Lennox Head-based indie-rock quartet, WHARVES, recently released their brand new single titled ‘Man You Want Me To Be’ – recorded and produced by Steven Schram (San Cisco, Tiny Little Houses) at Studio Circuit, Gold Coast QLD. (see previous post on this blog: http://theaussiemusicblog.blogspot.com.au/2017/03/indie-rock-quartet-wharves-new-single.html).
I caught up with band member Mike and fired a few hard-hitting questions at him:
Who or what inspired you to form Wharves and how did it all come together?
We met in Lismore through Southern Cross Uni. Matt, Scott and I had just formed the project when Fraser came along to take it to its final form.
Any influences to speak of?
Big ones for me are Radiohead, Beck and Battles. As a band we particularly enjoy the sounds of Foals, City Calm Down, The Strokes, Arctic Monkeys and Queens of the Stone Age.
Where does the name come from and does it have a meaning behind it?
We did a photo-shoot 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 group-chat when talking about the photo-shoot and Matt liked how it looked and pitched to us and we agreed that it was fitting. A fun fact; we were named Peach Cat for about a week before changing.
Who does the songwriting and is it a collective effort?
It’s definitely a collective effort. We have a few ways of working which is great. Sometimes Matt has an acoustic demo, some just happen in a jam and others come from making demos in Ableton. We’ve got a stack of demos that we are constantly adding to and referring back to.
Do you consider yourselves a strictly Australian group or want to be known internationally?
We would love to be known internationally, playing festivals and gigs overseas would be an absolute dream come true.
How important are outlets like triple j unearthed to help promote local artists?
They are absolutely essential. Triple J Unearthed do such an amazing job of getting bands in there infancy out to the world. (see https://www.triplejunearthed.com/artist/wharves)
Are you happy with your sound or do wish to develop it further? If so, what would you add or improve on?
I’m totally up for developing it in the future. I take a lot of inspiration from Radiohead and Arctic Monkeys have progressed, each album sounds so different but they still have their original characteristics there. We’ve started adding some new gear, Scott just got a new awesome Synth, and I’ve been experimenting using Ableton as a guitar pedal.
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