The Waifs

When a band has 20-plus years of experience writing and performing together, they form a close bond not only with each other but with the individual songs themselves. So that is why bringing on board producer Nick Didia for their seventh album was such a monumental step for The Waifs.

“We’ve never really handed the reigns over fully to someone,” said Josh Cunningham. “You can get a bit possessive of your songs and music, it’s kind of like our little baby.”

Despite the initial trepidation of bringing Nick into the fold, the end product certainly speaks for itself with Beautiful You being The Waifs strongest work since evolving into a fuller band setup. “Nick focused a lot on the full band sound, making the drums and guitar parts work together to make the songs sound solid and full,” explained Josh.

The somewhat new setup for the group is something that gradually grew and matured over time as they brought in David Macdonald (drums) and Ben Franz (bass). For Josh, the change was so gradual he barely noticed it until listening back to different phases on the bands career: “I think over the years we’ve developed that full band sound, and obviously also been influenced by some Americana music just by touring and living over there for a large portion of the last ten years.”

The living arrangements of both Josh and Vikki Thorn, who have both spent large parts of the last decade living in the United States, has also contributed to the groups minimal touring schedule around Australia. With this in mind, The Waifs are expecting the crowds to be really excited and eager to see them return to the stage, as was the case recently during their first tour of The States in quite a few years.

Not only has the return to the stage reinvigorated fans, it has also brought a fresh burst of energy to the band, said Josh: “Touring gets into your blood, we’ve been doing this since we finished high school, so it becomes a way of life as well as our livelihood. To not be doing that has been really tough, so consequently getting back in the saddle again has given us a new lease on life.” (JA)

Nov 5. The Enmore Theatre, 118-132 Enmore Rd, Newtown. $61.90+b.f. Tickets & Info: enmoretheatre.com.au