She Who Rocks tour: The Baby Animals plus The Superjesus to perform at Wollongong's Waves Nightclub

Suze DeMarchi may have rocked our radios for decades with her band The Baby Animals and as a solo artist, but her kids still think she's a "bit of a dag".

"They just think I'm embarrassing I think," she laughs. "They're not really that interested, my son Lorenzo is 12 and he's like, 'see you later'."

After spending time abroad doing her own thing, DeMarchi made her mark on the Australian music scene in the 1990s as a feisty frontwoman, along with her contemporaries The Superjesus fronted by Sarah McLeod - though the pair only met for the first time a couple of years ago.

The two iconic groups are now touring the country for the first time, and hitting Wollongong's Waves Nightclub this Friday with their She Who Rocks tour.

"It came about because we were both booked to do the A Day On the Green tour, and then they wanted an all male line-up and got Billy Idol to headline so they booted the girls off," she said.

So spawned a tour because they "didn't need them anyway".

Shesays it's not just female musicians who need a push, but Australian music in general needs a boost "wherever it can get".

"It's not like it used to be where people would go out and pay to see bands all the time. We're a lot more of a social media world," she said.

"It's a lot harder than it used to be, because the revenues aren't there - you don't sell as many records as you used to sell. Prices have come down a lot, and people stream [online]."

DeMarchi feels lucky to still have a strong fan base to keep them afloat via live gigs and selling merchandise and admitted they had to learn pretty quickly how to use emerging technologies to promote themselves.

"You need to be really savvy with all the social media stuff, that's really your ticket in. You can look at it that it's something that kills the music industry, or you can look at it in other ways such as being a vehicle to cut out the middleman.

"This is why I think [electronic dance music] is so big, because it has low overheads, it's happy up music and easy to make, a lot less cumbersome with less gear ... and people can [make] it in their bedrooms."

For anyone with aspirations, the 51-year-old advises their music and live shows need to be "paramount" and a marketing tool in themselves, and emphasises that you still need to work hard to make something of substance.

"I don't think anyone gets anywhere without working really hard, even the Kardashians."

If the changing music world gets too much for DeMarchi she could always turn to her other love - architecture and real estate - which nearly brought her to be an Illawarra resident.

"I almost bought a place down here years ago in Scarborough. I wish I had ... because that would of been worth a bit now, it was gorgeous and right on the cliff - one of those great old houses."

Missed opportunities aside, she still loves driving down the coast and performing in the Illawarra because it brings back memories of yesteryear.

"I love coming to Wollongong, because I've been playing there since I was young. We've done big shows and little shows ... it's always nice to get back as the fans are really great."

"Dag" or not, most shows on the tour are nearly sold out so expect the crowds to roar when they play.