Controversy has been a prevalent factor in the Wolfmother camp over the past couple of years. In 2008 the band shed 2/3 of it's grammy-winning ensemble and was left with frontman Andrew Stockdale, who wasted no time in putting together a new lineup and a new record, Cosmic Egg.

We caught up with Andrew in a quaint St Kilda hotel to discuss the new band, life on the road, growing up in Brisbane and the necessary humility when opening for AC/DC.

You've been touring Cosmic Egg for a few months now - how has it been going compared to your previous tours?

You know what? It's been incredible. In America we've done theatres every night, playing to two to three thousand people at each show. It was as big, if not bigger than the places we were playing on the first record. We just got back from a month long tour of UK and Europe and it was the same there.

Your popularity in Europe especially is pretty amazing.

On this record Germany and France have been the biggest, over there. Our first record debuted at #52 in Germany and Cosmic Egg debuted at #11.

You're touring with a new bunch of guys, now. How are they enjoying the ride?

Too much (laughs). They're great though, they're having a blast. I mean, everyone has their own take on it. The vibe has definitely changed and you just need to try and keep it going.

You had such a rare and crazy escalation into fame: within the space of a couple of years you'd ticked off all the boxes that most bands don't achieve in a lifetime. This must have created some pretty heavy pressure?

I guess a lot of the first record was fun. The songs do sound like a band that was having fun and that's infectious. Pressures obviously come with the success. The strongest thing about Wolfmother is the live show. No matter what you say about the record, or whether you like the comparisons, people have a great time at our shows.  

Retro, dated and Led Zeppelin are three things that critics generally like to exhaust when it comes to your band. How do you see your music?

I guess it all comes down to talent, you know. You can have marketing campaigns, you can have fashions and trends and types of music that appeal to people at different times - but generally there's talent behind it. Something that moves people. Behind all that stuff is usually simple expression. I like to remind myself of this and just keep learning as much as I can about music and song writing to try and make things sound better.

I heard a quote from you where you said: "You can only write Woman once". Which is true. So what is your thought process, in an evolutionary sense? For your music and for your sound?

It's probably not good to critique yourself, but if I was to do it I'd probably say: for a while I think the songs were too complex. I listen to songs that I like and I realise how simple they are. So now, towards the end of Cosmic Egg I started to take my time and keep it simple. Find the rhythm within the songs and let the songs write themselves, you know? So that's where I'd be looking to go now.

To have such a phenomenally successful first album can often be detriment to longevity. It must have been a big relief to see Cosmic Egg receive favourable reviews?

It was great to see the positive reviews. In Europe Kerrang gave us 4 out of 5 stars, US Rolling Stone gave us great reviews and then NME gave us 1 out of 10 stars and bagged the shit out of us (laughs).

I was in NME doing an interview on their radio station and they were all "oh this is great blah blah blah" and handed me a copy of their latest magazine. And I thought what the fuck are we doing in here! (laughs) Then we played the gig that night and there was 3000 people going nuts. They did the same thing with Radiohead and now they've championed them.

Unfortunately for English bands it's their own parochial gossiping attitude that limits them.

Have you always had steady success in England?

England, Ireland and Scotland went really well. But Europe has generally been better. Especially in the Scandinavian countries. It's really interesting tho - different places can reject you at first then totally take you back in.

I wanted to talk to you about something in specific. I was sleuthing around your wikipedia page last night and noticed that we went to the same primary school in Brisbane.

What?! No way. Wow.

Yeah, small world. But I wanted to talk to you about your experience growing up there. Towns like Brisbane are often slated as being quite creatively redundant and a lot of kids tend to leave after high school, like you did.

I guess people in places like that tend to be pretty strict. I think Brisbane has the biggest council in the Southern Hemisphere and I think people are worried about breaking any rules, so there is a lot of bureaucracy which can often hinder culture. Creativity is often sparked in random sort of ways, which I don't think can happen in places like Brisbane.

It's a beautiful place and it's nice to live there now but it just seems to be full of either housewives, property developers or really cocky teenagers (laughs). It's a teenage playground. But I do think it's a great place.

AC/DC tonight. What's going through your head?

Oh, it's a big one! I've done festivals, theatres, played to 20,000 people…but nothing like this. Even the crew are saying "has anyone ever done anything this big?" Everyone's really excited to see the production. This just doesn't happen very often.

Are you going to approach these shows slightly differently?

When you do a headline show you can be way more indulgent. Everyone's bought a ticket to see your band and they have the patience to stand there for two hours. You can almost do what ever you want. But with this kind of show it's not your crowd. They've come to see AC/DC - it's their huge moment. All you can really do is play a good show and trim off any unnecessary indulgent moments.

Ok cheers Andrew. Any famous last words before you go?

I actually have a great quote for you …open your laptop back up! The music industry would be so much better..…wait….no. The music industry would be great if it wasn't for the bands and the people who go and see the bands…(laughs for a long time)

Thanks Andrew.. 

Nick Holt