Sydney three-piece Little May are taking on the world, while supporting some of music's biggest names.
Annie, Liz and Hannah are currently touring Australia, supporting one of their all-time heroes. “So far so good. The last few shows have been supporting Rodriguez, which has been absolutely mindblowing, and such an honour,” Annie explains.
“Obviously I've seen the documentary and I've listened to Rodriguez's music a lot with my dad, who is a huge fan, so it's been really amazing touring with him.”
After the Rodriguez tour, Little May are set to tour with ex-Powderfinger singer, Bernard Fanning, in January. “That will be amazing; as a teenager Powderfinger were one of my favourite bands so it's pretty crazy that we have the opportunity to meet him let alone support him on tour,” Annie says.
The girls recently returned from a run of showcase performances in the United States. “We played CMJ Festival for a week in New York; over that week we had six gigs over five days. We played some pretty iconic, little venues in New York which was really special, met some other great bands and it was just a big whirlwind of amazingness.”
The band's busy schedule means there is no time to rest on their laurels. “We had one day at home after landing then we flew to Melbourne the next day to start the Rodriguez tour – it's been non-stop.
“It's also been pretty crazy going from a 1am rowdy-pub gig in a dingy, underground venue in New York and then going and playing somewhere like the State Theatre or The Palais Theatre in Melbourne with Rodriguez where it's just such a completely different experience.”
It could be argued that Little May are a part of the folk revival spearheaded by the likes of Mumford & Sons, Fleet Foxes and First Aid Kit. “I don't think we have ever consciously thought like 'it's a good time for this music so let's go for it'. We don't really think our music is folk music; maybe our earlier stuff is but our new stuff might push the boundaries of folk a little bit. We've just always written what we felt comfortable writing and what comes naturally to us, and then that’s how it turns out. So I guess it is just a really good timing thing.”
The band is set to record a new album next year as a follow-up to their self-titled 2013 EP, and they have found out inspiration can hit when you least expect it. “We have been writing a lot and in our live set at the moment we are playing a lot of new material, which will go on the album.
“Even just in the last couple of days in our hotel room in Perth we have just been jamming a few new songs which is really exciting. It's pretty crazy how something will just come to us when you least expect it. We'll just be sitting in a hotel room and everyone will be really exhausted and we'll just start working on a song or something and it just happens really magically.
“Sometimes if we have too much time on our hands we can never seem to make something work. It just flows naturally rather than being like 'this week let's write three songs!'”
Written by Nicholas Atkins
Little May Headline Tour Dates
Sun 16 November Rad Bar (Wollongong)Fri 21 November Northcote Social Club (Melbourne)
Sat 22 November The Front Gallery & Cafe (Canberra)
Thu 27 November Newtown Social Club (Sydney)
Fri 28 November Newtown Social Club (Sydney)
Sat 29 November Gorgeous Music Festival (Mclaren Vale)
Fri 5 December Solbar (Sunshine Coast)
Sat 6 December Black Bear Lodge (Brisbane)
Bernard Fanning Support
Thu 22 Jan - The Triffid (Brisbane)Sat 24 Jan - Leeuwin Estate Winery (Margaret River)
Thu 29 Jan - Newtown Social Club (Sydney)
Fri 30 Jan - Twilight At Taronga (Sydney)
Sat 31 Jan - Melbourne Zoo Twilights (Melbourne)
Angus & Julia Stone Support
Wed 4 Feb - Kings Park & Botanic Garden (Perth)Fri 13 Feb - Brisbane Riverstage
Fri 20 Feb - On The Steps, Sydney Opera House
Tue 24 Feb - AEC Theatre (Adelaide)
Fri 27 Feb - Margaret Court Arena (Melbourne)
