“We’re definitely more ambitious than
we’veeverbeen.Ilikeoverthetopmusic
emotionally and musically,” Wagner de-
clares. “We are a DIY band, we grew up lis-
tening to punk music, but I want to make
records that sound like Arcade Fire, that
sound like they were made in million dol-
lar studios, and I also want to make albums
that feel like Fugazi records and feel super-
impactful and raw and imperfect.”
A constant, prolific songwriter, Wag-
ner began writing the album at his Foot-
scray home, sneaking out of bed in the early
morning so as not to wake his girlfriend at
the time and retreating upstairs to pour out
his confusion and pain at their dysfunc-
tional relationship. Both were songwriters
and musicians, and it was the inequality in
their lyrics about each other that fi rst wor-
ried Wagner. He was writing love songs,
but only hearing “mean,
throwaway lines” in re-
turn.
“It was completely
torturous, and this was
someone who was aware
of that and enjoyed it. It
wassuper-strange,plus
songwritingissuchan
obvious window into
someone’s soul,” observes
Wagner.“Anyonecanbecomplimentaryin
a conversation, but lyrics and songwriting
aresuchthatifyouwritelikemeandmy
friendsdo,itcan’tbebullshit.Youcantell
what’s fake straight away.”
Thatdivideinforms“SongforYou”,acat-
erwauling, crashing out anthem – “I just
wanted you to let me love you,” sings Wag-
ner–thatchartstheterminalvelocityof
Wagner’s relationship. What followed that
realisation,inreallifeandonthealbum,
is a split that tore at the normally optimis-
tic musician.
“I have bipolar, so I’m the very definition
of a huge emotional range,” says Wagner.
“Itwasahugelytraumatictimeforme.I’ve
hadspecificcounsellingstuffforit.I’vehad
lotsofrelationships,butthiswastheArma-
geddonbreak-up.I’veneverhadtowritea
concept album about a break-up, but this
one fucked me up.”
None of this happened in private. Wag-
nerwascompulsivelywritingabouthisex-
periences,andalsosharingthemwithhis
bandmates, all of whom he counts as the
closestoffriends.Whetheroutofdedica-
tiontotheband,oradesiretokeephimin
motion, Wagner’s struggles coincided with
extensive Smith Street Band touring in not
only Australia, but also Europe and North
America following the release of 2014’s
ThrowMeintheRiveralbum.
“I won’t pretend there hasn’t been dark
moments and moments of tears and one of
uswantingtopackitinandgiveitup,but
we don’t let one another stop,” notes Cow-burn. “We keep pushing each other and we
keep going.”
“I can be trouble sometimes. I’m not a
dick,butIcanbementallyunstable,soI
do need more things than most people in
bands,” Wagner explains. “There were def-
initely times where I leant on those guys
heavily. I’d come to them with a song and
play it to them and they’d say to me, ‘For-
get the song, are you OK?’ We all really
care about each other and love each other.
On tour, if I needed to, I could just turn my
head and start talking to someone. We’re
only ever a metre or two apart.”
The band’s growing profile – the sec-
ond half of 2017 will be spent touring over-
seas before a major Australian tour with
a “very interesting format”, according to
Cowburn, in early 2018 – plus a desire to
find a new, motivating project has also
led to the Smith Street
Band starting their own
label. More Scared... is
the fi rst release on Pool
House Records, the latest
step in self-suffi ciency for
a group that is self-man-
aged and books its own
tours and logistics.
“This felt like the right
time and it’s a passion
that the band has always had,” says Cow-
burn. “Being able to have complete con-
trol was important because we’re all mi-
cro-managers, but we also have the chance
to start something and build a community
for our friends’ bands and new groups we
find. That’s super exciting for us.”
Fitzgerald is already producing the la-
bel’s first signing, Melbourne singer and
songwriter Jess Locke, who also contrib-
utes toMore Scared.. ., while Wagner
hopes to sign and produce hip-hop acts
and a chillwave duo. It’s one of the upsides
of their success, while a downside is the
heightened scrutiny they receive because
Wagner is an enthusiastic public support-
er of gender equality, LGBT rights and ref-
ugee advocacy.
“It sets you up for people who want to
shut you down,” admits Wagner. “
this arrogant divide on the left whe
causeIsaidthose things people who
nonetheless want to catch me out,
than focusing on bands who’ve nev
anything.”
What he’ll fall back on, as ever, is th
port of his bandmates and the conn
they enjoy in the Smith Street Band.
in the group, says Wagner, is “hugely
fying”, and now that he’s made it th
the trying times he’s ready for wh
they discover next. The three lines r
ly tattooed on Wagner’s right arm, t
sign unadorned and the intent cle
his new starting point: no more sha
more fear, no more dread.JAY SOM: BEDROOM
DREAM-POP PRODIGYMelina Duterte has been performing her
own music for only about a year. Before
that, the 23-year-old was a formally trained
jazz trumpeter with conservatory goals. She
changed direction in 2015, when she re-
leased nine songs as Jay Som (a pseudonym
she pulled from an online name genera-
tor). The set earned her a rec ord deal and
comparisons to Mazzy Star. Her new album,
Everybody Works, recorded in her Oakland
bedroom, combines low-fi rock, dream pop
and R&B production. She wrote it as she
struggled to balance personal relation-
ships with what she calls her “indulgent”
new career – which she’s only just getting
comfortable with. “I’ve started to actually
like playing live,” she says, “but if I had to
choose, I wouldn’t. Recording in my bed-
room, I can literally do whateverCASHMERE CAT’S
ALL-STAR EDM PARTYSince 2012, Cashmere Cat has existed mainly
in liner notes, providing sparse, synth-heavy
beats for Kanye, Britney Spears and Ariana
Grande. The Norwegian DJ signed up more
big names, including Selena Gomez and the
Weeknd, for his new LP, 9. Cashmere (real
name Magnus Høiberg) singles out “Wild
Love” – an avant-garde meditation on crazy
sex, sung by the Weeknd – as an example of
his new musical mission. “I wanted to make
a longer body of work,” he says of the album.
“Not just club tracks.” KORY GROWCashm
CatDuterteJu ne, 2017 RollingStoneAus.com | Rolling Stone | 33FROM TOP: GETTY IMAGES; CARA ROBBINS
“We are a DIY
band, but I want to
make records that
sound like Arcade
Fire,” says Wagner.NEW ARTISTS