WOLFMOTHER are about to kick of their Gypsy Caravan 2017 Australian tour. Finally the band are back home on Aussie soil for a proper tour. We caught up with vocalist, guitarist and songwriter Andrew Stockdale to talk about the tour, their latest album Victorious and what it was like playing the iconic Sydney bar Frankie’s Pizza 4th Birthday.

SCENEzine
Congrats on your newest album Victorious. Living with the songs now over a year after it’s release are you stoked with how it all turned out?

Andrew Stockdale
Yeah I think my favourite song of the record is “Gypsy Caravan” after touring it for a year. I’m happy with it. It’s growing on me (laughs)

SCENEzine
You released a really cool Sci-fi themed video for “Victorious”. Was that fun to put together?

Andrew Stockdale
Yeah I was only there for about 45 minutes in front of a green screen and sang the song 5 times and the director did the rest (laughs). It’s kind of bizarre how the whole process works and I only needed to be there for a short amount of time. I don’t blame him I’d rather hang out all day and shoot a attractive lady rather than looking at some hairy dude.

 

SCENEzine
When you wrote that song did you ever envision a video like that would come from it?

Andrew Stockdale
No when I initially wrote that song the lyrics were “we shall be victorious” then I changed it to she because I thought it had a better ring to it. For the whole thing to be turned into a story about a heroine sci-fi chick that was not intended.

SCENEzine
We were lucky enough to catch you guys playing Frankies Pizza in Sydney late last year. How did you feel playing such an intimate show?

Andrew Stockdale
Man that was a great night I loved that night. That show was incredible. That show was the kind of thing where it either happens or it doesn’t happen. It was off the hook. I think that was our second show in a year and a half in Australia. We played one at The Northern the night before then we flew down and played in Sydney the next day. It was the best way to come back to Australia it was so awesome.

SCENEzine
Fast forward a little later and you were touring around Australia playing massive stadiums with Guns n Roses. It that a completely different kind of buzz for you?

Andrew Stockdale
Yeah with Guns n Roses we sort of just fit in to their show. They’re the main attraction and we are happy to play and stoked to be there but we just sort of fit in. I like being a part of a big team and big production and seeing thousands of people but I also like when it’s our crowd and we can play as long as we want. I like the freedom of playing a headline show as well. I’m looking forward to our own shows and not having to be checking my watch.

SCENEzine
It must be crazy to think around 15 years ago you guys are slogging it out in pubs and these days you’re playing with bands like Guns n Roses and touring the world. Is it surreal to step back some times and think about it?

Andrew Stockdale
Yeah I’m in Melbourne at the moment and I remember playing a 15 minute set at a battle of the bands here and we came last. We came last and who would of thought years later I’d be standing there with a Grammy in my hand selling 1.6 million records and touring the world. So it just goes to show that people talk about professionalism and this is the way that everybody does it. It’s like man who are these professionals and who designated them the all knowing, all seeing entity of how life is going to happen. No one knows what’s going to happen, you’ve just gotta have a go.

SCENEzine
Your about to embark on your most extensive Australian tour in a long time. It must be a cool feeling to be back touring on home soil for so long?

Andrew Stockdale
Yeah it’s good to be back. It’s good to see the family and the old sites and a bit of nostalgia. Sometimes I get nostalgic (laughs). When you travel the world and see all these places but you can come home and still go to the same café you were at when you were younger you realise I still like it here. I’m still the same guy.

SCENEzine
One of our favourite Wolfmother songs is “Joker and the Thief”. Can you describe the feeling of hitting the riff live in front of a big crowd?

Andrew Stockdale
People always say who do you play for, do you write for yourself or do you write for the public. That’s one riff that before I play it I feel like I am giving people something that they want, something that they are going to enjoy. That is the feeling. Every time I play that riff at the end of a gig it is pretty satisfying because it’s great to play something that gives people so much. It hits the sweet spot so to speak.

 

SCENEzine
Do you have any memories from the video for that song that features the Jackass boys?

Andrew Stockdale
I remember after that show it was my birthday that day. I just turned 30 and we had an after party on Oxford street. Someone told me that Bam drank so much he passed out on the side of the street. Then some girl saw him passed out and started pashing him on the side of the street while he was unconscious (laughs).

SCENEzine
After your Australian dates we are headed over to watch you play at Hurricane festival in Germany. Wolfmother has seen some great chart success in Germany. Was that a country you’ve always done well in?

Andrew Stockdale
It’s been one of those things where we’ve gone from no impact to growing and growing. I remember going to this bar there called White Trash in Berlin. We had a day off before a show so we were like lets just get up and have a jam. I ended up getting up there with Ian the bass player. We played from 12 o’clock until the same came up at 6 or 7 in the morning. They started selling tickets for people to come in and see us play whilst we were playing. It turns out the guy who owns White Trash owns Rock AM Ring the festival and he was so blown away by us playing that night he booked us to play Rock Am Ring to play in front of 80,000 people. The other thing which I found out later down the track I didn’t have a guitar that night and one of the barman gave me his guitar and I played this white SG the whole night. The guy who owned that guitar went and started his own band called Kadavar. We took them on the road in the States in 2014 and played 30 shows. One night he said hey man I got started from watching you at White Trash and I loaned you my guitar when you jammed until 6 in the morning. However it pans out in Germany or different countries it’s just is about when you connect with people.

SCENEzine
Can you leave us a last message for your Aussie fans excited for the tour?

Andrew Stockdale
Have a listen to “Special Lady” it just put it up a few weeks ago. I recoded it on my laptop and shot the video for it at Ace photo shop in Ballina it cost me 25 bucks. It had 9000 views in 2 weeks. We might even play it on the next tour so check it out.

(Interview by Christian Ross)