Wolfmother
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
||
|---|---|---|
 |
||
| Background information | ||
| Origin | Erskineville, Sydney, Australia | |
| Genre(s) | Hard Rock Neo-Psychedelia Stoner Metal Heavy Metal |
|
| Years active | 2000– present | |
| Label(s) |  Modular/Universal Interscope Island |
|
| Website | http://www.wolfmother.com | |
| Members | ||
| Andrew Stockdale Chris Ross Myles Heskett |
||
Wolfmother is a Grammy and ARIA award-winning Australian hard rock band from Sydney. The band consists of Andrew Stockdale (vocals/guitar), Chris Ross (bass/keyboards/organ/synthesizer) and Myles Heskett (drums/percussion). Their music is influenced by classic '70s heavy metal/late era psychedelic bands such as Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple.
Contents |
[edit] History
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 the Big Day Out. The EP was a success, reaching #35 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 (Marilyn Manson, Oasis) to record their eponymous debut album, released 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 #29. The album itself entered the Australian Charts at #3 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, and finished the year with Falls Festival appearances. Rolling Stone magazine listed Wolfmother as one of their "Top 10 Bands to Watch 2006."
They achieved a record breaking six songs in the influential 2005 Triple J Hottest 100, with "Mind's Eye" their highest entry at #6. This breaks the record of five songs previously held by Powderfinger, Queens of the Stone Age, Silverchair and The White Stripes.
In 2006, they played their second Big Day Out tour in January, and released their second Australian single, "White Unicorn". The band performed at the Austin, Texas SXSW festival in March and Coachella in April where they were commonly cited as the 'breakout' band of the year.[1] They also performed at the Sasquatch! Music Festival in May, and at the Oxegen festival and the Roskilde Festival in July.
They will be featured on the upcoming Spider-Man 3 soundtrack.
[edit] International success
Wolfmother has enjoyed considerable success in reaction to the mid-2000s Retro Metal movement, at which they are often considered the chief pioneer. In April of 2006, their song "Love Train" was featured on a psychedelia-tinged TV advertisement for the Apple iPod. The song "Vagabond" appeared on an Australian Optus commercial. Another one of their songs, "Dimension", is heard in the advertisements and credits sequences for comedian Dane Cook's HBO series, Tourgasm. The song "Woman" is currently the opening theme song for John Force's new reality TV show called Driving Force and is also featured on the Madden 07 soundtrack, the Xbox 360 And PlayStation 2 video game Guitar Hero II, Tony Hawk's Project 8, Major League Baseball 2K7 and Rugby 06 (the song used was Dimension). "Joker & the Thief" has been used on TV advertisements to promote the 2006 Australian Football League (AFL) finals, as well as the movie, Jackass: Number Two. The song is also featured in Need For Speed: Carbon, as well as MLB 07: The Show. The songs Dimension and White Unicorn are featured in professional surfer Taj Burrow's movie 'Fair Bits' along with Quiksilvers' surf movie "Young Guns Two". The songs "Dimension" and "Pyramid" were used in the racing videogame Flatout 2. The song "White Unicorn" was played during advertisements for Winter X Games 11. In Poor Boyz Productions ski movie, "Ski Porn", their songs "Joker and the Thief" and "Apple Tree" were used. The song "White Unicorn" was also used in the Standard Films snowboard movie "Draw the Line" in the Jeremy Jones section.[citation needed] It also appeared in Transworld Skateboarding's "A Time To Shine" in the montage section.[citation needed] The song "Dimension" was also used in the film School for Scoundrels (2006 film).[citation needed] "Dimension" was also used in Toy Machine's "Suffer The Joy" skateboard video, in Johnny Layton's part.[citation needed]
On May 4, 2006, Wolfmother appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien. In June, the band performed several songs on air for the 2006 MTV Movie Awards and appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman. In July, they played the famous T In The Park festival in Scotland, gaining huge accolades amongst the British public. On August 1, 2006, Wolfmother appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno before playing in San Diego's Street Scene. The band performed "Woman" on all three late night shows.
Starting on July 14, 2006, Wolfmother played a total of eighteen shows in Australia including the Splendour in the Grass music festival. On July 29, they played at Fuji Rock Festival in Japan before continuing their tour of US and Europe which included high profile music festivals such as Lollapalooza and the Reading and Leeds Festivals. On September 10, they took part in the inaugural North American V Festival in Toronto, Canada. On September 23, they were in Baltimore playing at the Virgin Music Festival. Wolfmother was also scheduled to appear at the Download Festival in San Francisco on September 30, 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. They have now replaced many of those original dates. Wolfmother resumed touring on November 4 in the United Kingdom.
Wolfmother released their final single from the self-titled album, "Joker & The Thief", in Australia on October 28, where it reached #8 on the Australian Singles Chart, their highest position to date in Australia. The single's music video featured members of the Jackass cast and has been used to promote the film Jackass: Number Two. They have also released the music video for "Love Train", which is their newest single.
On November 9, 2006, Wolfmother appeared on the NBC late night talk show Last Call with Carson Daly.[1] They performed "Joker & the Thief."
On November 14, 2006, legendary classic rock/heavy metal band Led Zeppelin were inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame; the ceremony included Wolfmother covering the Led Zeppelin song Communication Breakdown.[2]
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.[3]
On the February 13, 2007 is was announced on that the band would be playing at the Download Festival in June.
At the 2007 Grammy Awards, Wolfmother won the 'Best Hard-Rock Performance' award for their song "Woman".[4] Prior to winning, Stockdale had jokingly discussed with reporters his prediction of "no chance" at the awards. They beat some of the most popular hard rock bands of the last decade; System of a Down, Tool and Nine Inch Nails to win the award. "I was a huge Tool fan back in the day, I saw them at Hordern Pavilion and Newcastle Uni," said Heskett about their nomination for the award.[5]
The members of Wolfmother are planning to begin work on their second album after taking a break from touring in Fall 2007.[citation needed]
The have an exclusive new song titled "Pleased to Meet You" being released on the Spider-Man 3 soundtrack through the RecordCollectoinMusic label, released May 1, 2007.[citation needed]
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
 |
[edit] EPs
- Wolfmother EP (2004) – #35 Australia
- Dimensions (2006)
[edit] Singles
| Year | Title | Chart positions | Album | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | US Modern Rock | US Mainstream Rock | UK Singles Chart | |||
| 2005 | "Mind's Eye" | 29 | - | - | 142 | Wolfmother |
| 2006 | "White Unicorn" | 33 | 38 | 29 | - | |
| "Dimension" | - | - | - | 49 | ||
| "Woman" | 34 | 10 | 7 | 31 | ||
| "Love Train" | - | - | - | 62 | ||
| "Joker and the Thief" | 8 | 31 | 27 | 64 | ||
[edit] Videography
- "Dimension" (2006)
- "Woman" (2006)
- "White Unicorn" (2006)
- "Love Train" (2006)
- "Joker & the Thief" (2006)
- "Mind's Eye" (2006)
[edit] Awards and nominations
[edit] Awards
- 2005 J Award
- 2006 Jack Awards, Best Bass Guitarist - Chris Ross from Wolfmother
- 2006 ARIA Awards, Best Breakthrough Album - Wolfmother
- 2006 ARIA Awards, Best Rock Album - Wolfmother
- 2006 ARIA Awards, Best Group
- 2007 Grammy Awards, Best Hard Rock Performance for Woman
- Total Guitar Reader's Poll Best International Newcomer
[edit] Nominations
- 2005 ARIA Awards, Single of the Year for Woman
- 2005 ARIA Awards, Best Breakthrough Artist - Single for Woman
- 2006 MTV Australian Video Music Awards, Spankin' New Aussie Artist
- 2006 MTV Australian Video Music Awards, Best Group
- 2006 MTV Australian Video Music Awards, Best Rock Video for Mind's Eye
- 2006 Jack Awards, Best Live Band
- 2006 Jack Awards, Best Male Performer - Andrew Stockdale from Wolfmother
- 2006 Jack Awards, Best Lead Guitarist - Andrew Stockdale from Wolfmother
- 2006 Jack Awards, Best Bass Guitarist - Chris Ross from Wolfmother
- 2006 Jack Awards, Best Drummer - Myles Heskett from Wolfmother
- 2006 ARIA Awards, Album of the Year
- 2006 ARIA Awards, Single of the Year for Mind's Eye
- 2007 Brit Awards, International Breakthrough Act
[edit] References
- ^ "Last Call with Carson Daly": Episode dated 9 November 2006 (2006). Internet Movie Database (2007-02-12).
- ^ Led Zeppelin and Brian Wilson For UK Music Hall of Fame. entertainmentwise.com (2007-02-12).
- ^ Clap Your Hands, Wolfmother design T-shirts. NME (2007-02-12).
- ^ Wolfmother win Grammy award. The Daily Telegraph (2007-02-12).
- ^ WOLFMOTHER Honored With GRAMMY In 'Best Hard Rock' Category. blabbermouth.net (2007-02-12).
- "Heavy Duty" by Larry Getlen, New York Post, April 30, 2006, retrieved on August 2, 2006
[edit] External links
| Wolfmother |
| Andrew Stockdale | Chris Ross | Myles Heskett |
| Discography |
|---|
| Albums and EPs: Wolfmother (EP) | Wolfmother | Dimensions (EP) |
| Singles: "Mind's Eye" | "White Unicorn" | "Dimension" | "Woman" | "Love Train" | "Joker and the Thief" |
| Related content |
| ARIA Music Awards | Jackass: Number Two | Modular Recordings |
| Category:Wolfmother |
Categories: Articles with unsourced statements since March 2007 | All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements since April 2007 | Wolfmother | Australian rock music groups | 2000s music groups | ARIA Award winners | Grammy Award winners | Musical groups established in 2000 | Stoner rock groups
