But boyhood for the brothers, Anand, Bud – real name Bharat, but “no one can pronounce it” – and Dhyan, was spent in Hawke’s Bay. (The brothers’ Indian names were inspired by their parents’ good friends who were Indian.) When Bud was 12, he remembers listing whipped cream as his favourite food. “I always loved dairy,” he says. They used to go picking boysenberries. Their mum would make ice cream with them.
Early adulthood was spent mostly in Australia’s Noosa, working in high-end restaurants. The trio eventually moved to Toronto with musical ambitions, but “Covid shut that down”. In 2021, while working restaurant jobs and playing live shows, they found themselves in LA.
“It was still Covid time, so we dropped flyers that said, ‘Want a free car wash? We’re a rock band from New Zealand. If you follow us on Instagram, we’ll wash your car for free, literally,” Bud, 40, says. “That was the start of our LA adventures.”
For six months, seven days a week, the brothers washed cars. Bud reckons they washed about 500. One of them was for Kiwi actor and comedian Rhys Darby, who joked he was going to become Emperors Night’s band manager, a nod to his character’s role in the Flight of the Conchords TV series set in New York City. Eventually, one of his sons started working for them at Hokey Pokey LA.
“The Rhys Darby one was fun because we actually had a good amount of Americans comment and say, ‘This is such a Flight of the Conchords idea.’ I think that Kiwi humour came through,” Bud says. The fanfare landed them an interview on local TV.
New Zealand the US are nations of ice cream lovers. Photo / Supplied
But they never parted with their foodie side. Soon, they joined forces with another Kiwi in LA who was making real fruit ice cream, running the front end of the business. Popular in New Zealand, the real-fruit ice-cream machines squish ingredients into ice cream using a tornado-shaped crusher through a funnel, which then comes out as soft serve. It was a penny drop moment.
“We decided that there were a whole lot more things that could be done with the machines as far as flavours go,” Anand says.
“The first thing that happened was Bud cooked up a pot of hokey pokey and blended it through the ice cream, and he went, ‘Oh my god, this is amazing. We have to put this on the menu immediately,’ And so that’s what we did.”
“We thought no one else in the world is doing this,” Bud says.
In hindsight, making ice cream as their schtick probably made sense. According to the World Population Review website, New Zealand eats more ice cream per capita than any other country. In second place is the US. Also, as a child, Dhyan’s nickname was “Dairy Boy”. He’s proud about that.
“I don’t think you’ve thought this through, Dhyan,” Bud says.
“Let’s just say if you leave me in a room with a bottle of milk, that bottle of milk may not be safe,” Dhyan says.
“All right, he is happy to be known as Dairy Boy. There you go,” Bud says.
The brothers all have their own part to play in the business. Bud does the ice cream, Anand does the marketing and creative coffee flavours, and Dhyan makes the pavlovas and makes sure nothing breaks.
They have stuck together through travels, music ambitions and running a business. Do they have a rare sibling relationship where there are no fights? How do they stop driving each other crazy?
Always together. Photo / Supplied
All three agree that working side-by-side has been the hardest part of their journey.
“[Bud’s] shirt is just covering all the bruises on his body,” Dhyan jokes.
In seriousness, he adds: “One of the things you find is that being siblings, you can say anything to each other. There’s not the politeness that is there even with your friends.
“No one is as blunt as a sibling.”
They say the coastal LA lifestyle suits them.
“It’s got the American attitude of accepting people with different attitudes and ambitions,” Bud says.
“I always felt in New Zealand and Australia that we were on the other side of the world to everything else, that everything was always happening elsewhere. And now in LA, you feel like everything is happening right here,” Anand says.
“You know, I do think New Zealanders are a bit like hobbits,” Bud says. “We love our small lives, and then we’re surprisingly adventurous at the same time.”
They believe they are living the dream.
Anand says they feel lucky to be representing a part of New Zealand in the top spots in LA. And they’re humbled by the feedback from customers and local publicity.
“[It’s] cool to come to one of the most competitive cities in the world and to get that kind of response,” Bud says.
“They say with L&P it’s ‘world-famous New Zealand’. Well, Hokey Pokey is now world-famous all over the world.
“It’s getting there anyway.”
Top tips for Kiwis visiting Los Angeles
Anand Chalmers shares his recommendations for LA’s best spots
Villa’s Tacos
Los Angeles is home to some of the best Mexican food in the world, and these tacos are justifiably famous, made even more famous by their recent appearance in Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show. There are two locations, but the one we’ve been to is their stand in the Grand Central Market in Downtown LA.
Century City Mall
Not usually on every tourist’s list, but this is a luxurious outdoor mall/dining precinct that’s just on the edge of Beverly Hills, perfect for a relaxing day shopping and eating away from the hustle and bustle of the city and as it so happens, it’s also the flagship location of a great New Zealand ice cream store run by three brothers.
Griffith Park Observatory
One of the things people don’t realise about LA before you visit is how connected it is to the natural environment. There are hikes and parks and woodlands right on the edge of the urban sprawl, and this park is one of the best examples of this.
Laurel Hardware and Ysabel
These two bar/restaurants are owned by the same hospitality group, and while the food and drinks are good, you’re coming here for the beautiful dining areas that seamlessly spread from inside to outside and take advantage of LA’s year-round great weather. This is the kind of place to see and be seen, and you just know that there’s a movie deal going down a couple of tables away from you.
Take a drive through the Hollywood Hills
LA has some of the most stunning and varied residential architecture of any city we’ve seen, and some of the best places to see some amazing properties is in the winding streets of the hills and canyons that stretch from Santa Monica to Los Feliz.
The atmosphere is surprisingly serene and you’ll get stunning new views around every corner. We especially love Beachwood Canyon and The Bird Streets.
Varsha Anjali is a journalist for the lifestyle team at the Herald. She is based in Auckland.