End of an era for Wolfmother

It was clear from their first Melbourne show at the city's Ding Dong Lounge in July 2004 that Wolfmother were destined for big things.

Epic psychedelic songs, prog rock jams and frontman Andrew Stockdale's wailing falsetto - it was as if they had arrived in a time machine from 1969.

They didn't exactly reinvent the wheel, but they cannily introduced a whole new generation of young rock fans to the psychedelic rock sounds pioneered by Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin.

After spending months jamming behind closed doors, writing songs and honing their act, success came suddenly for the Sydney rock trio.

They signed with Sydney independent label Modular, who negotiated a lucrative worldwide deal with Universal Music. Modular's Steve Pavlovic was told by those in the know that world domination was so assured for the band that he could retire on the spot.

With each subsequent gig their confidence grew, as did crowd sizes and the size of Stockdale's afro hair - some would say the same for Stockdale's ego and svengali hold on the group.

It was a whirlwind 18 months: more than a million album sales, headlining festivals, picking up ARIAs and even a Grammy in the US for their hit, Woman, in the Best Rock Song category, the first Australian band to do so in 25 years. They also performed at the induction ceremony of Led Zeppelin in the UK Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame.

But constant touring through 2006 and early 2007 on the back of their acclaimed self-titled debut album wore down the band.

Their oldest member, bass-keyboardist Chris Ross, had two children during this period and wanted to spend more time at home. A rift between Ross and Stockdale, who is also a father, widened and the band took an extended break during the second half of 2007.

Ross and drummer Myles Heskett rediscovered their love of music by jamming in a krautrock-inspired band called the Doom Buggy, while Stockdale wrote songs and started sounding out some session musicians to possibly replace them. Rumour has it that the contracts were penned with the new players as far back as six weeks ago.

But Wolfmother wanted to give it one last shot and earlier this year they regrouped to work on new material. Initially encouraged by those sessions, they agreed to perform at a few shows, including the launch of the Andy Warhol exhibition in Brisbane and the recent Splendour in the Grass Festival in Byron Bay to roadtest the songs.

Things clearly weren't right from the first notes at Splendour in the Grass. They mainly played the old songs, but the magic had gone.

Chemistry was non-existent between the rhythm section and the frontman and, perhaps symbolically, Heskett and Ross stood huddled together throughout the show, and Stockdale ended proceedings by smashing his guitar on the drum kit.

As soon as the band stumbled off stage, their production crew was calling it over.

Word was that Stockdale stayed at a different hotel in Byron Bay to his bandmates. A source at the band's label, Modular, confirmed bassist Chris Ross' departure from Wolfmother on Monday morning. It was merely a matter of time before Heskett followed.

Some insiders believe that Ross and Heskett decided to leave the band before they hit the stage, and it was a chance to play a farewell show for family and friends. Others say the insipid performance was the final nail in the coffin and first Ross, then Heskett, announced their departure, citing "irreconcilable personal and musical differences".

"Andrew and Chris have been estranged for a long time, and they just couldn't resolve their differences," says a source. "Success came very quickly and they had no real say in the matter. Andrew became a rock star and Chris became a double father, and Myles is just a young guy."

Sources say during their hiatus Stockdale wrote three albums' worth of material and told his band members that they could not contribute to the writing of the next album, which would have deprived them of vital songwriting royalties.

Another rumour is that when Stockdale arrived with the material the others said: "We're not going to play this shit."

Whatever the reasons for the split, they must have been severe for Ross and Heskett to walk out on one of Australia's biggest international bands and all of the fame and finances that come with that.

Being the face of the band, Stockdale should have no trouble finding new players and embarking on phase two of the band. He will hook up with producer Dave Sardy in LA and they hope to record a new album, to be released in early 2009.

But will it be able to replicate the Mother magic? Chris, in particular, will be very hard to replace. After all, how many musicians can play both bass and keyboard and roll around on the ground all at once? They will probably need two people just to replace him.