Interview - Wolfmother

He must have felt like they were playing his song. Less than a fortnight ago, Wolfmother's frontman, Afro-toting vocalist and guitarist Andrew Stockdale, found himself on stage in Toronto, Canada, with headliners the Killers at the end of a run of gigs. To mark the tour's finale, Killers singer Brandon Flowers suggested they take a shot at Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood, the Nina Simone track popularised by the Animals and subsequently Elvis Costello.

''They definitely put me on the spot with that one,'' Stockdale recalls. ''Literally 10 minutes before they went on, Brandon suggested it and we rehearsed it a few times and then went out and did it.''

The song may be almost a half-century old but the lyrics he sang couldn't have been timelier for Stockdale, who's about to release Wolfmother's second album, Cosmic Egg: ''I'm just a soul whose intentions are good, Oh Lord, please don't let me be misunderstood.''

There is, as Stockdale well knows, much speculation about his intentions. The success of Wolfmother's self-titled 2005 debut - worldwide sales of more than 1.5 million copies, winner of Triple J's inaugural J Award for the best album of 2005 and a prestigious Grammy Award in 2007 for Best Hard Rock Performance - was overshadowed by the persistent reports of tensions within the band.

The unease came to a head last year, when an uncomfortable reunion for a Wolfmother set at Byron Bay's Splendour in the Grass festival led to the departure of Stockdale's bandmates, drummer Myles Heskett and bassist Chris Ross. Wolfmother, which had gone from jamming together in Sydney to being rock'n'roll's next big thing, was reduced to a band of one. ''Irreconcilable personal and musical differences,'' was how the official statement put it.

''It can sometimes be seen to be more dramatic than it was,'' offers Stockdale, who is careful about apportioning the blame. ''I don't think anyone's a good or bad person in this or anyone's right or wrong.''

Stockdale prefers to neither confirm not deny anything. It's not so much a calculated strategy as a reflection of his personality.

In conversation he carries an air of vagueness and his answers sometimes peter out before he makes a point.

He's hard to pin down, both figuratively and literally - it took Metro several weeks to get him on the phone.

''Sometimes you think, 'Stuff it, what can I do?' It's a losing battle and it's best not to think about it.

''Sometimes you think you can explain yourself and that you can get your side across,'' Stockdale says. ''There have been a few things where I've felt misrepresented but that's all part of it. Anyone who has done anything and put it out to a public forum has to be ready to be caught in the crossfire. I'd be worried if no one had an opinion about me.''

Stockdale's best response may well be October 23's Cosmic Egg. Written in Brisbane (where Stockdale now lives with his partner and their young child) and Byron Bay, then recorded in Los Angeles with esteemed producer Alan Moulder (Nine Inch Nails, Smashing Pumpkins), it retains the riff-heavy early-'70s hard rock and psychedelia framework of Wolfmother but displays a more diverse outlook.

The likes of Far Away, an autumnal power ballad, the rhythmic groove of New Moon Rising and the cracking British Invasion R&B of White Feather showcase not only Stockdale's songwriting but the music contribution of the band's new members, Resin Dogs drummer Dave Atkins (who also provided string arrangements), guitarist Aidan Nemeth and bassist-keyboardist Ian Peres.

The lyrics generally retain their vintage hippie imagery. Occasionally, however, the real world intrudes. Stockdale wrote Far Away one morning in 2007, having risen to find newspaper reports that described him having an altercation at a Brisbane bar after being unhappy about a photograph that was taken of him. The verses are unusually clear in their sentiment.

''I woke up and went to the keyboard and wrote that song,'' Stockdale says. ''When you're talking to the press and doing things and travelling, you hope that when you get home that you haven't offended anybody. You're trying to keep a connection with people.''

Curiously, if you visit andrewstockdale.com, you can see the contents of a photographic exhibition Stockdale did at Gallery Wren in Surry Hills to mark his withdrawal from commercial photography just before Wolfmother took off. The sparse, foreboding images are the polar opposite of Wolfmother's aesthetic.

''It's dark, urban stuff but when the band started I went totally into the romantic, psychedelic, otherworldly, mysticism,'' Stockdale says.

''Having a narrative does interest me. I was just listening to She's Leaving Home by the Beatles and it's just this simple story. I've tried to do that but I tend to skip from one idea to the next. It's a challenge for me to do a narrative.''