Hands Like Houses

With the release of their latest record -Anon Canberra’s Hands Like Houses have once again skyrocketed into an entirely new realm of their career. The new record allowed the group, and frontman Trenton Woodley in particular, to finally explore storytelling through songwriting which wasn’t necessarily shackled to their own personal stories. -Anon also saw the band embarking on a whirlwind tour schedule which took them around Australia, Europe and the United States within the span of just nine weeks.

City Hub sat down with Woodley last week to talk through the emotions of these experiences.

When speaking about the new approach to writing Woodley was obviously incredibly proud of the outcome, and also re-energised by this less introspective style.

“[-Anon] was a chance to look outward and draw from the experiences of people around us,” explained Woodley before adding, “Being able to tell different stories and get out of my own skin was actually a hugely liberating thing.”

This new approach once again allowed Hands Like Houses to experiment and evolve their sound, something which they have done with each and every release.

“We always try to challenge ourselves with each record and do something that isn’t simply trying to one-up the record before. We want every record to be original and worthwhile in its own right.”

-Anon has seen the group find something with incredible commercial success. The single Monster was used as the theme song for WWE Super Show-Down at the MCG and is currently being used to promote FOX8’s DC Universe show offerings.

To be achieving these goals now is something Woodley says they never could have even dreamed about, “if we told ourselves ten years ago we’d be playing some of these shows today we probably wouldn’t have believed ourselves, so it’s definitely a pinch yourself moment.”

Coming off the back of such a successful 2018 Woodley explained that the band is feeling a little pressure ahead of the next tour, particularly with the graduation to larger venues.

“There is a level of nervousness because we are aiming for some big boy rooms. We could have easily played the same venues that we’d previously run and sold them out or added second shows but I think for us it was time to make a statement and prove we can fill these rooms.”

Feb 9. Enmore Theatre, 118-132 Enmore Rd, Newtown. $49.90+b.f. Tickets & Info: www.handslikehouses.net