Well, this ain’t a huge surprise.
Andrew Stockdale is ditching his Wolfmother alias (it was pretty much just him and a rent-a-band anyway) and has declared that he’ll be releasing what was meant to be the band’s new record under his own name.
Stockdale took to his Twitter page today to say that the album is “a different trip now” and he wants “to be true to himself”, hence his decision. The album was tentatively titled Gatherings and was set to be released early this year; however, all that must now be up in the air too.
It effectively means that the Wolfmother brand is dead – even though they were just recently announced as a support act for Aerosmith at the US band’s Sydney gig at ANZ Stadium on Sunday, 28th April. Whether they will appear under that moniker or not and whether promoter Andrew McManus needs to make a few new posters is unclear.
Original Wolfmother band members Chris Ross and Myles Heskett walked out on Stockdale in August 2008 following extensive touring for their self-titled Grammy-winning debut album. A new line-up containing Aidan Nemeth, bassist and keyboardist Ian Peres, and drummer Dave Atkins recorded the 2009 follow-up Cosmic Egg. Atkins quit during the band’s touring of the album and was replaced by Will-Rockwell Scott.
Since then, Peres appears to be the only one who has stuck by Stockdale’s side, with the remaining members departing and Hamish Rosser, Vin Steele and keyboardist Elliott Hammond joining the group.
Fansite Wolfmother.net claims that the band have been working on the follow-up to Cosmic Egg since at least March 2011, and that up to three bassists and four drummers have contributed to the album.
Either way, once Andrew Stockdale’s labour of love finally comes out, it’s going to be an intriguing listen. That is, if anyone still cares. More updates to come as we hear them.
I'm putting this record out as Andrew Stockdale….. It's a different trip now and I need to be true to myself.
— Andrew Stockdale (@positron76) March 5, 2013
