Wolfmother

To describe the last twelve months as a whirlwind would be an understatement for Australia's biggest rock sensation Wolfmother. And the band's drummer, Myles Heskett couldn't agree more - quite obviously sounding relieved to hear an Australian accent on the other end of the telephone line after months of non-stop touring overseas.

"I'm just taking a walk by the lake...Just trying to get some piece and quiet, to get away, be on my own. Man, you don't know how good it is to hear that Aussie accent though! Seriously, apart from the three of us, it's been so long since I've heard it!"

From a statement like this, it would be easy to assume that Heskett and the rest of the band are quite miserable and homesick over in the United States- but you'd be wrong. Well, ok, homesick they confess they are a little bit, but they're certainly far from miserable.

"It's been pretty good here in the States, the shows are doing really well," Heskett explains, "The reception that we've had over here is just so much more and so much bigger than we would have expected. I mean, you get homesick every now and then when you let your guard down, but there is a lot for us to look forward to, so that kind of keeps you busy and not getting down on yourself."

For one, the upcoming Australian tour which will see Wolfmother headlining across the nation has been recently officially sold out in both Victoria and New South Wales.

"Oh, it's great, but unfortunately there won't be a second show so a lot of people will miss out I'm sure," Heskett comments regrettably.

Then, there is the support slot which will see the Wolfmother boys joining the likes of the Flaming Lips and Sonic Youth in a couple of months in Detroit.

"We're really huge fans, it really is a privilege to play with bands that huge, you know. I mean, I still remember us as the band who could just manage to get a mic and whatever gear was handy, and now to be apart of all this is really mind-blowing!"

And, of course, then there is the support slot for the one and only Pearl Jam for the band's Belguim and Netherlands tours, about which Heskett is quite clearly, well, stoked.

Amongst all of this touring the band have also managed to make a video clip for their ever-so-addictive hit single Woman.

As Heskett recalls, "We had a lot of fun making that video. That was great. You know what they did? I think you'll notice that it's basically all bits of scrunched up paper and stuff, and that's how they filmed it! I think it looks really different to a lot of stuff out there. And we're all, I mean as a band, we've always been into art, so we wanted the video to be extra creative because we're all creative people. I used to work in graphics, and Chris [Ross, bass/keyboards] used to be into digital stuff and Andrew [Stockdale, vocals/guitar] was a photographer, so there you go. It was the same people who made The White Stripes' Seven Nation Army video, which was really cool."

Apart from filming the video, Heskett adds that the band has also in the meantime managed to meet Conan O'Brien, with whom he sounds very impressed.

"Yeah we performed on his show one night and he is pretty cool. It's weird when you're right there, when you see him in person. He's actually a really funny guy, he's pretty down to earth. We are also planning on doing a performance on David Letterman's show, which should be interesting too."

Heskett sounds pretty blown away when you mention the fact that the last time Wolfmother was in Australia was all the way back in February - four months ago.

"Yeah, like I said, you try not to think about it because it is also fun touring, but four months is a long time for anyone, we're definitely looking forward to coming home more than anything else right now to tell you the truth."

And the homecoming tour will see Wolfmother bringing along some very special friends for the ride, according to Heskett.

"Dungeon are a band from Sweden, they're actually doing some really big things over there so it will be interesting to see how the Aussie crowd handles them. And also there's going to be the Tucker Bs, who are kind of really out there indie kids. We're looking forward to hanging out with them, but most of all we're looking forward to seeing our friends and families again. You know the one thing I've realized from being on the road and overseas is that we forget how lucky we are in Australia, and you see that once you leave the place."

Nina Bertok

Wolfmother play at the Thebarton Theatre on Thu 13 July and Fri 14 July.