Still Wild, Still Wolfmother
Two decades after their era-defining debut, Wolfmother are still turning it up to eleven. Frontman Andrew Stockdale looks back on the record that changed everything and teases a thunderous set at Adelaide Beer & BBQ Fest.
Words Tobias Handke // Image supplied
“It’s a life-changing record,” Wolfmother’s Andrew Stockdale confesses over the phone to The Note. “It’s been in numerous Hollywood movies and huge computer games; it enabled us to tour the world, meet our heroes and play venues we never thought we’d play. It’s awesome.”
The record in question? Wolfmother’s acclaimed self-titled debut album. It’s been 20 years since the band’s career-defining release dropped and life looks a little different (Byron-based Stockdale is on babysitting duties when he answers our call). Nevertheless, the impact of the LP’s rollicking 12 tracks (or 13 on the international release) of ‘70s-inspired hard rock still reverberate nationwide – it’s hard to resist the potent guitar riffs and anthemic power of tracks such as ‘Joker And The Thief’ and ‘Woman’.
Wind back to 2005, and Wolfmother were one year into what would become a skyrocketing career. The band – then comprising long-term mates Stockdale, Chris Ross (bass/keys) and Myles Heskett – signed to Modular Recordings in their first six months. Not long after, they followed up with a critically acclaimed EP and accepted an international recording deal with Universal Music Group.
This move resulted in the band being shipped across the Pacific to record their debut record in the US. They spent six weeks rehearsing at Hollywood’s Cherokee Studios before laying down tracks at some of the most famous studios in the States: Sound City Studios (which Stockdale says was fit with Budweiser in the vending machine), The Pass and Sunset Sound Studios. “We were freaking spoiled from the get-go,” he says.
Grammy-winning producer Dave Sardy (Oasis, Jet, The Walkman) was tapped to produce the album; his experience helped bolster the band’s sound and brought a polished edge to their raw enthusiasm: “Without that production, I don’t know if we would have had that kind of airplay on mainstream radio,” Stockdale recalls. “Initially, we were just putting all these ideas we had together. We weren’t thinking in terms of traditional songs. We just [wanted] a cool riff, a cool organ solo or a cool drum solo.”
The brute work was, however, done by the band. “We arranged everything ourselves. [Sardy] never suggested a riff or a chorus. ‘Woman’ was fully written, and he didn’t change a single thing to that song. He was just helping us learn that language [of recording].”
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Wolfmother was released to the masses October 31, 2005. By then, the album had generated a lot of hype for the three-piece, largely thanks to the LP’s high-octane, goosebump-inducing anthem, ‘Joker And The Thief’. “That’s pretty much all we’re known for now,” Stockdale laughs wryly into the phone line. And while the singer’s comment is tongue-in-cheek, there’s some truth to the response – the track became a cultural phenomenon worldwide. You couldn’t turn on the radio or watch TV without the song playing in 2006; it soundtracked films such as The Hangover and countless video games; and was even the lead single for Jackass Number Two (Johnny Knoxville and co also appear in the official music video).
Of course, there’s more to the band than just one song. The past two decades have seen Wolfmother release a further five albums, including 2021’s Rock Out, a record Stockdale is extremely proud of. “I heard Rock Out two weeks ago before I went to Albury–Wodonga,” he says. “It came on my playlist, and I was like, ‘I’m happy with that. That sounds good’. Usually something annoys me, like the production, the guitar sound, the drums or the vocal the mix. But that sits well to my ear.”
Twenty years since their self-titled LP, and the band have also found ways to operate that are more authentic to them. Wolfmother is now an independent outfit, with no manager or record label dictating what happens and when. This, Stockdale says, has allowed them to concentrate on the bread and butter of any successful musician in 2025: touring.
“We tour Europe every year,” he continues. “We’re selling more tickets on a Monday night in Linz, Austria, than we did in 2016 with a major label and a manager in Beverly Hills.”
Right now, Stockdale is spending his days in the studio, working on a new record he’s already demoed. “I’m going over it again and rearranging it, tightening it up” he says. “The riffs are cool.”
When will fans get to hear the new material? Time will tell. In the meantime, there’s every reason to catch Wolfmother’s headline set on Friday night (June 6) at Adelaide Beer & BBQ Fest, where Stockdale and co will unleash the same high-voltage energy that first turned heads in 2005. As for the setlist, expect “50 per cent [of] the first record, one or two from Cosmic Egg, Victorious and a couple from Rock Out.” It’s shaping up to be a full-throttle, career-spanning celebration – a reminder that even after 20 years, Wolfmother haven’t lost a shred of the force that made their debut a life-changing record.
Catch Wolfmother Friday night of Adelaide Beer & BBQ Fest, which runs across the King’s Birthday long weekend, June 6 to 8. Tickets are on sale now via Moshtix.
