Dishing out their signature feast of gritty, growling notes and tones and adding a splash of love, Phil Barlow and the Wolf will bring their East Coast Tour to Thirroul’s Beaches Hotel on Sunday 11 December. They even have a gift for us!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
To thank fans for their amazing support, you can download their new single, ‘Love Is All I Feel‘, for FREE during this tour. To download simply visit www.philbarlowandthewolf.com
After an amazing performance at The Bombie Bar back in September this year, we can expect good vibrations and a killer performance at Beaches Hotel on Sunday, 11 December.
Check out what lead singer Phil has to say about connecting and bringing the love to town.
Your new single, Love Is All You Feel is a groove-laden, blues-rock-funk number encouraging people to open up and connect with their fellow humans. How did the song come about?
I had been going through a challenging time when I wrote this song. I was faced with intense situations that would typically provoke a negative reaction from me, until one day I made a choice to start adopting loving thoughts in those moments instead of negative ones.
I then did this with every area of my life and amazing things started to happen. Loving and supportive people were becoming more present in my day to day life, loving gestures kept coming back to me, more people were coming to shows, opportunities were getting better.
It’s not like romantic love, it’s more centred and universal than that. It is like a whole different way to see and experience life. And I wanted to give that to others too.
The band and I are so grateful for all the support people gave us with this last album, so we dedicated this song to them. That’s why we are giving “Love Is All I Feel” away for free during this tour. It is downloadable now from our website: www.philbarlowandthewolf.com
How important do you think music’s role is in connecting people?
Music is such a gift in that it gives people words and sounds to express what they perhaps can’t themselves.
It can certainly help you to realise that you are not alone in your feelings and experiences. Music also helps release emotion and exchanges energy between people in a positive way, which is an essential part of a mentally healthy and balanced community.
Music has been an element in human culture always and there is a good reason for that!
When you are live on stage how do you connect with your fans?
I first focus on allowing myself to truly let go into the moment. I then project that outward to engage and invite people to get wild with us!
To see people unleash that liberating energy of not caring who’s watching is why we do what we do. It can get wild, but there are a lot of busy minds that need to be released and we create a positive space that allows people to be themselves and let loose.
You are giving back to the fans for their amazing support by allowing them to download Love Is All You Feel for free. How has the response been so far?
Yes! It has been great thank you!
The band and I are so grateful for all the support people gave us with this last album, so we dedicated this song to them.
A lot of dedicated howlers are appreciative of the free download and our expression of gratitude. People are saying lots of kind things.
Your music video features the ‘Howler’ community, local musicians, artists, friends and fans at a party. What vibe were you hoping to create with this video and did you achieve it?
It was a simple intention. To create an energy of Love and light hearted fun. Yeah, I am happy to be able to share a taste of that with the world.
We are excited to hear that you are heading back our way. What keeps bringing you back to the Gong?
There is something about the Gong that feels like a home away from home. People are so friendly and open minded, the landscape is amazing and we have friends and family down there too, so it’s an easy decision really!
You last visited the Gong back in September this year when you played at The Bombie Bar. What can we expect when you return on Sunday, 11 December at Beaches Hotel in Thirroul?
It’s time to fire up and enjoy a great run of shows! Aaaaooooo!!
It will be summer, so you can expect sweaty, wild, raw, energetic, passionate, spontaneous fun, sharing the soul of the blues, to edges of rock, the rhythm of funk and the warmth of our universal love. The rest depends on what the good people of Wollongong inspire!
You recently played to a packed and excited crowd at the 2016 Blues on Broadbeach. Things got wild, bras were removed and we hear your shirt disappeared. Is there a bit of animal instinct at play here?
I think my previous responses may have given you hints. Yes! We humans are just intelligent animals. We need love, connection, feelings of significance, to give, to receive, and yes, sometimes we just need to be wild and unrestricted! Don’t you? Come on, I dare you…
You’ve been compared to Jim Morrison from the legendary group The Doors. If you could ask Jim Morrison just one question, what would it be?
Why did you cross over at 27?
If you weren’t a musician, what would you be?
Insane. Hehe…
Check out Phil Barlow and The Wolf on Sunday, 11 December at Beaches Hotel Thirroul.
www.philbarlowandthewolf.com