The Devoted Few

Wed 9th Sep, 2009 in Features

The Devoted Few have just set out on their latest – œDevoted Daughter’ tour and it sounds like it’s gotten off to brilliant start. “We’re not lost in the back of Redfern!” yells Wes, unsubtly inferring that Ben has taken the wrong turn.

“When we saw the van today it was a bit smaller than we’d expected. Sherlock’s Daughter will be meeting us in Newcastle, and from there we’ll work out the logistics for the next part of the tour. We’ll probably take some of their stuff and they’ll take some of ours. We’ll be sharing a lot of equipment on this tour!”

Like a poster child for Responsible Drivers Australia, lead singer Ben is more than happy to hastily hand the phone over to bassist Wes as they drive nostalgically through the backstreets of Sydney. It looks set to be a continuation of their odyssey post the successful and gushingly acclaimed release Baby, You’re a Vampire at the start of the year.

“I was pretty happy with the album musically and felt that it was a very complete work,” Wes tells me, happy to reflect upon time past since February. “The way it’s gone over, we’ve certainly had some exposure we’ve never had before which is always good. You always want to take a step every time and do something slightly different so it’s been very satisfying for me.”

The breakout class of 2009 has been a relatively small one in Australian music this year, which should speak highly towards the pedigree The Devoted Few have developed since releasing their first album Billboard Noises back in 2004. Building gradually upon each release has proven a successful formula, backed by strong and constant touring with the likes of Eskimo Joe, Dapple Cities and most recently Pony Up! in June.

“The touring stories that stick in my mind are generally negative ones,” Wes interjects, met by jeers from the back of the van. “Generally, the relationships we develop with bands are great, but we’ve also had some shockers! Sometimes I’ve finish a tour and thought, – œI just didn’t get along with any of them and we didn’t gel’, but then the next tour we’re developing friendships, become really involved with other bands and it really feels like you’re a part of the musical community.”

With no mention of summer festival slots lined up yet, it seems reasonable to speculate that something new of a musical persuasion may be brewing amongst the touring entourage in the not to distant future. When posed this suggestion, Wes was less than open. He was more than quick, however, to add credence to fans’ hopes of some new material coming from the studio sooner rather than later.

“Recording is something we talk about and though we have no immediate plans in place we’ve made a conscious effort to not start playing new songs and move on too quickly, because we’d done that before with previous albums. Every time we make an album, the day it comes out I want to be thinking about moving on. When we make a record and it comes out it’s already our old work, song we’ve written a couple of years ago. Next time round, we want our new songs to be as fresh and exciting for the public to hear as they are for us to be playing.”

Whilst we wait with baited breathe for the next installment in the Devoted musical chronicles, it appears the group did make it to Newcastle for the start of their tour. After some logistical negotiations, they’re set to continue north in the interim to play two dates in Brisbane before turning downhill and south back to Melbourne. In support is Sherlock’s Daughter, a bolting achiever of the indie scene that crammed into Sydney’s slim stage at St. Jerome’s Laneway during the summer.

Wes in contrast, revealed how he prefers to play towards the adoring gaze of few rather than the lusty throng of the many. “I’m a bit of a sucker for the folksier and quieter stuff we do, so I prefer the set-list we write for more intimate shows. Obviously we’ll tailor our set to our audience and we’ve got a fairly wide range of sounds to draw from and generally we’ll play rocker shows in bigger venues.”

And as for the possibility of attracting increased international attention, these five vagabond lads and ladette seem logistically destined to roam the six states and their sister territories for the meantime.

“I guess we have been more focused on home. We’ve looked abroad a few times but with six of us in the band we’ll all need to want to make the push together at the same time for it to happen. But because the musical world is so connected now it’s easier to reach the right audience no matter where you are and hopefully we now have enough people who will want to buy our record for us to be able to go and make the albums that we want to make, without the need to break through in any way.”

Baby, You’re A Vampire is out now on Laughing Outlaw through Inertia. These stops are still to come on the – œDevoted Daughter’ tour, presented by FasterLouder.

Fri 18 Sept – East Brunswick, Melb
Thu 24 Sept – Hopetoun, Syd
Fri 25 Sept – Hopetoun, Syd