The Snowdroppers

Thu 5th Nov, 2009 in Features

Channelling the rough – œn ready spirit of 1920s blues-rock, The Snowdroppers are a unique proposition on the Sydney music scene. To celebrate the release of debut album Too Late To Pray, the four-piece has set up its own Juke Joint at Rozelle watering hole The Bridge Hotel.

With two parties down and two to come in November, there’s still time to indulge in some good ol’ fashioned Snowdroppers fun. FL spoke to the man out front Johnny Wishbone about bringing some danger back to the city.

You about to play a series of gigs in a re-created Juke Joint. How close do you think you’ll get to the real thing?
The defining characteristic of a good juke joint is the prevalence of what can only be described as shambolic feng shui. Our night has chicken wire. Enough said.

Do you think life in Sydney is better now or in the 1920s?
The fact that we’re conducting this interview via the internet should be answer enough to this question, however I’d like to postulate that with the advent of our mod cons we as a society perhaps miss the simplicity of bygone eras. It’s hard to Twitter when you can barely scrape together enough to pay your tin can telephone bill.

The video for Rosemary looked like a helluva lot of fun to film – tell us about what went on on set?
While it may have looked like fun, the buzz word for the day was – œcelibacy’. With 20 girls aged between 16 and 18 there was a strict you-break-it-you-bought-it policy, which was a shame as I feel the day could have been far more physically demanding than it was.

Wishbone is quite the showman – is there any other performer who has inspired that showmanship?
John Spencer, Frank Sinatra, Otis Redding, Sam Cooke, Howlin’ Wolf, Bill Hicks, Jim Morrison to name but a few.

Your music and presence are very different from the standard Sydney – œindie bands’- do you feel like you stand along in what you do?
There are plenty of awesome acts emerging now who yearn for a little more simplicity that the classic sounds of blues/soul/country/folk ECT conjure. Come to any of our Barrelhouse nights to see said great bands.

You are a band with a very distinct character, yet you have avoided the – œnovelty band’ tag. Has that been a conscious effort?
Punters can spot a fake in a heartbeat so we’ve never intended to simply get out there and take the piss, although there’s definitely have a sense of humour to what we do. Without sounding too clichéd, we’re paying tribute to the sounds that we love while introducing it to (hopefully) a new audience. I think it was DaVinci who said: “Good artists copy, great artists steal.”

You are about to release your debut LP Too Late To Pray. How did you go about channeling your live energy into an album?
With the help of producer Azzy T and Dave Hammer we managed to walk that line called less-is-more. While we wanted to capture the energy of our live shows, we also wanted to have some fun and add a few little special nuggets that would keep the listener entertained. Whether we achieved that or not is pointless – the fact is, Mum is stoked with it.

What can we expect from The Barrelhouse if we come on down?
You mean – œwhen’, right? I can gurantee a rootin’ tootin’, family fun happy good time*.
*Not a guarantee

Too Late To Pray is out now through Difrnt Music. The Snowdroppers present The Barrelhouse at Bridge Hotel on 6 and 13 November.

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