Wolfmother
Wolfmother is an Australian hard rock band from Sydney. Formed in 2004, the group is centred around vocalist and guitarist Andrew Stockdale, who is the only constant member of the line-up. The band has been through many personnel changes since their formation. The original – and most commercially successful – line-up included bassist and keyboardist Chris Ross and drummer Myles Heskett. Ross and Heskett left Wolfmother after four years in 2008.
Wolfmother
White Feather (early 2009)
Sydney, Australia
2004–present
- Andrew Stockdale
- James Wassenaar
- Christian Condon
- Chris Ross
- Myles Heskett
- Dave Atkins
- Ian Peres
- Aidan Nemeth
- Will Rockwell-Scott
- Vin Steele
- Elliott Hammond
- Hamish Rosser
- Bobby Poulton
Stockdale, Ross and Heskett formed Wolfmother in 2004 after several years of informal jamming. Signing with independent label Modular Recordings, the band released their self-titled debut album in Australia in 2005, which reached number 3 on the domestic albums chart. It was released internationally by Interscope and Island Records the following year, and to date has sold in excess of 1.5 million copies worldwide. After Ross and Heskett departed, Stockdale rebuilt the band with the addition of bassist and keyboardist Ian Peres, rhythm guitarist Aidan Nemeth and drummer Dave Atkins, who released Cosmic Egg in 2009.
In recent years, the line-up of Wolfmother has continued to change frequently, with their commercial popularity fluctuating. The band's planned third album Keep Moving was released as Stockdale's solo debut in 2013, with a new line-up including drummer Vin Steele issuing New Crown independently the following year. In 2016, the group released Victorious as their first album on a major label since Cosmic Egg, and subsequently toured with Alex Carapetis on drums. Wolfmother's personnel have continued to change, with Stockdale subsequently releasing and touring in promotion of his second solo album Slipstream in 2018.
History[edit]
2004–08: Formation, early years and self-titled debut[edit]
The genesis of Wolfmother began in 2000, when founding members Andrew Stockdale, Chris Ross, and Myles Heskett started jamming together, before officially forming the band in 2004.[1][2] Prior to this, Stockdale was a photographer, Ross worked in digital media and Heskett worked as a graphic designer.[1] Ross came up with the name of the band.[3] The first live performance of the newly christened Wolfmother took place on 14 April 2004 at Vic in the Park, a pub in Sydney.[2][4] The group were signed by Australian independent label Modular Recordings in August 2004, with whom they released their self-titled debut extended play (EP) Wolfmother the following month.[5] The EP reached number 35 on the ARIA Australian Singles Chart.[6] The band toured in promotion of the release for approximately six months, during which time they signed an international recording deal with the Universal Music Group.[1][5]
Musical style and critical reception[edit]
Upon the release of their debut album, Wolfmother received comparisons to influential hard rock and heavy metal bands of the 1960s and 1970s, particularly Led Zeppelin,[107] Black Sabbath,[108] and Blue Cheer.[109] More contemporary comparisons have included Roadkit and White, The White Stripes,[110] The Darkness,[111] and Queens of the Stone Age.[10] Similarly, the vocals of frontman Andrew Stockdale have been compared stylistically to those of Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant,[112] Black Sabbath's Ozzy Osbourne,[113] The Who vocalist Roger Daltrey,[114] and Jack White of The White Stripes.[115] AskMen went as far as to rank the band as the second top Led Zeppelin "rip-off" band.[116] Many of these comparisons to other bands continued in reviews for Cosmic Egg,[117][118][119][120] New Crown,[121] and Victorious.[122][123]
Despite these comparisons to other artists, Wolfmother was praised by the majority of commentators – aggregating website Metacritic reports a normalised rating of 76, indicating "generally favourable reviews", with 18 of the 22 included critical reviews categorised as positive.[124] Many elements of the band's music on their debut album were praised by critics, including the psychedelic subject matter of the lyrics,[114] the interplay between each member of the band,[125] and the combination of classic and modern elements.[22] Critical reception to Cosmic Egg was less positive, with Metacritic reporting a normalised rating of 65 and many critics noting a lack of invention or progression on the album.[126]
Current members