An emerging band from Meanjin, alternative rock six-piece strayfold blend shoegaze with striking violin, deep baritone guitar and soaring female vocals.
Their songs marry gracefully vulnerable lyrics with tenacious instrumentals, creating passionate music brooding with intimacy, tenderness and fervour.Although still in their infancy with only two official single releases, next week strayfold venture to Byron Bay to open Stone & Wood's Festival Of The Stone joining the likes of Old Mervs, Josh Pyke, The Belair Lip Bombs.
"Thrilled to be on the line-up for Stone & Wood's Festival Of The Stone alongside such awesome Aussie artists ❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥. Big thank you to Moondust Merchants and Qube Effect for the amazing opportunity, and to Stone & Wood for having us onboard 💫💫."
The band were also recently awarded The Qube Effect Innovation Award. "As a band who loves to bring together our various influences to create noisy, heartfelt, shoegazey tunes, this award means the world to us 🥹."
Who is... We're strayfold! A shoegaze band from beautiful Meanjin made of Chelsea Costar (lead vocals/ guitar), Zac Carr (guitar/ vocals), Ethan Wood (baritone guitar), Harper Kodicek (violin/ vocals), Matt Norrish (bass), and Jack Lestone (drums). We all met while studying music at uni together.
We sound like... Heavy feelings and a lust for life. Our reference tracks range from Slow Pulp to Sonic Youth, to DIIV, to Jeff Buckley to Wednesday and more.
Our first gig was... We played The Junk Bar when it still lived in Ashgrove. Our friends from Dogtooth and RENO ltd. opened for us, it was really sweet – also sold out!
When did you settle on the group's name, and was it a unanimous decision... We had a handful of ideas, and really liked the idea of a singular word verb+noun combo. A few weeks passed and we settled on Ethan's idea of 'strayfold' that had been our group chat placeholder name.
In the studio we usually... Rock out, have fun and get it done! Ethan's our producer so we always have a great time whether it's at uni or Ethan's studio.
If we could tour with anyone... Metallica or MJ Lenderman.
Social media is... Kinda lame. It's gotten too algorithmic.
My favourite app at the moment is... We all love Instagram; our group chat is filled with chaotic reels.
To date, our most embarrassing moment was the time... We got a little too loose at a gig, and in our song 'I'll Try' we all ended up in different spots of the song!
Life on the road can be... Chill as! Chelsea loves sleeping during death grips.
If you'll have us on your bill, all we ask is that our rider contains... Stone & Wood, a cheeseboard, salt and vinegar chips.
The most scary scenario we've found ourselves in, was... Brew Day. It ended up being such a fun and exciting event to be a part of.
What celebrity/famous person would you love to be spokesperson of the band... Jack: I think the YouTuber Spanian would be a perfect spokesperson for the band. Spanian's raw authenticity and streetwise presence amplify strayfold's gritty shoegaze sound.
If you had to live in a city abroad, where would you choose and why? Copenhagen! There's such a sick music scene, beautiful weather, what more could you want?
Three people you'd like to invite around for a dinner party... MJ Lenderman, Stevie Nicks, and one of the guys from Slipknot. Being a six piece, we have so many different musical influences so it would be interesting to have them at one table with us.
If we were coming over to your place, what would you cook us? We'd probably serve up a charcuterie board; bonus points if there’s a campfire too.
When it comes to pets are you a lover or hater of our furry friends? Jack: I love dogs, don't like cats. They’re bearable.
No matter the expense, send me a case of... Zac: Stone & Wood or Sapporo.
The last time I saw the inside of a gym was... Chelsea: I just did leg day today, hit some PBs too!
What's the one chore you dislike the most? Cleaning the shower. It just never seems to be perfect!
Do you have any phobias... Snakes and spiders, too scary for us.
Would you ever partake in a reality show? Harper: I think I'd be strategic enough for 'Survivor'.
If you could prank any of your friends, who's your target, and how are you bringing them down? Gerry Rossi. We'd tell him he's replacing Ethan in strayfold – he filled in when we played Grain Magazine's SILO and had so much fun. That might break his heart though.
Best local takeaway joint for a midnight feed that will leave you with a food coma? Valley Kebab or Gabba Kebab (especially after a show). Always hits the spot.
Which fictional character best describes your personality? Scooby Doo (including Scrappy Doo), mainly because there's six of us but we reckon it makes sense.
Last show you binge-watched (and what kept you glued to the screen)? Jack: 'Better Call Saul' because I like the law aspect. Chelsea: 'High Potential' because I love crime drama shows with a fun female lead.
strayfold join Old Mervs, Josh Pyke, The Belair Lip Bombs, dust and FELONY. at Festival Of The Stone at Stone & Wood Brewery (Byron Bay) on 14 June.
