Erskinville, Sydney hard rock trio WOLFMOTHER initially grouped in 1999, shortly after vocalist / guitarist and photography enthusiast Andrew Stockdale left Melbourne. Drummer Myles Heskett and bassist / keyboardist Chris Ross shared an apartment above a video store, respectively working in graphics and digital jargon, when Ross met Stockdale through a mutual friends party, generating several impromptu jams.

Amongst the numerous musical experiments conducted to discover a preferential sound, an 80's drum machine reminiscent of "a French disco" was one of many fleeting instruments to be shortly ditched. Indeed, Ross and Heskett originally handled vocal duties for the first 4 and a half years of the group's life - even a bandname hadn't been appointed. The modern, minimalistic groove of Washington, D.C. trio TRANS AM is what gradually shaped the sound WOLFMOTHER fans are now accustomed with, even inspiring Stockdale to compose his debut riff after witnessing them in concert.

An acoustic demo garnered complimentary reviews from a friend, prompting the offer of an inaugural 15 minute live slot opening for his band on a Monday night at a local Sydney pub in early 2004. A mere two shows later, they signed a distribution agreement with locally based label Modular Recordings. Mastered at Ghetto Studios in Detroit, Michigan by veteran producer Jim Diamond, the Australian only 'Wolfmother' EP became issued in September boasting four tracks.

Interscope followed suit in Spring 2005, and so after six months of endless Australian and overseas touring the psychedelic trio vanished to Los Angeles, California in May. Cherokee, the Hollywood recording studio where critically acclaimed albums like PINK FLOYD's 'The Wall' documented upon audio tape, became a rented rehearsal space for six weeks of focused creativity. Sound City studios, the legendary host of and NIRVANA's 'Nevermind', birthed a sizeable chunk of WOLFMOTHER's debut full-length release within a fortnight, while another month elsewhere in L. A. produced the finishing touches. Dave Sardy, whose erstwhile production credits include notable stints helming OASIS' 'Don't Believe The Truth' and MARILYN MANSON's 'Holy Wood', oversaw the recording process. The eponymous titled inaugural album claimed number 3 in its first week on the Australian charts in November, triumphed with the 'J Award' from national alternative radio network Triple J in honour of 'Album of the Year', gaining quick platinum certification.

'Mind's Eye', the first single, preceded the album by a fortnight in its mid October release, notably attributing a remodelled variant of the song 'Woman', which originally surfaced on their 2004 EP, amongst the B-sides escorted by 'The Earth's Rotation Around the Sun'. The live promotional video was filmed at the Devil's Punchbowl in Los Angeles, interspersed with footage of a man sprawled on a couch listening to the song alongside intercut scenes of the band treading a Californian desert. Critically successful, it bagged nominations for 'Single of the Year' and 'Best Breakthrough Artist - Single' at the Australian Recording Industry Association Awards. The follow up single 'White Unicorn' was issued in January 2006.

The 'Wolfmother' album sold over 37,000 copies in its first week of US sales to debut at number 22 on the charts. In the Uk it reached no. 25. WOLFMOTHER contributed a hefty performance to the Roskilde Festival in June as the record saw European release, charting in many territories. This renewed impetus also put the album back into the UK charts. Us shows in September were curtailed due to the premature arrival of a baby boy to Chris Ross.

On October 24th WOLFMOTHER scored a first, streaming a complete live show from Melbourne's 200-seat The Chapel venue. The show was uploaded via the Internet, encoded and compressed for 3G mobile phones in Sydney and also put on Vodafone's broadcast server for free delivery around Australia. WOLFMOTHER conducted headline US dates throughout November and December.

In February 2007 WOLFMOTHER was honoured with a Grammy in the "Best Hard Rock Performance" category for the song 'Woman'. However, what was described as "longstanding friction" caused the band to take a hiatus. In early 2008 the band regrouped and worked on new material. Following a 3rd August performance at the Byron Bay 'Splendour In The Grass' festival Chris Ross decided to announce that he was leaving the band due to "irreconcilable personal and musical differences". Myles Heskett also opted to exit the group. Ross and Heskett stated they were to be upgrading their side-project DOOM BUGGY into their fully-fledged next band. Meantime, Andrew Stockdale revealed plans to find other musicians and carry on as WOLFMOTHER.

Stocdale unveiled the new look WOLFMOTHER, billed under the pseudonym WHITE FEATHER with a 6th February 2009 concert in Brisbane. New faces included guitarist Aiden Nemeth, bassist Ian Peres and drummer Dave Atkins. By April the group was in Los Angeles recording tracks for an album branded 'Cosmic Egg'. Somewhat unusually, the group performed live at the Natural History Museum in Los Angeles on Friday 1st May.

'New Moon Rising', the first single from 'Cosmic Egg', made its worldwide debut on Friday, 14th August on radio station Triple J's 'Breakfast Show' in Australia. Brisbane rockers YVES KLEIN BLUE and Sydney troubadour JACK LADDER suported WOLFMOTHER on Australian dates in September. The 'Cosmic Egg' album saw release on 9th October.

WOLFMOTHER's US trek will kicked off at the House of Blues in Dallas, Texas on 29th October, wrapping up 20 cities later at the Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles. Support for all shows came from THENEWNO2 and HEARTLESS BASTARDS.

The band supported AC/DC on their Australian February 2010 dates.

Garry Sharpe-Young