With Sunshine & Technology, The Smith Street Band’s follow-up to their critically acclaimed 2011 debut No One Gets Lost Anymore set for release, a lot of ears are beginning to perk up. Wagner and his band’s invigorating blend of fist-pumping punk and emotionally-charged folk is complemented by lyrics which are as much an a call to arms as much as they are words to simply sing-a-long to.
On Sunshine & Technology, Wagner comes face to face with his own idealism. So what exactly then, does the 23 year old believe in? Turns out, Wagner doesn’t think his ideology is all that confronting to begin with. “I don’t write music thinking anyone’s going to hear it,” he admits from his Melbourne home.
“When something bad or good happens, I’ll write as a reaction to that. It’s been interesting to play songs that are a bit opinionated and seeing how people take it. I don’t think what I’m saying is all that controversial. I just think people should concentrate more on having fun and less on trying to become an accountant. I’d say that about sums up my ideology.”
Wagner’s penchant for enjoying and questioning life at the same time is heard in spades on Sunshine & Technology, all the while avoiding the trite clichés that many in his age group fall back in. Instead, Wagner’s lyrics cut deep and will likely push listeners to do a little soul searching of their own. “I’m at that age where everyone around me is finishing their degrees, getting married, getting real jobs and becoming real parts of society,” he says.
“And it all seems so fucking miserable.” Wagner’s developed a clear plan of how he’d like to spend his life. And it’s a plan that will suit fans of The Smith Street Band just fine. “There’s this weird pressure on you at this age, where you can’t get away with saying, ‘Oh, I’m a kid, I’m just fucking around, I’m just being a kid.’ But you’re still too young to be taken seriously, so you’re still a bit of a whipping boy, or girl. You’re just getting shit piled on you. People say things like, ‘Oh, isn’t this band thing something you did as a kid? Don’t you want to get a real job and a real life?’ And it’s frustrating, because this is exactly what I want to do. I’d be happy living in this fallen-down shit house just playing shows for people for the next 50 years. This is what I have to do.”
There’s a determination within Wagner’s voice that beguiles his age. He takes compliments earnestly enough, but refuses to let them inflate his ego in the slightest. The Smith Street Band’s reputation as one of Melbourne’s most powerful live acts isn’t lost on him; he just wishes more bands would follow their lead.
“I hate hearing bands turn down shows because they’ve got a headline show in two months or something. I just wonder, ‘Why are you in a fucking band?’ Don’t you want to be in a band to play every night of the week and play in all kinds of places? I get frustrated when bands act cool up on stage. It loses the authenticity that’s always gotten me about music. I don’t know if we’re an especially hardworking band, I just wonder…shouldn’t this be the way every band is? We just want to keep on playing, regardless where we are on the scale of Australian music. We love what we do so much.”
“I can’t really buy into the hype,” he continues. By believing the hype, Wagner might betray the person and songwriter he’s become. “I’m still on the dole, I still can barely afford my rent. I’m still bouncing between band interviews and Centrelink interviews.”
So why then, is the band beginning to find success? Wagner gives details on their upcoming American tour, done without booking agents or managers. Throwing caution to the wind and booking a tour without professional help may seem like a death trap to many bands.
For Wagner though, the worst-case scenario doesn’t sound all that bad. “We were talking about it at practice last night; even if all the shows suck, which is a worst-case scenario, it’s still five of us, best friends, driving down the coast in America. We’re going to have a great time no matter what happens.”
And therein lies the secret to The Smith Street Band, and what Wagner truly believes in.
The enthusiasm on Sunshine & Technology is contagious, and that may have been Wagner. “I guess people relate to [the lyrics] because the people who come to our shows are exactly the same as the people in the band. We’re the same dickheads as the dickheads who like our band. We’re not trying to be above ourselves. We know how lucky we are that people come to our shows. Even if people stop coming, we’ll still keep playing though. My greatest fear is to look back on this and say, ‘I wish we’d done more.’”
BY JOSHUA KLOKE
