year I was hospitalised multiple times with a condition that almost killed me and rendered me pretty much bed-ridden for eight months.
Rodney was absolutely amazing, and he took charge of the house and kids, and supported me on my journey to health. He was making me two boiled eggs in the morning, offering love, and encouraging words. I felt guilty for a long time because I felt like a massive burden, and he worked hard to get me out of that mindset.
I don’t use the word ‘empowered’ frivolously, but he did empower me to take charge of my health, always reminding me that I was a good mum and wife. This is a testament to the kind of person Rodney is, and why I love him so much.
