Erin Hill

The Wombats - Wombats in wellies

You might remember the THE WOMBATS from such songs as Let’s Dance to Joy Division and Moving to New York. Though, from a quick glance at their YouTube clips, you’re more likely to be one their gazzilion fans jumping to their defence as needed, claiming that they are indeed the greatest thing to come out of Liverpool since the Beatles, albeit under the moniker ‘bumpie3e’.

On the other hand, I remember The Wombats from such places as a morning phone interview slot which was running late. I wasn’t impressed. Oh, wait, the hold music changed. This is more like it; DJ Shadow meets the Nokia tone meets Darryl Braithwaite. In any event, this article has got to be written. So listen up readers, this what you need know:  Murph and Dan are Liverpudlians and the guy I am about to speak to, the bassist, is Nordic.

Tord has been located and the call connected - though the situation is still glum. In my morning grump I have decided to officially hate The Wombats and upon finding out that Tord is in New York City and jet-lagged, my hatred becomes personal, if only because now I want to be him.

Withstanding this, Tord has good reason to be tired. The Wombats have been on the road for 18 months, and were headed to San Francisco in the days following our chat, before returning to the UK to kickstart the festival jaunt and then dropping in on Aussie for their appearance at Splendour in the Grass and the requisite sideshow scenario.

No doubt adding to such fatigue is the work on their second album. “I think we’re getting some time off in December - I hope we are… - before touring again, and then maybe getting into the studio for the second album in February and March. We’ve just been messing around with jamming and lyrics here and there. We’ve probably got about three new songs at the moment. But there’s been no time. I think we will be in the studio by the end of the year.”

One question a friend of mine had for the trio was just how drunk they were when they pieced together the Kenneth Clark’s Beard ditty. “Oh gosh,” Tord sighs. “I don’t even remember! It doesn’t even make sense because Kenneth Clark (a politician in the UK), he doesn’t even have a beard. We were just jamming and somehow it came together. And people have really responded to it.”

I confirm with Tord that by people he means ‘bumpie3e’ of Youtube fame. “It’s amazing just how supportive, and protective, our fans are. We’ve headlined some gigs where they will just shout ‘Wombats, Wombats’ all through the support act.”

As for their appearance in Byron Bay, Tord is looking forward to it “We’ve been to Australia a couple of times now, but it’s always straight in, straight out. When we played at V Festival, it was an amazing and surreal and overwhelming experience, but because it was such a quick trip it was all kind of a blur. It’ll be good to go back, I’ve never had the time to see Australia properly.”

And the reputation of Splendour precedes itself, as Tord questions whether there is anything else he should know about the Festival. “It’s pretty muddy yeah?” he asks, “I am going to take my Wellies, that’s for sure.”

The Wombats play at Splendour in the Grass in Belongil Fields, Byron Bay on August 2 and 3. They also play the Enmore Theatre in Sydney on Tuesday August 5. A Guide to Love, Loss and Desperation is out now.