The road goes on forever

Australian folk-rock trio The Waifs are hooked on touring

A desire to travel was the key ambition of The Waifs from Day One, over 11 years ago. It remains central to their mandate, and the three Australian troubadours are certainly racking up the frequent flyer/driver miles.
Singer/songwriter Donna Simpson explains from Vancouver that "we've already done three tours of Australia in 2003. We opened for Bob Dylan and Ani DiFranco, played on Big Day Out [the biggest Australian touring rock festival), and did our own tour." Now The Waifs are blitzing Canada with 12 dates in 11 days before heading off to the U.S. and England.
Playing with Bob Dylan was a major thrill for Donna. "I learned how to play guitar from my dad, back when I was 15. The first song I ever learned was 'The Times They Are A Changin.' Now I own 36 Dylan records. It was pretty cool for us to listen night after night from the side of the stage."
Joining Donna in The Waifs are her younger sister Vikki and Josh Cunningham. All three write and sing, and that helps give the group's folk-rock sound real depth and variety.
Back in 1992, the Simpsons decided they wanted to see more of Australia. "Music was just a way for us to travel around the country. I was 22, Vikki was 18, and we wanted to see the country without picking oranges. Then we didn't want the holiday to end, so we did it again." That meant busking in front of pubs in resorts, gold and zinc mines, biker bars, and fishing towns, "playing our favourite songs in front of anyone that chose to listen."
They ran into Josh in remote Western Australia. He was playing bass in a rock band, but after 10 minutes of a jam session with the gals, he was hooked, and The Waifs were born.
Since then, they've travelled relentlessly, pausing only long enough to release four independent albums. The latest, Up All Night is being hailed as their best yet. Back home, it's established them as a real commercial threat. "It went gold in just three weeks, and has been charting high on the radio. That is hard for us to get our head around," says Donna. "I never could have imagined this level of success. When we started out, getting people to come to the gigs was what it was all about."
The fresh and spontaneous feel to Up All Night signals a return to the approach taken on their first two albums, The Waifs and Shelter Me.
Donna recalls the frenetic bout of recording in Los Angeles last summer. "I remember we were all sitting on the side of the road in Northern California. We had just left a music festival and were waiting for three hours for a phone call to see if the studio and engineer Mark Howard were available. As soon as it was nailed, we drove down and started the next day, right in the middle of a seven-month tour. We hadn't rehearsed, we hadn't practised, we didn't know what we were going to do. We knew one thing, which was that we should do as much as possible live, and that's how we laid down most of the songs."
Howard worked with Daniel Lanois on such classic albums as Bob Dylan's Time Out Of Mind and Emmylou Harris' Wrecking Ball. He worked on six of the new tracks, with the other six being recorded in Melbourne with engineer Chris Thompson.
The fact that The Waifs insist on producing themselves testifies to their strong sense of independence. "I think it comes down to us just being too stubborn," says Donna. "That is why we are an independent band. I can't bear the thought of the idea of someone messing with my work. Recently we had to do radio edits of some songs to get them under four minutes. To me, cutting out a verse is like cutting off my arm. They only want three-minute songs so they can fit in more advertisements. I hate that trend."
Recurring themes of songs on Up All Night include those of travel, separation and isolation - "what else could we write about?," notes Donna.
Writing on the road does present problems. "Generally on the road these days we just don't have the time and that makes it really hard. Then there are times when you can be alone, in the woods or somewhere, and nothing comes out. But I'm also known for telling people I'll meet them down at the pub on Friday night, then I'll have a drink and play my guitar at home and call them saying 'I'm not coming down. I have to play. My juices are flowing!' "
The Waifs have a mutual love affair with Canada now. "I've been spending more time here than in Australia," says Donna. "It is just a fantastic music scene here and we've had such a warm reception."
Up All Night is now out on Outside Music. The Waifs play the El Mocambo on March 29.

Publication Date: 2003-03-23
Story Location: http://tandemnews.com/viewstory.php?storyid=2514