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Wolfmother

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Wolfmother

Wolfmother is a Grammy Award winning hard rock band from Australia. The band up until August 7, 2008, consisted of Members Andrew Stockdale (Guitar, Vocals), Chris Ross (Bass, Keyboard), and Myles Heskett (Drums).

History

2004–2005

After releasing their self-titled debut EP through Modular Recordings in September 2004, Wolfmother began appearing at several high profile music events, such as Homebake and Big Day Out. The EP was a success, reaching number thirty-five in the ARIA singles chart and receiving consistent radio play on Triple J.

In 2005, the band made their way to Los Angeles, working alongside producer Dave Sardy (Jet, Oasis) to record their eponymous debut album, released in Australia in October 2005.

The first single to be released was "Mind's Eye"/"Woman" (a double A-side), making its debut on the Australian music charts at number twenty-nine. The album itself entered the Australian Charts at number three and has been a regular feature of the Top 20 ever since, having gone platinum three times. Wolfmother won the 2005 J Award from the Australian youth radio network Triple J for the best Australian album of the year,[1] and finished the year with Falls Festival appearances. Rolling Stone magazine listed Wolfmother as one of their "Top 10 Bands to Watch 2006."[2]

They scored six songs in the influential 2005 Triple J Hottest 100, with "Mind's Eye" their highest entry at number six.

File:WOLFMOTHER.jpg
A 2006 poster advertising Wolfmother concerts.

It has been recently discovered that Wolfmother played and abandoned an original song after one known performance at The Metro in Sydney. The song was titled Midnight Lover and was never featured in any other performance, EP ,or their album.[3]

2006

Wolfmother's debut album was released internationally in April, with mostly positive reviews from the US and UK.

Andrew Stockdale during a performance in Memphis, Tennessee, USA.

Their songs have been featured in the advertising of many products including the Apple iPod, multiple Playstation 2 and Xbox 360 games (including the highly successful Guitar Hero II and later released a downloadable song for Rock Band), the 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer, and TV programs and movies such as Jackass Number Two, the Clive Owen action satire Shoot 'Em Up, Shrek The Third, Dane Cook's Tourgasm, House, the 2006 Australian Football League (AFL) finals, the Winter X Games. [citation needed]

Chris Ross playing bass during a performance at SXSW 2006.

The band also appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and The Late Show with David Letterman, where Letterman would remark to a sweaty Stockdale in their interview "That was pretty damn cool!"

The band performed in festivals throughout North American and Australia in 2006. Including SXSW, Big Day Out, the Sasquatch! Music Festival, the Roskilde Festival, Splendour in the Grass, the Fuji Rock Festival, Lollapalooza, Reading and Leeds Festivals, V Festival, the Download Festival, and the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival; where they were commonly cited as the 'breakout' band of the year.[4] But on September 25, bassist Chris Ross's wife had a baby. The baby was one month early and Wolfmother cancelled/postponed their dates in the following month. During this break, Wolfmother released their final single from the self-titled album, "Joker and the Thief", in Australia on October 28, where it reached number eight on the Australian Singles Chart, their highest position to date in Australia. Wolfmother resumed touring on November 4 in the United Kingdom.

On November 14 2006, when legendary hard rock band Led Zeppelin were inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame, they asked Wolfmother to appear as their guests. The band covered the Led Zeppelin song "Communication Breakdown," a common Wolfmother concert vehicle before and since.

Myles Heskett during a performance at SXSW 2006.

During an interview in March 2006, Andrew and Myles created a 'Free the Gnomes!' design using the 'consequences' method, where each couldn't see what the other had drawn. The design was contributed to the Yellow Bird Project to raise money for the charity, Teenage Cancer Trust.[5]

2007

On February 13, it was announced on that the band would be playing at the Download Festival in June and the band was given the third headline spot on the first day (Friday June 8) after Velvet Revolver and DragonForce respectively.

At the 2007 Grammy Awards, Wolfmother won the Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance for their song "Woman", [6] and was later released as a single in the UK.

File:Wolfmotheratsummerfest.jpg
Wolfmother during a performance at Summerfest, in Milwaukee, WI on June 28, 2007

On June 28, they headlined at Summerfest, "The World's Largest Music Festival", in Milwaukee, WI. Finishing up their US Tour in Detroit, Michigan to an abundantly enthusiastic crowd on June 30. Andrew Stockdale mentioned during the encore that they wanted to finish up in Detroit since that's where the post production finishing touches for the first album were conducted.[citation needed]

On July 7, they performed on the Australian leg of the Live Earth concerts in Sydney. Andrew Stockdale said in an interview "That will be our last show for this album. We will find out what a green note sounds like on the next record".[7]

Wolfmother released their first concert film on September 10 in Australia (November 20 internationally), titled Please Experience Wolfmother Live. The footage of the main DVD is from their performance at the Hordern Pavilion in Sydney, Australia. Other live shows, music videos and interviews are included in the bonus features. [8]

As of late November, Wolfmother's debut album has been certified Gold in The United States. [9]

2008

Wolfmother played their first gig in 9 months on the 12th April 2008 as part of the Andy Warhol Up Late program.[10] Wolfmother played ten songs of which four new songs that could be on their next album were previewed including 'Back Round', 'The Violence Of The Sun', 'Monolith' and 'Inside The Mountain'. Wolfmother also played a cover of Lou Reed's, Perfect Day[11].

Now, Wolfmother confirmed a further four festivals for 2008, Concerts on the Green in San Diego, California[12], Pemberton Festival in Pemberton, British Columbia[13], Bassinthegrass in Darwin, Northern Territory[14] and Splendour in the Grass held just outside Byron Bay, New South Wales[15].

Despite an earlier article by Rolling Stone Magazine which stated that the band were currently recording their new album and that 10 songs had been chosen[16], the Unofficial Wolfmother Fan Site received a response[17] from the band's management on July 15 2008 stating that recording had not yet started. The response indicated that earlier reports of the album recording were actually demo sessions and that firm plans for recording are to be confirmed.

On August 4, following the band's performance at Splendour In The Grass, popular Australian radio station Triple J speculated that rumours were rife at the festival that the band's future was in doubt, with a line up change imminent. An interview was scheduled by Triple J that was cancelled by the band's manager, stating “The band is dealing with some internal issues at the moment. They’re hoping to resolve them in the next few weeks but in the meantime it just wouldn’t be appropriate for any member to be doing any interviews – even with triple j.”

On August 7, the band's record label Universal Records announced that Heskett and Ross had decided to leave the band due to irreconcilable differences, and that Stockdale plans to find other musicians over the coming months, as well as continue work on a new Wolfmother album.

Critical response

While the band has gained much success, reception is divided. A Total Guitar review calls Wolfmother's music "ruddy marvellous",[18] and Pitchfork praises them for "how capably they strike a balance between meaty vintage metal and crisp, stoner-rock melodies".[19] Others hold that their music is too derivative of 70's rock; a Stylus Magazine review states "everything there is to say about them is best said by immediate reference to another band and Wolfmother always come up short in the comparison",[20] [21] An Allmusic review is more critical, calling their music "precious, inarticulate, [and] confused"[22] when compared to that of their musical influences, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and Black Sabbath. Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke has stated that he is a fan of Wolfmother.[23] Alice Cooper has described Wolfmother's sound, stating they are "like a teenage Jimi Hendrix, Steppenwolf kind of band".[24] Wolfmother has responded to the accusations about the perceived derivative nature of their music, with Ross saying "[We] don't pretend that we're [Led Zeppelin/Black Sabbath]...There's similarities in our sound, but we're not trying to emulate them at all.." [25]

Despite previous criticisms of the band, The EG magazine section of The Age newspaper listed Wolfmother's debut album at number 4 on its list of Top 10 Australian Albums, with each of the selections dubbed the best 'highlights of the decade'.[26]

Influences

While Wolfmother has been identified as being influenced by '70s rock bands such as Black Sabbath, their official Myspace lists their influences to include mostly '60s groups such as: Pink Floyd, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix and The Who, as well as newer acts, including The Avalanches, Radiohead, The White Stripes and stoner metal band Kyuss. Surprisingly, they also featured the French electronic group Daft Punk in their myspace list of influences.[27] Andrew Stockdale also lists The Doors as a major influence, stating they were one of his favorite bands growing up. [28] During Stockdale's appearance on ABC's My Favorite Album, Stockdale stated AC/DC's T.N.T. to be a favourite, claiming it gave him "shivers". [29]

Discography

Albums

Year Album Chart positions Certifications
Australia UK U.S. NOR FIN SWE AT NL
2005 Wolfmother 3 25 22 8 27 27 59 23 Gold (UK),Gold (US)

EPs

Singles

Year Title Chart positions Album
Australia U.S. Modern Rock U.S. Mainstream Rock UK Singles Chart
2005 "Mind's Eye" 29 - - 143 Wolfmother
2006 "White Unicorn" 33 38 29 -
"Dimension" - - - 49
"Woman" 34 10 7 31
"Love Train" - - - 62
"Joker and the Thief" 8 30 26 63
2007 "Pleased to Meet You" 83 - - - Spider-Man 3: The Official Soundtrack

Videography

  • "Mind's Eye" (2006)
  • "Dimension" (2006)
  • "Woman" (2006)
  • "White Unicorn" (2006)
  • "Love Train" (2006)
  • "Joker and the Thief" (2006)
  • "Apple Tree" (2007)

Awards

Main article: List of Wolfmother awards

References

  1. ^ "triple j - The J Award - Wolfmother". Triple J. Retrieved 2007-06-04.
  2. ^ Green, Andy (2006-03-23). "10 Artists to Watch: Aussio Trio comes bearing monster riffs". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2007-06-04. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  3. ^ http://www.wolfmother.net
  4. ^ Getlen, Larry (2006-04-30). "Heavy Duty". New York Post. Retrieved 2006-08-02. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ^ "Clap Your Hands, Wolfmother design T-shirts". NME. 2007-02-12.
  6. ^ unknown (unknown). "2007 Grammy Award Winner - Best Hard Rock Performance". The Recording Academy. Retrieved 2008-07-19. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ^ Dunn, Emily (2007-03-31). "Now rock plugs into solar". Brisbane Times. Retrieved 2007-04-07. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. ^ unknown (unknown). "Please Experience Wolfmother Live DVD". unknown. Retrieved 2007-08-24. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  9. ^ RIAA
  10. ^ [1]
  11. ^ [2]
  12. ^ http://www.aeglive.com/showdetail.php?id=18345&detail_type=event
  13. ^ http://www.pembertonfestival.com/news/index.aspx?AID=3fcb1534-f018-46d5-b1bc-1ce6cce076f0#top
  14. ^ http://www.bassinthegrass.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=14&Itemid=51
  15. ^ http://w3.splendourinthegrass.com/artists.php
  16. ^ [3]
  17. ^ http://www.wolfmother.net/2008/07/19/petition-response
  18. ^ Ascott, Phil. "Total Guitar (UK) - Album". Total Guitar. Retrieved 2007-06-04.
  19. ^ Byroum, Cory (2006-04-25). "Wolfmother: Wolfmother: Pitchfork Record Review". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 2007-06-04.
  20. ^ McNally, Patrick (2007-05-02). "Wolfmother - Wolfmother - Review". Stylus Magazine. Retrieved 2007-06-04. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  21. ^ Philip, Sven. "Wolfmother". Billboard. Retrieved 2007-06-04.
  22. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "allmusic (((Wolfmother > Review)))". Allmusic. Retrieved 2007-06-04. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  23. ^ Source
  24. ^ http://www.smh.com.au/news/gig-reviews/alice-cooper/2007/07/02/1183229014162.html
  25. ^ Wolfmother React To People Comparing Them To Led Zep | News @ Ultimate-Guitar.Com
  26. ^ The EG, in THE AGE, April 18, 2008, pg. 13
  27. ^ MySpace.com - Wolfmother - Sydney, AU - Tropicale / Psychédélique / Rock - www.myspace.com/wolfmother
  28. ^ The Hard, Fast Rise of Wolfmother: Gibson Interviews Andrew Stockdale
  29. ^ My Favorite Album, December 12th 2006, Australian Broadcasting Corporation(ABC). More info at: http://www.abc.net.au/myfavouritealbum/top100.htm
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