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 We’ve survived the garage revival, the ‘80s comeback and are on the cusp of a grunge resurrection. Blues-rockers THE SNOWDROPPERS fall into none of these categories and lead singer JOHNNY WISHBONE is having an identity crisis. He tells SOPHIE BENJAMIN, “Even we get confused about what era we’re from!”
The Snowdroppers have a schtick, and it’s a good one. Taking their name from 1920s Sydney slang for cocaine addicts, they play blues rock with a touch of country while whipping the womenfolk in the audience into frenzied lust. Handsome lead singer Johnny Wishbone is mostly responsible for said frenzy, taking the stage wearing a wifebeater and suspenders, alternately screaming and crooning with not a hair on his Brylcreemed head out of place.
I’m totally sold on the image, but true to form Wishbone shatters my hopes and dreams of spending my life with a rock & roll bad boy. Not by charming me into his arms and then breaking my heart, but rather by introducing himself as Jeremy and telling me about his day spent working in a call centre. To add insult to injury, he was also incredibly friendly and polite. Curses. “Basically, we’re four middle-class white boys from the suburbs of Sydney,” he admits cheerfully. “You couldn’t find a more middle-class person than me!”
Thank goodness for the schtick then. The Snowdroppers formed a little over three years ago, combining an appreciation of a simpler time with blues chops and a healthy dose of humour. “All good music should be able to laugh at itself and that has kind of been our ethos from the start. We’re all just garage musicians that wish we could play the blues – there’s no way we can take ourselves seriously!”
The band financed the recording of their debut album Too Late To Pray from their own pocket and were intending to release and promote it in the same fashion. That was, until the major record labels came sniffing around. Wishbone is pragmatic about being a label band. “I know a lot of people that preach the DIY ethic, but if they were offered something, they wouldn’t turn it down. For me, it’s a necessary evil. I mean, ostensibly, we’re retards. If someone didn’t come and help us out, we’d be swimming in circles with one floatie on.”
It’s worked out well for them. The combination of a ten week-long national tour and their song Do The Stomp being picked up by Channel [V] as a station ID has helped put their music in the minds and ears of more people than they would’ve otherwise thought possible, something Wishbone views as a fortunate bonus rather than the point of making music. “Without a label, we would’ve just kept doing what we were doing. Would we have gotten to as many people immediately if we hadn’t signed on with someone to help us out? Probably not.”
In a last-ditch attempt to buoy my hopes of summoning the bad boy within, I ask Johnny/Jeremy if the stage persona is really all an act. “Do I really think that I am some kind of Fabio guy? I would love to think that! I’d love that kind of confidence!”
THE SNOWDROPPERS play Phats Garage in Toowoomba on Friday May 21 and the Step Inn on Saturday May 22. Their new EP DO THE STOMP is out now through Difrnt/Universal. www.myspace.com/snowdroppers
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