The travelling duo may want to adventure apart; Julia has plans to go “romancing in Argentina” or Angus to go “surfing in Indonesia”, yet the folk siblings eventually unite in music. Excited to perform alongside Martha Wainwright in their upcoming tour, the Stones look forward to return to their acoustic roots “like going back to open mic nights in Kings Cross”. Honest and fresh faced, Angus and Julia Stone are without pretention evidently embodied in their genuine sound that’s simply baptismal. So we at SUPERSWEET spoke to Julia to find out if they are really blooming nice as everyone says they are (gahh…its true!).
SS: As siblings you are expected to argue and even said yourselves "We argue about a lot of things, but never about music". Do you have an ongoing argument where you have agreed to disagree?
Julia Stone: We disagree sometimes about what movie to watch at home but it never gets too out of hand. I am totally against watching horror films. I suffer from a mild form of terror and live in a constant fear of being possessed by devilish spirits. I used to have weird dreams so I decided long ago that these fears were the result of sleepovers when I was a kid. My friends parents thought it was cool to let us watch 'it' with that scary clown and 'candy man' and all those other wrong movies so I never agree to watch 'saw' or anything like that no matter how much the boys want to watch something freaky.
SS: The Australian population have always been welcomed with open arms in the UK, and with your move to London, what is it that you love about London/UK so much? How are the audiences different?
Julia: The audiences in the UK are great. They remind me a lot of home crowds; everyone is really passionate about music. When we are hanging out with crew after shows they have always been laid back and easy to talk - no crazy whacked out gangs who want to suck your blood or anything like that. People who are interested in the music and also interested in other things like jet pack man, grape lady… flying dreams...
SS: You sing about your experiences on the album A Book Like This, swapping lead to individually sing your perspective. Why do you use music to unveil your most intimate memories?
Julia: What comes out isn't necessarily a diary of our intimate memories; it's much simpler than that. We use music as a way of relaxing, so it feels like writing music is like having a tea, reading a book, a way of chilling out. Sometimes singing the songs after they are written can make me feel things about what is happening in my life or remind me of something I had since forgotten. But those feelings change with all the other changes in my life.
SS: Your music is particularly focused around love, what wisdom do you feel the band brings differently to society's understanding of love?
Julia: That is a big question! I don't sit at home listening to our songs thinking about love, my idea of love is changes with the shapes behind my eyes when they are closed tight. For me, when I hear a song and I feel love, it makes me feel somehow connected to everything and that in feeling this, it makes my understanding of love a deeper one; love isn't particularly bound to a person, it can be as big as the whole world. I think that is what music can do and perhaps that is something of what love can be.
SS: The band keeps being nominated for awards, from Julia's "YEN Young Woman of the Year Award" to best video in the "Australian IF Award" with 'Just a Boy'. What award do you hope to achieve, no matter how extravagant or ridiculous?
Julia: You've got me thinking. There are great things we do in life that seem to not get recognized, never get the social and cultural recognition they deserve. Great off the cuff performance art is a genre in a creative world that doesn't have its own awards night (or at least not that I know of).
Clayton, who plays the bass in our band, deserves some award for spontaneous moments that have shaped the course of modern history: Hitch hiking naked, lying naked on the baggage carousel with his head inside a bag. It's the little things that change the world. The little moments that make strangers laugh.
SS: The track 'Hollywood' tells us how the movies mislead you about real life. Apart from Cinderella, are there any other films that you were disappointed to find out that they were unrealistic? Are there films you respect continually for their honesty?
Julia: 'Hollywood' is a funny one. I am the most idealistic person around. I think when I wrote that song my heart was a bit broken but really I believe in love the same way Cinderella did. Honesty is all about perspective. I love films that capture the perspective of someone who believes in beautiful things. Pan's Labyrinth and My Father Romulus have characters who are in dark places and yet are still able to see things in incredible colours.
SS: Many critics have told fans how they will react when listening to this album, but how do you want your public to respond?
Julia: We recorded A Book Like This in the living room of a friend's house or our mum's house. It’s a raw bunch of recordings but I think that it is an honest portrayal of our joy of making music. I want people to respond how they respond. The ones who like it will be at the show, the ones who don't I will see in the park on the weekend or dance with each other at the disco and I won't ever know that they dislike my music.
Words: Gemma Dempster
llustration: Cosimo Piediscalzi