Wolf & Cub have finally released album #3 (and their first in four years) in Heavy Weight, and now the band is hitting the road this October in support of their new baby, and will be playing shows all over the country.
Here the band’s frontman Joel Byrne provides an update on the state of play for Wolf & Cub.
Wolf & Cub, welcome back!
It’s great to be back. Are we back? I think we’re back… We’re getting there. It feels great!
Congratulations on the release of your highly anticipated third album, Heavy Weight. A lot has happened in the past four years since your last LP – could you tell us a bit about how Wolf & Cub has changed?
Thank you, we all think it’s easily the best thing we’ve done and having it out now is fairly significant for all of us, so thanks. A lot has changed but at the same time lots has stayed the same. The obvious big change has been to our line up; Tommy (previous bass player) left shortly after the release of the last record and Marvin (previous drummer/percussionist) left during the early stages of Heavy Weight’s development. Wade Keighran (new bass player) joined in about 2010 and Brock Fitzgerald (second guitar/ other stuff), both formerly of The Scare, joined early 2011. They’ve kind of revitalised the band somewhat, making it feel like it’s the best it has ever been. In some regard it’s a different band all together but it still retains the Wolf & Cub feel that’s always been present. It’s probably a testament to both Wade and Brock and their ability to adapt into a new group without fucking with the overall dynamic and sound too dramatically. Another notable difference, in a live capacity, is our losing the second drum kit and moving towards a more conventional four-piece set up. I think that was a long time coming.
Heavy Weight is already being described as your most realised, evolved effort to date. How would you describe it in your own words – do you think it differs much compared to the rest of your back catalogue?
For me it’s the record I’ve always tried to make with this band; to have it described that way is pretty gratifying. I know everyone close to the band has described it as our best work so that’s also been great to hear. I think because we’d been out of the game so long it was important for us to make something that represented us moving forward whilst also having one eye in the rear view mirror, you know? It couldn’t be something that alienated fans or us from previous Wolf & Cub material, otherwise what would be the point of continuing under that name? I think we achieved something that’s pretty balanced in that respect; it’s a suitable bridge between the first two records. On the previous records we were so conscious of what we didn’t want to do; Vessels couldn’t sound like the previous EP Science (& Sorcery) couldn’t sound like Vessels etc. With this one we were more willing to say yes to everything and more about facilitating the process of making each song as good as it could be without limited ourselves.
The album was entirely self-produced. What was this process like, and do you think it had a big impact on how the end product sounds?
Yeah I really do. Not in a technical sense – I don’t think it technically sounds overly self-produced but I think the overall experience sounds and feels like it was made by us; it feels like a four people coming together to do something that meant a lot to them. I know that’s what I was personally striving for. It doesn’t sound like a band going through the motions, it sounds like a band fighting for something, because in a way we all were. It also sounds like four people (five including our lovely studio assistant Antonia) that just really enjoyed being together and loving the experience of making a record, which we really did! Initially it was a little intimidating but we weren’t really afforded the luxury of having any other choice! So that helped. At the time we just couldn’t afford to hire a producer and cover studio costs so it was one or the other. Wade really stepped up to the plate in this respect; he’s a studio engineer himself so he kind of helped to ease my concerns and really made us all believe that it was something we could accomplish. Thankfully he did, because we couldn’t have done it without him.
What were some of your musical inspirations or ideas this time around?
Sonically I think we were striving for a ‘classic’ sounding record, conceptually I guess as well. We were striving for something classic-sounding in the sense that most of those records are just really solid, from start to finish; they feature great songs and are consistent – a big part of why they’re considered classics! In saying that though it was important for us that sounded relevant to now, which I think we were able to achieve. ‘Balance’ was a key word for us also, each song was kind of developed with every other song in mind, and we made an effort to make sure everything fit in the context of the record as whole. We were forced to make some tough decisions about some songs that didn’t make the cut, which was hard, but it was all about serving the record as a whole. We also took care not to over cook the individual songs, nothing was left in that didn’t serve the song itself. There were a few tough editing decisions that were made due to this fact.
Overall though the stylistic inspirations were fairly varied: lots of the earlier albums by Tom Petty & The Heart Breakers, Bowie, ELO, Prince, Springsteen for example. I think in same way we were heavily influenced by classic FM radio! I know I’ve kind of gravitated to the music that’s being played on those stations over the years. I’m more likely to be listening to the older classic rock radio stations rather than anything too contemporary. Having said that there were some more obscure art rock references here and there like Pere Ubu and Weird War. Some trip hop stuff, like early DJ Shadow, Massive Attack, and Tricky was being referenced also.
Coinciding with the new release you’ve also announced a national tour throughout October. It’s been a little while since you’ve hit the road, so how does it feel to get properly back into the live shows?
We’re pretty excited about it, mostly because it’s been so long since we’ve toured properly but also because we get to tour this record in particular. There’s never been this much collective appreciation for something we’ve done before and its started seeping into everything we do together. With our previous releases I felt an unease about everyone else’s feelings about the work, I don’t think everyone was really proud of what we had produced and released so it would sort of ‘poison the well’ so to speak. With this one we’re all really proud of it and love the work so there’s unfamiliar sense of positivity that’s so new to me, I’m kind of a little giddy. There’s a little bit of anxiety though because we’re also workshopping a few ideas; trying to figure out how to reproduce some of the tracks and its proving a little tricky. We’ll get there and it’ll be sexy as fuck, but right now it’s a little nerve wracking because we want it to be faithful to the effort we put into the record, and we don’t want to disappoint.
What should we expect from these upcoming gigs? How do you think the new record is going to translate live?
If we can sort our shit out it’ll be fucking great! With these upcoming shows there’ll be a lot of the new album covered, because we love the record! It feels like a record we could play from start to finish to be honest with you, and that would be a pretty good show! Initially we were pretty set on the idea of playing the record from start to finish for the launch shows, although I don’t think we’ll do it for every show, maybe one or two, see how it sells I s’pose ha! Might be a little too egotistical of us to do that if the vibe isn’t there. We’ll definitely be playing some older material, every release will be represented, promise.
Do you have any particular ritual before you go on stage, or even a lucky charm you take with you?
Well I have a pair of ‘stage jeans’ that I’ve worn for probably every show, bar a couple, since about 2008! I’m weird like that, in some respects I’m a little bit OCD but only in the less important aspects of life. They’re actually looking a bit worse for wear – lots of patches, the crutch is gone! So I guess those could be considered a lucky charm? I tend to wear the same pair of shoes too. No there’s no ritual per se, but we do insist on having some music backstage – that’s pretty essential! We need to be able to play some music that helps to vibe us up. Sticky Fingers by The Rolling Stones usually does the trick, or The Predator by Ice Cube. We need something that’s got a bit of groove.
Can you remember the first live show you ever went to? Who’d you see and where was it?
Yes I can actually. It was Blur in 1997 in Adelaide at the Thebarton Theatre and it was really great! I grew up in a town 300 kms outside Adelaide so my friend and I caught to bus up and stayed with my older brother who was living there at the time. Said friend cheated on his girlfriend that night; was a really big deal at the time! I got the set list from that show and we were able to get it signed by the band later on that night. Good times.
What Australian artists or bands have you been listening to recently?
Oh Mercy put out one of my favourite records last year – Deep Heat, great fucking record! Burke Reid, who mixed Heavy Weight, produced it. We were supposed to do a tour with those guys round that release but we weren’t able to do it, which I regret because, like I said, I really liked it. I like Alex [Gow], he’s a great songwriter – great live too, a real showman. Zeahorse are great too, they’re supporting us on this upcoming tour so that will be sexy! Jonothan Boulet is great and a lovely human being. We toured with him and his band earlier this year and it was fantastic. We met him at the right time I think because he lifted my sprits greatly as I was at that stage in the album’s production that we were losing the fight a little and he had this enormous sense of positivity and generosity that just renewed my faith in the Australian music scene. I’m very grateful for that time.
And lastly, what is your schedule looking like for the rest of 2013 and the start of 2014?
Shows, shows, and more shows! It’s all about the ‘Heavy Weight’ touring experience from here on out, as Molly says… “Do yourself a favour.”
Heavy Weight is out now via MGM.
Wolf & Cub Heavy Weight Australian Tour 2013
Thu October 10th @ Oxford Art Factory, Sydney w/ special guests Zeahorse
Sat October 12th @ The Zoo, Brisbane w/ special guests Zeahorse
Thu October 17th @ Republic Bar, Hobart w/ special guests Zeahorse
Sat October 19th @ Ed Castle, Adelaide w/ special guests Zeahorse
Thu October 24th @ Northcote Social Club, Melbourne w/ special guests Zeahorse
Fri October 25th @ Beach Hotel, Byron Bay w/ special guests Zeahorse
Sat October 26th @ Amplifier Hotel, Perth w/ special guests Doctopus
Sun October 27th @ Newport Hotel, Fremantle w/ special guests Doctopus
Listen to the album in full here:
