Timber and Steel

Image Courtesy of Direwolf

The new EP from Sydney singer-songwriter Direwolf, AKA Matt Dewar, is released this week so we thought it was as good a time as any to chat to the man about the process of putting it together.

Gareth Hugh Evans: You’ve been playing the Sydney scene for a while but your debut EP is just coming out this week. What’s gone into putting the EP together? How did you select the tracks?

Matt Dewar: Man I can tell you that’s definitely been a mix dose of unrelenting stress, but I’ve been lucky to have worked with such incredible people that the end result is something I’m 94% happy with, which is quite a lot. I’m sure I’m not the only songwriter to have written a whole EP and then rolled over one day saying “I can’t believe I almost released this. No thanks, bin them all”. That happened twice unfortunately, but after getting out of my head for awhile and taking some time to be inspired the tracks kind of chose themselves. And it felt right.

GHE: I’ve seen you name drop artists like Bon Iver and The Tallest Man on Earth as influences – how much do you think these artists find their way into your songs?

MD: Definitely in more ways than one huh. I’d probably say melody is the main one. Both have an incredible sense of weaving notes so poetically they hardly even need lyrics.

GHE: I saw you’ve been busy shooting a video – tell us a little about the experience.

MD: Ah that was a doozy. Myself and 5 companions headed up to the frost stricken Barrington Tops over one weekend. It was wonderful, the scenery and solitude up there couldn’t have been more fitting for what we were trying to capture. I distinctly remember driving hours through the mountains trying to find snow, and once we did a friend of mine Dave (cameraman, has never seen snow) jumped amongst the sleet on the side of the road and was tossing it about. A nice moment.

GHE: It feels like the Sydney folk and acoustic scene is really exploding right now with bars and clubs and even shops and cafes taking a punt on live music. Do you think the Sydney live scene is in a healthy place right now?

MD: I think it’s arguable depending on who you ask. I’d personally agree and say that things like house concerts and small shows are exploding like fireworks. But even the people who play / watch these shows make it healthy. There’s so much love and respect between songwriters and onlookers that I rarely walk away from a show feeling ignored.

GHE: Once the EP’s out what’s next for Direwolf?

MD: Tour it, most likely along the east coast and possibly to Adelaide. Then I’m aiming to write an album / head overseas. After making an EP I’m ridiculously excited to start writing an album.

The new untitled Direwolf EP will be available on Friday 1st August. Direwolf will be launching the EP at Hiberninan House in Sydney on the 1st August with Brendon Moon and Karl-Christoph in support – for more details check out the official Facebook invite here.