Adelaide indie folksters, The Winter Gypsy, just released their debut EP Page 1 and much to their fans’ delight are about to embark on a five date tour run across Australia. We caught up with frontman Tushar to find out a little more about the tour, the meaning behind their peculiar name, and how their very first release got to be so splendid.
The Winter Gypsy’s main man Tushar discusses Page 1, the chapters to follow its release, their ultimate dream and more.
HAPPY: You guys just released your debut EP Page 1. How’d you go about both writing and recording the record? Who produced it?
TWG: I wrote the main riffs and all the lyrics to the songs. Max, Jonny, Isaac, Dave and Sean added their own sound to each track and the outcome turned out better than I had anticipated. The recording process was quite easy, thanks to our producer, Hugh Atkinson, the 20 year old guru.
HAPPY: What aspect of the EP is your favourite? and who and or what inspired the sounds, and themes heard throughout?
TWG: I like how each song has been created to merge into the next. For example, the end of Phases leads straight into Cellar with no pause. It’s a great feature I think. Hugh Atkinson is the one that gave us the idea to make it happen.
HAPPY: Is there any song on the record that you favour? Who wrote the track, and what did that process involve?
TWG: I don’t really have a favourite. I feel like each song on the record compliments each other from start to finish. I wrote all the main riffs and lyrics to these songs. They all share different meanings but are equally as important.
HAPPY: What do you hope for people to get out of the record, and why?
TWG: I hope people can relate to at least one song on this record; because It’s always nice to have someone tell us how much a track of ours speaks to them in ways we can’t even imagine. Each song on the EP is quite different from each other, which is something I like.
We are all into different genres of music ranging from folk, indie, rock, jazz, progressive rock to electro. We managed to put in our own individual sound into the record. I also like it when people tell me what their favourite song on the record is and why, it’s really fascinating to know.
HAPPY: You’re about to embark on a nationwide tour in support of your new EP. What’re you’re looking forward to the most?
TWG: I think we are very much looking forward to the fact that we’ll be playing our tunes to a bunch of new faces! Also, we are treating this tour as a holiday more or less, so we’re very keen to hit the road!
HAPPY: How, and when did you guys form? tell me a little about the band’s evolution
TWG: We all kind of knew each other through various mutual friends. I started Winter Gypsy with Max. It was a project that I had been wanting to start for the past couple of years, but never really found anyone I wanted to venture into it with until I met Max.
I had been jamming with Dave and Isaac since 2012. Max knew Jonny through music school and we all met Sean through Dave, and he kind of joined our band when we went on a road trip to play in Canberra. He filled in for Jonny who was unable to make the trip. Now we are a family.
HAPPY: What inspired the name Winter Gypsy? What’s the meaning behind it?
TWG: I came up with the name. I used to usually play backyard shows with Dave, when we both started to collaborate. Friends used to call us gypsies because of our style and the way we would just set up anywhere, shoeless, and play a set filled with random sounds involving, guitar, piano, melodica and xylophone, topped off with some vocal harmonies. Winter happens to be my favourite season of the year. during Winter, 2014, I had come up with the name, and it stuck with me.
HAPPY: What can we expect to hear, see, and just generally get from you guys now that you’ve released your first EP to the world? what does the next chapter involve?
TWG: We’re hoping to play more interstate shows in the future. Hopefully getting a national tour support slot, that could see us covering Brisbane, Perth and Tasmania this time around. That would be cool. Touring Europe would also be amazing, but that will definitely be much later down the track for us! The dream is just for the six of us to keep making music that we love. Simple.
The Winter Gypsy east coast tour:
SUN 28 AUG | BAR OPEN, FITZROY MELBOURNE | 18+
SUN 4 SEP | THE JADE, ADELAIDE | AA |
THUR 8 SEP | PLAYBAR, SURRY HILLS SYD | 18+
SAT 10 SEP | SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE, CANBERRA ACT | AA |
SAT 17 SEP | THE EXETER, ADELAIDE | AA | 18+
