Lennox Head-based indie-rock quartet, WHARVES, have just revealed an East Coast tour and their brand new single titled 'Man You Want Me To Be'. Tomatax caught up with Matt from the band to ask a few questions.
How did the band form?
We met through University in Lismore. Mike, Scott and I (Matt) we already writing songs together and Fraser was recommended to us as a gun drummer that was super keen to join a band. The stars aligned and it's been happy days ever since
We did a photoshoot before we had a name which was of us coming out of the water (you can stalk our FB page and find it) and it had a nautical feel to it. The photographer's (David Andreas) girlfriend typed "WHARVES" in a groupchat when talking about the photoshoot and i liked how it looked and pitched to the other dudes and we agreed that it was fitting.
You've already received a fair amount of critical acclaim, does that make you feel any pressure going forward?I don't personally feel any pressure from any external acclaim, I don't think. If anything it's a motivator. I'm always wanting to write a better song than I did yesterday or put on a better performance than at our last gig. Andre 3000 from outkast says in the song "Rosa Parks" "baby boy you're only funky as your last cut, You focus on the past your ass'll be a has what", which although I'm a white boy from Australia and I would articulate it very differently than an African-America dude from Atlanta Georgia that lyric really speaks to me. The only pressure is for me to be better than yesterday.
What was the inspiration behind the video for 'Man you want me to be'?We can't take credit for that clip, as the concept, directing and editing was all done by Benjamin Sheen and a stellar performance by Laura Djanegara. It's a piece of art that clip. Ben came to us with the theme of anticipation. I like to think of it as a metaphor of a doomed relationship, you're getting to know someone as they slowly reveal themselves and then there's something fundamentally incompatible in the relationship and you both know it.
Are there any plans to release an album?Not anytime soon. We will be releasing a couple more singles this year, very excited to get back into the studio again with producer Steven Schram (San Cisco).
You've been touring around Australia, how has that been going?It's been awesome, every gig has had a great turnout and audience reaction. I'm noticing a fair few people have heard of us through different media and they come up to us at the end of the gig saying "I heard on the radio and decided to come along" or "I found you guys on the internet" so it's really exciting.
What's the music scene like in Lennox Head?It's a very supportive place, there's really only one pub in Lennox and we play there. It's also great having Byron Bay just 20 minutes away where we can play as well! There's not a lot of bands in Lennox so I feel by default we are defining the Lennox Head sound haha. In saying that a few great bands have made their start here including Ball Park Music and Lunatics On Pogosticks.
Do you ever listen to your own music?Haha, every now and again.
If I do, it's generally a demo that I'm working on not so much something we've released already.
Foals, City Calm Down, Arctic Monkeys, The Strokes, The Cure & Joy Division.
What do you have planned after your upcoming tour?
Record, Release, Repeat
Get back out there with some new material and tour more places - no sleep for the weak.
