This year’s Wildwood Festival at Port Macquarie is shaping up to be one of the highlights of the coming months; and we’re not just saying that because The Jezabels are headlining.
“It’s gonna be sick,” enthuses vocalist Hayley Mary about the group performing at Wildwood Festival.
It’s all happening for The Jezabels right now. The indie-pop quartet recently played seven nights consecutively at the recently reopened Lansdowne Hotel in Sydney. “We wanted to do something kind of supporting the local scene,” Hayley says.
“Because you know, people are often going on about how it’s dying or dead, but it feels like it is a thriving scene and we wanna support it. There’s the argument that there are forces that are crushing the music scene, but there are a lot of great bands out there and we wanted to play smaller venues to celebrate the smaller people who are fighting.
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“The Lansdowne is perfect because they’ve just reopened after a big surge of small venues closing. Every night we showcased local bands and talked about how there’s heaps on.
“There are some very real powers that make it harder to be a musician, but it’s become more routine. The scene is stronger in a lot of ways in having, I guess, common enemies. And there’s something in that to celebrate I think.”
Fans can expect to hear live renditions of new single ‘The Others’, a highly emotive and involved track with very romantic leanings. “That song, I wrote the melody really quickly,” Hayley says.
“It kind of came out when we were demoing a bunch of songs. It came together quickest as it’s got a driving feeling behind [it], but it wasn’t a conscious decision to go back to romantic and emotive, but at the same time I think that’s how we’re all feeling.
“We’re in the stages as a band of looking back, feeling nostalgic and thinking of ourselves; we’ve been together ten years; I guess we’re in a reflective place. Sometimes I guess you find yourself being pushed to grow, both as a business and as a sound, and we get bigger and bigger.
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"I think we wanted to go back small again; not to say it’s a tiny song, but it’s pulling back to how we used to be, a bit more understated, more backwards looking than forwards.”
It’s likely that the new single will be in the band’s set at Wildwood; of the differences between a festival and a solo show Mary says: “At a festival you’re not playing exclusively to your own audience, you tend to play the songs that are on the radio, kind of more upbeat, you know, party vibes. Tailor a bit more to album tracks.”
Nevertheless, that’s not to say The Jezabels aren’t looking forward to the festival. “What’s kind of great,” Hayley says, “is it’s a little bit more carefree, [a] little less pressure, because we’re not the only ones there for people to watch, there’s a little bit more of a community vibe.”
The Jezabels Tour Dates
Sun 1 Oct - Wildwood Festival (Port Macquarie)Sun 15 Oct - The Riverstage (Brisbane)
Sat 28 Oct - Fremantle Town Hall
Wed 1 Nov - Derwent Entertainment Centre (Hobart)
6, 8 Nov - Sidney Myer Music Bowl (Melbourne)
