Three years since their debut album Vessels greeted critics with new psychedelic funk, Wolf and Cub have a new album, Science and Sorcery, and are touring throughout October. Music Feeds bares its throat to pack leader Joel in the hopes of some tidbits from his table.
Music Feeds: So you’re going on the ‘Hearts’ tour, if you’re going to name a tour after an organ, Hearts is a good way to go.
Joel: I don’t know why it is called that, fuck man, it’s just another tour. Just tell people we’re touring, but it is part of this whole machine, the promotion machine, you have to name everything, sell everything.
MF: You’ve been in the machine for a while now, when did you get signed to a label?
J: Yeah it was around 2002, so been in the system in a while now. Hasn’t spat us out yet, still able to do it, and it’s been getting easier which is better.
MF: How did you go from Augusta to the UK and beyond, so quickly?
J: Well we sort of did an EP early on and we didn’t think much of it and we just did it and labels here wanted to pick it up, and then this label in Australia happened to be a distributor for a major indie label in the UK, and they sent it over, that label dug it, so we got picked up. When it all happened I don’t think I really appreciated how big it was, or took stock of it. We were like twenty and when I look back I think I wouldn’t mind doing it again so I could do it in a different way.
MF: Different how?
J: Just be more professional, the first time we went to the UK it was overwhelming. Our priorities were a little bit different. It wasn’t about making each show fantastic it was about what booze we could get, what parties were on.
Since the 2006 release of Vessels, Wolf and Cub have toured to a relentless schedule. This heavy onslaught is perhaps what prompted Joel to move to Canberra where things are a bit quieter.
J: I moved to Canberra. it was kind of odd. I moved for my girlfriend, who became my ex-girlfriend. I credit my time in Canberra for being quite a fucked time in my life. A record came out of it, I was trying to write a record, when I look back at the record I think I have good memories and very very bad memories, it’s a mix of emotions. The record that came out is indicative of the year I had in Canberra. It’s a good way to look at it, as a snapshot of a time.
MF: Does the small town vibe appeal to you? You’ve lived in Canberra, which may as well be a small town, you’re from Port Augusta and you recorded the new album in Braewood, wherever that is. I’m sensing a theme here.
J: It seems that way doesn’t it. Braewood is near Canberra, an hour away. It’s close to the coast. It’s like the town I grew up in (Port Augusta) where everyone is passing through to get to somewhere else. It’s where the producers’ studio was, Chris from Bumblebeez. We couldn’t have done it anywhere else because Chris needs to be in his comfort zone, so we needed to do it there.
MF: How was it with Chris, did it click? I know some bands leave the recording process wanting to fuck the producer, some want to fuck them up.
J: It was hard, it took a lot of time and it was hard with the other guys. Chris is the type of person who doesn’t pull a lot of punches, it’s such a cutthroat industry, producers know that they gotta make some money, it’s competitive, there are a lot of producers out there. If it’s shit, Chris will tell you it is shit.
MF: Do you get people who are offended that your music sounds different?
J: Some people just want you do to the same album over and over again and that is something we could never do. Our manager showed it to a friend and the friend said ‘it’s good but it just doesn’t sound like the first one.’ I was thinking, ‘well there’s no fucking way it’s going to sound like the first one.’ It’s never going to be like that for us. When you come to a Wolf and Cub show the record is simply a reference point, it’s never a copy of the record, I like it, people don’t, but that’s just how it is.
Wolf And Cub are touring nationally throughout October. Check out the full dates here.
