Australian rock group plugs into solar
Emily Dunn Entertainment Writer, March 31, 2007
Source:
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/articles/2007/03/30/1174761796385.html
How much sun would it take to power just one ear-splitting Wolfmother track? Andrew Stockdale, lead howler in the Brisbane trio, plans to find out. When the band starts on its second album of high-voltage, high-volume songs, he will be plugging the guitars and amps into the power of the sun.
“The last record was recorded with a low wattage amplifier, which sounds better anyway,” Stockdale said. “For the next record want to get a van with solar power as the studio. We want to maintain power but use eco-friendly means.”
Stockdale will follow in the footsteps of the British electronic acts Orbital and Tricky, which have recorded using solar power. Wolfmother, whose 2006 self-titled album won Best Hard Rock Performance at the Grammy Awards in the United States in February for the single Woman, are among a growing number of overseas and Australian musicians signing up for the climate change campaign.
Groups such as Pearl Jam and Coldplay offset the high emissions of touring by contributing to reforestation and conservation projects. “We are not saving the world,” Stockdale said of Wolfmother’s contribution.
“But we recycle on the bus, I turn off the lights, I have a diesel car and at home, with my girlfriend and daughter, we ride our bikes around as much possible.” He rejects claims that smashed guitars, sacrificed in the name of rock’n’roll, contribute to landfill. “Firstly, I don’t smash my guitars. I throw them in the air, but I always catch them. And any guitar that is damaged has been repaired with wood glue and is back on the rack.”
For Earth Hour tonight Wolfmother will play at Perth’s West Coast Blues and Roots Festival, a carbon-neutral event using biodiesel and solar power.
Next month the band tours the US and Europe, returning in July to perform at the Sydney concert for the Al Gore-backed Live Earth, a global Live Aid-style simultaneous concert aimed at raising awareness about climate change, before starting work on their solar album.
“That will be our last show for this album,” Stockdale said. “We will find out what a green note sounds like on the next record.”