Work Hard, Play Hard

13 March 2014 | 12:14 pm | Kane Sutton

"When I’m writing a song, I try to take myself out of it as much as I can."

More The Smith Street Band More The Smith Street Band

The Smith Streeters are not a band known for sitting on their laurels. Twenty-thirteen saw the group tour extensively across Europe and the United States. The experience was a massive challenge, but also taught Wagner and the rest of the band some extremely valuable lessons as a group and as individuals. “The whole thing's about state of mind and state of being. The biggest thing was just being so fucking exhausted all the time. We'd finish a show and it'd be like, 'Okay, we have 16 hours until we have to be at our next show and the drive is going to take us ten hours.' I was constantly worried it was going to all catch up with me and I'd get up on stage and forget lines because I'm naturally anxious and I always manage to work myself up before a show. It was great for figuring out our dynamics in the band – we get on really well but that kind of stuff takes a bit of work when you're away. Spending that amount of time away from home and doing so much with a group of people, without getting corny, you learn a lot about yourself. I figured out more about myself in that time overseas than I have in the last 25 years.”

Since completing their stint overseas, Wagner and the band have spent their time prepping for their upcoming Australian tour, which sees them playing 15 dates across the country alongside US group The Menzingers. “With the Australian tours there's always a lot of work to do because more people are coming and we're playing bigger venues, and we also tend to do everything ourselves. Everywhere feels like home base in Australia now, so we definitely feel more comfortable. There's a massive difference between playing to a thousand people in Jacksonville, Florida who have never heard of us or can't understand a single word I'm saying on stage, to having a thousand people watching you at the Corner in Melbourne who know all your stuff.”

As a member of Smith Street and as a solo performer, Wagner's mentality is such that he feels like he should always be working on music, whether he's on tour or in the studio. “When I'm writing a song, I try to take myself out of it as much as I can. You get this inspiration thing that I have no control over and I just try to channel that when I'm writing. The day this tour finishes we go to Europe for 36 shows in 38 days and I'm doing solo shows on the two days off, so it's 38 sets in a row and then we leave. Then we'll have a couple of weeks to catch our breath and then we'll hit the studio. Hopefully we'll have a new album out by November, so we'll be busy!”