What started as four sisters practicing their musical instruments together in their parents’ shed in a tiny rural township north of Melbourne has turned into the earthen psych-rock opal that is award winning band Stonefield. Amy, Hannah, Sarah and Holly Findlay grew up sharing the same love for classic 70s rock and artists such as Led Zeppelin, The Doors, Jimmy Hendrix and Fleetwood Mac. The sisters, who each play a different instrument, soon started creating music together before being encouraged by their mum to enter their song Foreign Lover into the Triple J Unearthed competition for unsigned bands. Stonefield won the competition in 2010 and since then have released a number of songs such as Black Water Rising, Ruby Skies and Through the Clover.
Fast-forward to 2014 and the band have recently released their debut self-titled album that is about their journey growing up over the past few years. “Recording an album gives you a lot more time and space to explore different sounds, go down different paths and try to have an ending to the journey. Our favourite way of writing is just jamming all together, but with this record Hannah and I did write a couple of songs acoustically before jamming it out with the band,” says Amy Findlay, drummer and lead vocalist.
The album already has two hit songs, Love You Deserve and Put Your Curse On Me, which features vocals from the Melbourne Gospel Choir to help the song achieve a ‘voodoo vibe’. Love You Deserve was inspired by a quote from book The Perks of Being a Wallflower. “You only accept the love you think you deserve. It’s easy to relate to that quote because everyone realises at some point that you’re not quite taking the love that you deserve in some way or another,” said Findlay.
Stonefield are currently touring around the country and featuring at festivals Future Music and Good Life. Closer to home they will be playing a show at the Hallam Hotel on Friday March 21. “Probably our favourite part of being in the band is playing live shows and touring. We’re really looking forward to getting out to a lot of places we haven’t been to before as well. Our show is high energy rock and roll with lots of songs from the album.”
The sisters took their blend of rock and energetic performance to legendary UK music festival Glastonbury in 2011. “Glastonbury is like its own little city, it still feels like it was a dream playing there in front on thousands of people. It’s such a cool vibe, people get really into it and there are so many great bands, it’s a crazy experience.” The overseas market is firmly still on the radar as we speak. “After this single tour we’re looking at going overseas in May. We’re trying to get on a support tour so we can spend a fair amount of time in the UK, building a fan base and tying to make it happen over there.”
When it comes to making creative decisions and writing music, being sisters has helped the band. “We’re already working on our second album just songwriting and throwing ideas around. We can fight like any siblings do in that process, but it’s mostly about stupid things that aren’t band related, normal sister stuff like clothes. I think that it really helps to have that bond and be able to say what you think and not worry about hard feelings. You just get over it, move on and say what needs to be said. We’re really lucky in that respect.”
As well as touring and writing new music, Findlay has recently launched Stonefield Vintage, an online clothing store featuring pre-loved 70s retro clothing at affordable prices. “I really wanted to do something on the side to help inspire me with music. I love everything about that 60s/70s era and love the fashion,” Findlay says. “Over the years we’ve just collected so much stuff; bits and pieces we’ve found from vintage and op shops. It’s an amazing era that I think a lot of people love, there’s lots of great textures, fringes, velvet those sort of things.”
Make sure you don’t miss your chance to see Stonefield live, as these effortlessly cool and extremely talented sisters are certainly stars on the rise. The band plays the Hallam Hotel on March 21 (with Lurch & Chief), with tickets onsale from www.hallamhotel.com.au for $22. Stonefield will also play Prince Bandroom on May 2 to wrap up their tour. For more details on Stonefield Vintage, check out www.stonefieldvintage.com
JESSICA MILLS
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