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 06 July 2008 21:42 BST

Angus and Julia Stone: Simplicity beats sibling troubles

Monday, 07 Apr 2008 18:07
Julia Stone - a face suited to beautiful music
The female half of the Aussie folk duo talks to inthenews.co.uk's Lewis Bazley.

Having just released their debut album A Book Like This, Australian brother-and-sister duo Angus and Julia Stone look set to transform MySpace adoration into success on the big stage, with their winning mix of Angus' Damien Rice-like lilting vocals and Julia's Bjork-esque warbling creating a sonic combination that lulls the listener into wistful contentment.

Having completed a successful support slot on Newton Faulkner's UK tour, the critically-acclaimed pair have the looks to match their talent - catch them while you can - maybe at their upcoming headline show at London's Scala - before their loveable folk is snapped up to soundtrack a US teen drama and they flee from our shores. Or something like that.

inthenews.co.uk's Lewis Bazley spoke to Julia Stone about releasing an album with her brother, the involvement of Travis' Fran Healy in their debut and the problems of living and working with your sibling.

An obvious question first - touring as siblings is a fairly unusual thing in the business - does it ever cause any problems?

We get on pretty well these days. Mostly it is a nice comfort to have someone with you that knows you so well.You save heaps of time, where you'd normally be talking through things... figuring stuff out.

What was your biggest fallout while touring?

We didn't talk for a whole flight back to Australia... I think we had a fight about a pair of sunglasses.

Onto the music - who did you both grow up listening to?

Backbeat, the number one covers band on the northern beaches of Sydney. Our dad played in Backbeat and they would rehearse in the garage... We also sometimes would go and watch them play… they played everything from Creedence Clearwater Revival to Louis Armstrong. It is only now that we are playing festivals that we are finding out what bands wrote the songs that Backbeat played. We saw Don MacLean play in Perth the other day and that was cool... hearing American Pie... He was so great.

And why did you eventually become part of the band, seeing as it started as a solo project for Angus?

We were living together, so we played music together, started playing open mic nights, and then put some recordings together.

What do you think are the differences between each other's songs?

Angus sings more about the clouds... I sing about the rain...

Moving onto the album - how did getting Travis' Fran Healy involved originally happen?

He was signed to the same label we were signed to, and we wanted to record a song called Black Jacket on the piano. [A & R man] David Boyd told us that Fran had a recording space at his house with a lovely piano, so we went over and ended up recording a whole of songs.

Is it exciting to have the album out or nerve-wracking?

It is good. To have the songs on record... It is like once they are recorded the songs change and grow but the time they were made is there always. It is good to have a record of the time that you made the music. Because they were good times.

How have the tracks been received while you've been touring with Newton Faulkner?

Newton's audiences were really welcoming towards us. They were always there to watch the show, and always wanted to listen to the music.

It's not your first time in England, but how have you enjoyed the tour?

The tour with Newton was great, his whole crew are just fantastic people to be around. All up for having a good time... The tour had a real family vibe, which suited all of us. We had some wicked jams backstage with everyone, playing hits from the 80s and 90s. Also, the catering was a treat!

Would you say you have a favourite venue in the UK?

We had a great gig at Cabaret Voltaire in Edinburgh last year during the Fringe festival.... We played a beautiful theatre in Aberdeen with newton, I can't remember the name but it was very very beautiful.

You might have been asked this before, but how does the beach atmosphere at Cornwall compare to where you grew up?

There are similarities... People who like to get out and about in nature. Everyone we have met down in St Agnes is pretty active... I suppose the temperature of the water is the most obvious difference. It makes it a little hard to enjoy early morning swims. The boys still get out there and go for a surf - it is a little more rugged, and breathtaking. The waves crashing against the bottom of the cliffs, the tin mines, the churches... There is a feeling that history is walking with you when you stand on the ocean shore.

MySpace is obviously a key factor in the rise of a lot of acts at the moment - how important has been to your success?

MySpace has been really wonderful. It has allowed the music to be heard by people from all over the world regardless of whether the record has been released or not. So people can hear the music in Saudi Arabia, or Fiji. We can now hopefully plan a couple of tours to Tahiti, Mexico...

A lot of press refer to the fact that your songs can seem simple yet actually prove themselves to be intricate - is that something deliberate or organic?

It seems like quite the task - to make something intricate and yet simple... or the other way around...

And finally, as a fairly young duo, is releasing an album something you see as a career pinnacle or merely the start of something much bigger?

I don't see it as either of those things. It is something much more simple than that. It is recordings from times we spent with our friends making music. That's all.

Click here to read the inthenews.co.uk review of A Book Like This, Angus and Julia Stone's debut album

Watch the video for Wasted here on inthenews.co.uk


Lewis BazleyEnd of story


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