Victorian rockers, Stonefield, are back in WA for shows kicking off on Thursday, February 13, at the Prince Of Wales, Bunbury; Friday, February 14, at Clancy’s Dunsborough, and Saturday, February 15, at Capitol. SHANE PINNEGAR catches up with singer/drummer and eldest sibling in the all-sister band, Amy Findlay.
Perth plays an important part in the Stonefield story, with their first visit in 2010 for the One Movement Festival resulting in a spot on the bill at legendary UK music festival Glastonbury.
Drummer Amy Findlay says the experience was special for her and sisters Hannah, Sarah and Holly.
“It was amazing. Playing at Glastonbury was also surreal and crazy. We had a really good response, and the crowd was really warming.”
The sisters are looking forward to making the trek west again.
“Definitely. We always like coming over to WA,” she says enthusiastically, “unfortunately it’s not quite as easy – it’s a bit more of a distance, it’s a bit more expensive and stuff, but we always love it when we do come over and we always have a really good show.”
The band have been surging forward for the past four years, but it’s in the last 12 months that things have really taken off, with the release of their debut self-titled album, a surging, riff-laden beast that comes from the blues, but reverberates with psych-rock and even gospel touches. Findlay is justifiably proud of the opus.
“It kind of just makes you feel like you’re the real deal, getting a full album out there,” she says. “I dunno… we just feel really accomplished, and it was a big learning curve for us. We learned so much about being in the studio and production stuff and songwriting and everything.”
Raised in Darraweit Guim, rural Victoria, the sisters just happened to all pick up different instruments that made up a band. Findlay laughs out loud at the memory. “Yeah, it does kind of seem a bit funny when I do actually stop and think about it – but it’s normal to us. We don’t really think about that too much. It just kind of happened, it wasn’t really planned.”
One of the album standouts is lead single Put Your Curse On Me, which features a full gospel choir on backing vocals. It’s a vocal tour de force and, given the lyrics, one that transforms the song into a seductively grinding voodoo anthem straight out of New Orleans. Findlay says that when they started recording, the choir wasn’t earmarked for that tune.
“We knew that we wanted to use a gospel choir on some songs,” she declares, “but we hadn’t really worked out which songs it would be best suited for. Our producer suggested that song, and we really liked the idea of it being not your typical song that you would use it on. That’s probably one of my favourite sounds in the world, a gospel choir. It was really, really cool to have those guys working with us.”
Last month Stonefield released a video clip for new single, Love You Deserve. Shot in a paddock, it features two cars playing a dangerous game of chicken. Findlay says the clip was “really, really fun to make, and we’ve been telling everyone that we did the stunt driving,” she laughs, mischievously. “I’m just going to say, ‘Yes we did’.”
