DJ MP Anthony Albanese the unlikely hero who kept indie band Sticky Fingers from quitting
WHEN he isn’t sledging the Government or spinning discs, the Member for Grayndler Anthony Albanese has carved out an impressive sideline as superhero to beleaguered musicians.
He famously saved Dolly Parton’s Australian tour in 2011 by sorting out her big bus problem and now Sticky Fingers, a band whose members hail from his inner Sydney electorate, have revealed his intervention kept them from splitting up.
The notorious party rockers were about to go on their first US tour last year when visa issues looked likely to prevent frontman Dylan Frost joining his band mates.
Enter Albanese, a fan of the band and not a bad indie DJ, who contacted the right people to get Frost to America in time for the first sold-out gig in Philadelphia.
At this point, Sticky Fingers were barely speaking to each other.
They had cancelled an earlier European tour to allow members time to sort themselves out — one ending up in rehab, another is a psychiatric ward — after eight years of relentless touring and indulgence.
“I think the band needed a break but no one wanted to have one. People around us could see something coming that we didn’t,” bassist Paddy Cornwall says.
“The next minute we’re dealing with rehab, pysch wards and (relationship) breakups, all of the f---ing cliches.
“We were all so looking forward to this American tour but we couldn’t get Dylan’s visa in time and it started to feel like if the tour didn’t happen, there wouldn’t be a reason to keep going.”
The band arrived at the small Philly venue a couple of hours late, hauling their amps and drums through the sardined crowd.
They hadn’t jammed in months and they still hadn’t mended all their fences.
But the gig reminded the indie quintet why such five disparate individuals had put up with each other through eight years and two albums.
“Straight away, as soon as we started playing, all the bulls--- disappeared,” guitarist Seamus Doyle says.
“So we decided to make another album.”
Their third record Westway (the glitter and the slums) hit No. 1 on iTunes last week after its release and almost every show on their upcoming album tour is sold out.
Their 2013 debut album Caress Your Soul reached on 39 on the ARIA album chart, while Land Of Pleasure peaked at No. 3 in 2014.
Sticky Fingers are one of the biggest independent bands in the country as evidenced by the fact they often sell out their shows without officially announcing them.
They tell the fans directly via social media and within minutes, all the tickets are gone. Even the scalpers can’t get their hands on enough to satisfy demand.
“We grew the audience ourselves, we have a direct and intimate connection with our fanbase. We’re not a label-driven, flash in the pan, shoved down your throat model, it’s something we have built ourselves over nine years,” Cornwall says with pride.
That connection remains strong despite the sonic shift they have taken with Westway.
While Sticky Fingers started as a reggae-influenced rock band, their third record is closer to the British indie sound of the 1990s than a Bob Marley album.
Some songs bear a resemblance to the works of their mates, DMA’s, but perhaps producer Dann Hume, ex-Evermore, a lover of The Beatles and supremely adept at recording atmospheric, indie pop, has more to do with that.
“Is there a Sydney sound? I don’t know about that,” Cornwall says.
“There is a bit of an inner west pride thing, right down to some of the bands who don’t live there saying they are from an inner west scene.”
The band now have some policies in place to keep them sane and intact for at least the next year of playing in support of Westway and building on the fanbases they have established in America and Europe.
Another Australian tour will happen in 2017 and this time you can count on the venues being bigger to meet demand.
“To our credit, we have realised in the past year that the band has become bigger than what we do to party on the weekend so we have war stories to tell when we get back home, “ Cornwall says.
“For a long time there, we were having so much fun but we weren’t actually respecting the band or what we do.
“Now, we have got a lot better. On the European and UK tour we just did, we were partying but the shows were bang on.”
HEAR: Westway (the glitter and the slums) out now.
SEE: Sticky Fingers, Enmore Theatre, October 28; The Tivoli, Brisbane, November 3 and 4; Festival Hall, Melbourne, November 12 and Thebarton Theatre, Adelaide, November 19 and 20. For all dates, stickyfingerstheband.com
Our Town is off the new album Westway
Originally published as Albo saves Sticky Fingers from split