Next week Victorian psych-rock outfit Stonefield will commence their ‘Bad Reality‘ tour in support of their new single of the same name. You can grab it on iTunes now [Here]. The tour has nine dates through Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria with support from Delta Riggs and Kingswood. We caught up with Stonefield guitarist Hannah to answer our Hotseat Questions this week. Expand this post to read her answers and re-cap their tour dates.
THE BASICS
Name: Hannah
Band: Stonefield
Job In Band: Guitarist
Website Address: facebook.com/stonefieldband
HOME
Hometown : Macedon Ranges.
Hometown is best known for : Hanging Rock (Picnic at Hanging Rock).
Best venue in your hometown : We don’t have venues in our town but the closest thing to it would be the Woodend Scout Hall. We played and went to lots of gigs there as we were starting off, it’s a pretty cozy log cabin sort of thing.
Favourite show you’ve seen in your hometown : I’m going to go a little out of our town and go to Melbourne.. because not that much goes on in our town. And I would have to say Zappa Plays Zappa at Hammer Hall. It was the first time we saw them live and it inspired us a lot. They are such a talented band and pulled off Frank’s music perfectly.
Favourite show you’ve played in your hometown : A Freeza gig that we did a few years ago with Children Collide. It was the first time we had ever played with a band as big as them so we were pretty excited about the whole thing. All of our friends came and we got to hang out with Children Collide.
THE BAND
How did the band first come to exist? We’re all sisters so we grew up doing singing lessons together from a young age. After a few years we decided to learn an instrument to sing to. Amy took an interest in drums and so did I but I decided I didn’t want to be the same as her so I took up guitar. Sarah decided to learn keys and then Holly became quite fond of the idea of learning Bass. Over a few Christmas’ we all got our instruments and began getting lessons from our next-door neighbor. We started learning the same songs, jammed on them together and pretty much formed the band!
How long has the band been going? Almost 7 years.
Any particular story behind the name? We were originally called iotah but had to change it as there is another artist with the same name. We were stuck for a while so we decided to write up a list of words. We had ‘stone’ and ‘field’ down and thought they were quite relevant to us as there are lots of fields with stones where we live. We pretty much put two words together and came up with Stonefield.
What’s your most recent release? Tell us a little about it… We’re about to release our new EP ‘Bad Reality’. We recorded it with Lindsay Gravina at Birdland Studios in Melbourne. We worked really well with Lindsay and he really pushed us to get the best performance. We feel like our songwriting has grown a lot with this EP and can’t wait to release it!
Got a personal stand out achievement of your band to date? Winning Triple J Unearthed High or playing at Glastonbury! Hearing our song on the radio for the first time after winning the competition was a pretty surreal feeling and playing at Glastonbury was absolutely amazing. To be on the same lineup as U2, Coldplay, Queens of the Stone Age and to be playing such a prestigious stage was incredible, we are still pinching ourselves now!
OFF THE STAGE
What was your first introduction to music that made you think seriously about playing it? We’ve always wanted to be involved with music. We began singing from a young age and then after watching live music videos of bands like Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and Frank Zappa we decided to pick up our instruments. I guess just growing up listening and watching music inspired us to want to play it!
Any particular band / album or song that you personally credit as a major influence? Anything by Led Zeppelin or Frank Zappa. Led Zeppelin have so many amazing songs on every Album, and Jimmy Page is an incredible guitarist. Frank Zappa has such a diverse range of songs and is a really inspiring musician. His arrangements and the way he crafts the songs always makes me think of how we can make our songs better.
Your first band name, and what style did you play? I’m not even going to say our first band name because it is so terrible. But our second band name was Iotah. We started off playing a heavier style of rock… almost Evanescence like. After writing more songs and learning how to write in different styles we found what felt right to us and have stuck to it ever since.
Most prized music related item you own? My SG that Dad brought me. He has always been very supportive of us and is always helping us out in anyway he can.
When you’re not doing band related stuff, what are you usually found doing? Catching up with friends.
ON THE STAGE
The thing you most look forward to just before a tour is… It depends what the tour is. For the one we’re about to begin it would be playing new songs and the fact that we have two awesome support bands coming with us for the whole tour.
The thing you least look forward to before a tour is… Not getting much sleep.
When on offer, what’s your one must have item on the rider? Fruit Salad. It’s hard to eat healthy when we’re on the road so we always look forward to a nice Fruit Salad on the rider.
Favourite place you’ve toured… and why? England. It was the first time we had played a gig overseas and we got to play Glastonbury! We had so many amazing experiences over there and got to see heaps of incredible bands.
Most memorable show you’ve played? and why? Either Glastonbury or the show we played with Foo Fighters. We supported Foo Fighters at the Sydney Football Stadium which was absolutely massive, it is the biggest venue we have ever played. Dave Grohl watched our set and told us after that he really enjoyed it. I don’t think we’ll be forgetting that show anytime soon.
Got a favourite song to play live? A song called ‘Towers’. It hasn’t made it on to any or our EPs but it’s got a cool little riff and the solo is always a lot of fun to play.
Any embarrassing on stage moments come to mind? The many times I have almost completely stacked from getting tangled in my guitar lead. Luckily I have caught my balance but it’s always a bit scary.
Any pre-show rituals? We always give each other a pep talk just before we go on stage and all sing the same note together. I don’t know if it actually does anything but we did it once and it was a good gig so we stuck with it.
What do you find is the hardest aspect of touring in a band today? For us it’s finding the time to write songs, especially last year as we were touring so much. Hopefully with more experience we’ll be able to learn new ways to write while on the road.
RIGHT NOW
Last song you listened to? A new song of ours in band rehearsal that we just finished.
Last album you acquired? Best of the Doors.
Which band or album is currently on high rotation? Mutemath’s album ‘Odd Soul’. I hadn’t heard of them before this album but they’re awesome!
Tell us an up and coming band or artist you think we should go and listen to right now? The Delta Riggs or Kingswood. They both have that old school rock sound going on and are pretty pumping live bands.
What’s on the cards for the next few months for the band? We’re about to release our new EP Bad Reality and are going on tour to support it in April. We’re also playing Triple J’s One Night Stand in June with The Temper Trap, Matt Corby and 360. We’ll be writing as much as we can in the meantime to get ready for our debut album.
IF ONLY…
You can pick any one album for your band to cover in full, what would it be and why? Houses of the Holy – Led Zeppelin. It’s one of my favorite albums by Led Zeppelin and has lots of cool sounds to play around with.
You can pick any one band / artist to cover one of your albums in full, what would it be, and why? Korn. It would be fun to see metal version of our songs.
One band you wish you were able to see live but never had the chance? Frank Zappa.
One venue you have yet to play that you would love to? Wembley Stadium… who wouldn’t!
The chance comes up to fill in for a member of a band for one tour, which band would it be, and why? The Rolling Stones… even though it would be incredibly hard to fill the spot of anyone in the band, I’d get to play alongside Mick Jagger. He is an awesome performer and they are such a legendary band.
A headline tour overseas comes up, tell us two bands you’d take along to support your band. Band of Skulls and The Black Keys. Even though it obviously should be the other way around it would be pretty cool to watch them play every night.
PLUG TIME
Got any last words? Come along to our ‘Bad Reality’ tour!
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