Get To Know Adelaide outfit The Winter Gypsy, whose latest single ‘Took Me By’ is starting to rack up the spins on Triple J!
And with live shows coming up and the possibility of an EP, we’ve got every reason to touch base with them.
01. Band name : The Winter Gypsy.
02. Where are you based? Adelaide, South Australia.
03. How did you choose your band name? I came up with the name. I usually played backyard shows with Dave, (Pianist) 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 favourtie season of the year. during Winter, 2014, I had come up with the name, and it stuck with me.
04. Who are your members? Tushar Singh (Vocals, Guitar), Dave Thompson (Piano, Vocals), Isaac Kerr (Bass, Vocals). Jonny Kotts (Guitar), Sean Helps (Horns) and Max Lambert (Drums).
05. How was the band formed? I started ‘The Winter Gypsy’ with Max as a side project consisting of recording some tunes for a bit of fun; while we were playing in our other separate bands.
We started getting requests to play some shows; which essentially brought us to the conclusion that we needed a band to play shows. We ended up piecing the band together with more of our close friends, and we haven’t looked back since!
06. In what ways has the band changed from when it was formed to today? We’ve only been a band since August 2015 (less than a year), so we haven’t really had enough time to change as a band.
07. Tell us a little bit about your sound. The six of us listen to very different different music, ranging from, folk, indie, grunge, progressive rock, punk etc. I write all the songs, and I’m mainly a folk/indie inspired man. So it’s honestly exciting bringing my tunes to the guys; because I know it will change into something else entirely. If I could describe our sound in a few words it would have to be : ambient, eerie, majestic, driving, soothing.
08. What are your members’ favourite songs of all time? Sean Helps : Tenacious D ‘Tribute’, Dave Thompson : Mary Poppins ‘Chim-Chimney’, Max Lambert : Led Zepplin ‘Stairway To Heaven’, Isaac Kerr : State Radio ‘Keepsake’, Jonny Kotts & Tushar Singh : Too hard to decide on one song. Such a hard question.
09. Tell us about your latest release. Back in 2008, Tush’s mum was diagnosed with breast cancer, and she continued to battle this until 2011 when she finally overcame it. Following this Tush moved schools and really started to focus more on music as a passion.
The single ‘Took Me By’ relates to the thoughts that were going through his head during this time in his life. “…Paradise we live in is coming to an end”. However the song itself is also about the uncertainty and fragility of situations that are out of your control.
Despite the minimal lyrics, the song resonates this message through the specific choice of words. The song was written in 2012, and had previously been recorded three times, but due to the personal nature of the song, Tush wasn’t willing to release it until he was content with the sound; a feat that has now been accomplished.
10. What do your future plans involve? Hopefully after the release of our first EP, we’ll be looking at playing more shows. I am already in the process of writing new material for either a second EP or an album. However, we’re not going to be rushing into recording anytime too soon! The live scene will be the next major venture for us.
11. Where can our audience catch you live? Sun 28 Aug | Bar Open, Fitzroy, Melbourne | 18+, Sun 04 Sep | The Jade, Adelaide | AA, Thurs 08 Sep | Playbar, Surry Hills, Sydney | 18+, Sat 10 Sep | Smith’s Alternative, Canberra | AA, Sat 17 Sep | The Exeter, Adelaide | AA.
WEBSITE : https://www.youtube.com/c/thewintergypsy
FACEBOOK : https://www.facebook.com/thewintergypsy
TWITTER : https://twitter.com/thewintergypsy
INSTAGRAM : https://www.instagram.com/the_winter_gypsy/
SOUNDCLOUD : https://soundcloud.com/the-winter-gypsy