The Bottlers
Australiana folk punk band hailing from Sydney, Australia
-
About
-
Listen / Watch
-
What People Say
-
Workshop
<
>
|
Name
|
The Bottlers
|
|
Genre(s)
|
Folk, Punk
|
|
Content
|
Covers & Originals
|
|
Taking Bookings
|
Australia Wide
|
|
About Us
|
The Bottlers are a hard playing, nine piece, all acoustic folk punk band hailing from Sydney, Australia. Drawing life breath from not only the traditionally folk fuelled rural reaches of the nation but also it’s cityscapes and suburban streets with a solid tip of the hat to the folk, punk and folk punk pioneers that have traipsed and trekked the trails well before them.
The Bottlers believe folk based music should progressively speak of the times it exists in whilst hearkening back to it’s past, to the true heart of folk music, people. Because you truly can’t get where you’re going till you know where you’ve been. |
|
What We Bring
|
Folk music should speak of the times it’s written in while hearkening back to the past, reckon The Bottlers. It’s something of yourself that others can dance to. It’s a conversation. It’s a lot of other things, too, but maybe most importantly – and by definition – it’s people. All kinds.
“We’ve played to punk crowds, metal crowds, folk festival crowds – which can be an older generation of people” explains Matthew Black, the band’s founder and vocalist. “Some people it shocks the socks and sandals off, but at the same time some people really embrace it.” The band’s broad influences, authentic western Sydney twang and infectious larrikinism mean they’re equally at home at a scuzzy punk show or a rustic country pub. You might or might not detect influences like the Dropkick Murphys, Redgum or Billy Bragg, but buggered if you don’t get drawn in by the yarns, the energy and the playful mix of personalities all crammed up there on stage. The Bottlers got going in earnest about three years ago when Ned McPhie and Black teamed up. The two started trying to cobble into songs that Black had committed to a collection of notebooks. “You write about what you know and if a bit of western suburbs confliction gets the ink scraping across the paper, then that helps the job along” says Black of what started to come together, and became the track “Blacktown” on the band’s demo release. “We then started collecting the menagerie of members we have now. We didn’t mean to make it that large a group, but that’s how it panned out.” And collect they certainly did. The folk-punk outfit is now nine members strong, with vocals, fiddle, drums, guitars, tin whistle, bass, accordion, mandolin, and banjo in the mix. Shows have even been known to feature a lagerphone. Speaking of beer, the band will be releasing their own brew, Hades Ale, to coincide with the launch. “With folk music, a few libations definitely can help the musical conversation” offers Black. While definitely a pub-friendly band, The Bottlers aren’t just about drinking ditties at the expense of everything else. The musical tales told take in everything from everyday life in the suburbs nowadays to protest songs to womanising in colonial-era Australia. Again, folk music should reflect the times it’s written in as well as look back to the past. It’s people. It’s for singing along to. It’s all-acoustic and comes with a respect for tradition, but it’s not deliberately stuck in the past. It also looks sternly, wistfully and hopefully because you can't get to where you're going till you know where you've been. |
|
Members
|
Matthew Black - Vocals
Levi Burr - Guitar Ella Carstein - Fiddle Lucas Griffiths - Guitar Ned McPhie - Mandolin/Banjo/Mandola Tom Morris - Tin Whistle/Pipes Neil Simpson - Accordion Jamie Thwaites - Bass Josh Wallace - Drums/Lagerphone |
|
Country
|
Australia
|
|
State / Region
|
New South Wales
|
|
Home town
|
Sydney
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Bottlers songs come to life in various ways. “Sometimes it's on guitar, sometimes it's spurred on by conversation, sometimes it's wordplay; it's how the moment wants to manifest itself”
SCENESTR INTERVIEW
|
Workshop Session(s)
|
As a contemporary folk band The Bottlers can run workshops in songwriting, contemporary folk poetry and all of the instruments featured in our band including fiddle, mandolin, banjo, guitar, bass, drums/percussion, accordion, irish whistle, bagpipes as well as vocals.
|