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Wolfmother.
Many will tell you that getting there is half the fun. For Sydney trio Wolfmother, taking the scenic route to find their sound has resulted in a more honest tribute to 70s hard rock than so many pretenders who went for the direct route. However, as drummer Myles Heskett outlines, there was no real plan.
"Of course we're [Black] Sabbath fans as well as all of that late '60s/early '70s kind of psychedelic rock, but we didn't specifically set out to do that, it's funny how it just happened," he insists. "We've been friends for years and we've just jammed and made experimental computer-music. Woman originally started out like an Earth Wind & Fire funk song. It could sound pretty contrived quite easily, but we're trying to hold off on that."
One year into the band's life and Wolfmother have already received a lot of interest: not bad considering the limited on-stage experience of its members. According to Heskett, "we hadn't really formed bands, like live bands, but we had a whole hard drive full of weird, fucking experimental shit".
That hard drive of experimental shit has proved invaluable. After being signed to Modular, Heskett, Andrew Stockdale (guitar/vocal) and Chris Ross (bass/organ) entered the studio to record. But again things didn't go to plan and Wolfmother travelled another indirect route to come up with the goods.
"Things happened very quickly," Heskett remarks. "We really just wanted to put something out. We'd made the recordings ourselves and we tried to go into the studio to re-record them and it just didn't work. So we just thought we'd go with what we got just to get things out and then we'll go into the studio properly later on. We're hoping to go into the studio in January to do a full album, so that's our plan. I don't know how it will pan out, but that's the plan."
Heskett, who is not without a sense humour, chuckles when I suggest they should employ a horn section to help them get back to some of their Earth Wind & Fire roots. "We're looking into that. We've got researchers and developers and scientists."
According to Heskett, a lot of the forthcoming album is already mapped out; however, some room to move has also been allocated. "I think we'd like to have a little bit of time in there to kind of play while we're in there. We've been demoing songs and putting them down so we've got something concrete to work off. But we always like to keep things open."
Studio aside, Wolfmother clearly love the stage life. Having experimented with so many styles in the past I ask Heskett if this style of music was particularly joyous to play on stage. "It's so much excitement and such a thrill and an adrenaline rush every time," he muses. "It's probably kind of addictive in a way just being able to get up there and express yourself. We've seen so many bands over the years and the bands you go to that you really come away from feeling it was a party or a celebration are the ones that you remember. We really want to put in as much excitement and energy as we can."
Meanwhile, touring continues at a frantic pace. Homebake, Meredith and the Big Day Our are all part of the bands itinerary. Recently they spent a week in London where Heskett feels they were very well received. "It was fantastic," Hesket says. "We were just there for seven days. We did four shows in London and we played with the Black Keys on the last night, which was just incredible. That was at the Shepherds Bush Empire. You always have to start fresh with a new audience when you go somewhere different, but they were definitely getting into it. It was good fun."
Adelaide audiences won't have to wait until the Big Day Out to catch Wolfmother in action as the lads arrive with Regurgitator this week. However, one important element might be missing from that show. "I don't know if I can bring my gong this time," Heskett laments, "but maybe the next time. Maybe I'll bring it on the Big Day Out tour. I'd like to express my feelings with the gong in Adelaide as soon as I can."
Frank Trimboli
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Wolfmother support Regurgitator at Heaven on Fri 17 Dec. Their self-titled EP is available now through Modular/UMG.
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