Willard Grant Conspiracy make a Pilgrimage
Conspiracy theories – those delicious little hypotheses about what really happened. From the faked moon landing to any number of US Government cover-ups, conspiracy theories have long been the bread and butter of paranoid fantasists from around the globe.
With Californian alt country band Willard Grant Conspiracy about to hit our shores to promote their sixth studio album Pilgrim Road, The Dwarf decided to step through the looking glass and unravel the story behind the story.
“The name means nothing,” says songwriter and WGC main man Robert Fisher. “It’s a blank canvas and that way on purpose. We try to let the music speak for us.”
For those not in the know, WGC are more of a ‘collective’ than a band. Formed in 1995, they have established themselves with a string of critically acclaimed albums that embrace the epic, the sombre, the melancholic and the redeeming. Their latest offering, Pilgrim Road was recorded in Scotland with composer and co-writer Malcolm Lindsay and Fisher said recording with Malcolm provided the perfect conditions for the stony faced musical workaholic.
“We sat in his studio for ten days, writing and recording and occasionally taking a break for tea and scones,” Fisher remembers. “There was a picture window that looked out over a frequently rainy landscape of trees and wildlife. It was the perfect place for isolation and work.”
No less than 30 musicians comprise or have comprised WGC at some point, all coming together in various guises and mutations around main man Fisher. Something he says is more of a hindrance than a help. “It keeps things fresh and allows members of the band to contribute to the songs as they wish and when they are able,” he said. “There are no disadvantages.”
Fisher also said having so many collaborators to choose from gives the music a different edge on stage.
“Having so many exceptionally talented people in the band just gives the songs the benefit of many different interpretations,” he explained. “We never play the same thing twice.”
This will be the second time WGC have graced our shores, but this time around it looks to be a decidedly stripped back affair.
“This tour is billed as a solo tour and that means I will be bringing the three different people that inhabit my brain and body.” Fisher said that he was eager to get back to Australia as he has very fond memories of his last time here.
“The hallucinations during the first trip were great,” he mused. “I got heat poisoning and saw moving walls and shadow creatures on the carpet and bedspread. I am looking forward to this trip with less heat and different hallucinations.”
Apart from various shadow creatures entertaining him this time out, Fisher said it would be serious business as usual.
“There will be songs about snake handlers, ghosts, acts of faith, murder, misery, and more than a casual acquaintance with healthy doses of whisky but under no circumstances should people be expecting a sense of humour,” he said.
Willard Grant Conspiracy play the following Australian tour dates:
24 Sep- Troubador in Brisbane
25 Sep- Annandale Hotel in Sydney
26 Sep- Clarendon Guest House in Katoomba
27 Sep- Northcote Social Club in Melbourne
28 Sep- Northcote Social Club in Melbourne
