Music
The Smith Street Band A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO, A FEW LADS IN MELBOURNE GOT TOGETHER AND THOUGHT THEY WOULD MAKE A BIT OF MUSIC TOGETHER. THEN THEY THOUGHT THEY’D TAKE IT ON THE ROAD BECAUSE IT’S FUN TO PLAY MUSIC AND TOUR. AND THEY ARE STILL HAVING FUN.
They call themselves The Smith Street Band, and this month they are back again, heading to one of their favourite parts of the country to entertain Hobart and Launceston on their ‘Young Drunks Tour’. Lead singer and guitarist, Wil Wagner caught up with Warp Magazine, while on the road doing a few solo shows across the country (which of course included a date in Tassie), keeping himself busy before the upcoming tour with his band. And the band will be busy before they even think about hitting the road for this tour, with a support slot for Against Me’s Sydney and Melbourne shows, plus scoring a spot on the local stage at Melbourne Big Day Out. Then it’s time to hit the road for a pretty hectic month or so of touring, stopping everywhere from Bunbury in WA, to a very solid collection of dates down the east coast of Australia. Added in the mix are a whole swag of regional dates, and even a few allages gigs. “We love being on the road. Touring is so much fun,” Wil shared. “It’s great getting off the beaten track a bit and playing new
places. Sometimes those smaller regional shows are just as much, if not more fun than the bigger shows. Plus it breaks up the drive. We’ve picked some great coastal spots to stop at.” And there could also be a few more shows added to this already expanding collection of tour dates. “We seem to be adding a few more shows all the time,” Wil said. “And there’s also the possibility of adding another all-ages gig in there too. We try to do as many of those as we can, but its not always easy finding venues.”
Hotel in Hobart on their latest trip to Tasmania. “Tasmania is such a beautiful, amazing place. We have played there heaps of times, I love it.” Wil declared. “ It’s always incredible down there, such a great atmosphere. Plus we have lots of good friends there. So far we are playing two dates, but we may try and squeeze in an allages gig too.” And Wil’s praise of the place is solidified by
his admission of sporting a Tassie themed tattoo, and his dream of one day ‘buying some land down there and building himself a studio’. We may just have to adopt him. KYLIE COX If you find yourself in Hobart or Launceston this month, come along to a gig and see what all the fuss is about, as The Smith Street Band play a few dates – Royal Oak February 21 and The Brisbane Hotel February 22 - in the state that is slowly becoming their second home.
Touring does seem to be a bit of a passion for these boys; when given the opportunity to play at The Fest, a predominately punk rock festival that takes place annually in a place called Gainesville, Florida, the boys used the powers of social media, mainly Facebook, to help them sort out a month long tour of the States. And that stop over on the way home in Beijing turned itself into a whirlwind, seven shows in seven days, mini tour. “We basically built ourselves a US tour around a festival we were asked to play in Florida,” Wil stated. “We did that all off our own back, mainly using social media, it was beyond our wildest dreams to play some of the places we got to, like Brooklyn. Then we figured we’d make the most of our stop over on the way home in China and organize some dates there.” “We did use a booking agent over there though, and it was one of the easiest tours we’ve ever done. It was so spontaneous, but I’m so glad we took the chance. No one there really knew us, but we managed to still get some great crowds and it was great fun.” Never a band to sit idle for long, when they haven’t been playing music live across the country, the boys have also managed to release two albums in just a couple of years. “Sunshine & Technology came out in the middle of last year,” Wil said. “It’s been great, we’ve been blown away by the response to it, both here and overseas. Blown away and also humbled by the response. And fingers crossed, there should be a new album out by the end of the year.” The Smith Street Band will be playing the Royal Oak in Launceston and The Brisbane
www.facebook.com/warp.mag 17