The Waifs play The Zoo on Friday and the Wyoming Barn, Eumundi on Saturday.

There’s a Californian band called The Waifs who pump out frenzied punk rock music. They are not the subjects of this interview. This interview concerns the Aussie folk pop trio of the same name, via their guitarist Josh.

“We’re recording a gig tomorrow night,” he explains from Melbourne. “We’ve got some new songs to get together and get fine tuned before we record.”

Will the recordings ever see the light of day, or is it something the band are putting together for their own enjoyment?

“The plan is for a live release. We’re kind of due this year for another record and we’re not going to get a chance to do it before we go overseas, which is happening in March. We’ve been planing to do some recordings for a while, and while we’re overseas we’re going to try and do some more recording and come back with a new studio album. We’re heading to the UK and the States as well as Canada. Hopefully we’ll take in Europe as well and try and stay over there for seven or eight months.”

The projected live release will be the bands fourth long player, and something eagerly awaited by those fans starved of the bands presence over the past year.

“We actually did the same thing last year,” he admits regarding their spartan Australian dates. “We spent about seven months mainly in Canada and the States. We’re really looking forward to doing it again. Everything’s planned out before we go. We’ve got an agent in Canada now, and most of the trips are based around festivals. So we’re virtually playing a different festival every weekend with other gigs and small tours in between those shows.”

“The fans were really enthusiastic about us in Canada. There was a real buzz about the band, they really responded to what we did. One thing I really noticed is that, because contemporary music is pretty much American, being in that part of the world there’s a real authenticity about it. There’s a connection to their culture and they have access to all the leading artists who are always touring and playing in their own backyard. There a lot of heritage that you can draw from and you really get a sense of it just watching people perform, be it a big name or someone that no-one has ever heard of. It’s just really authentic.”

Among shows the band will be playing, there are a couple of dates with the legendary Billy Bragg. A daunting prospect?

“I’ve actually not listened to a lot of his stuff other that the records he did with Wilco, Mermaid Avenue, which are a couple of my favourite records. We saw him play at the Calgary folk festival last year.”

While the rest of the country were spoiled with the supporting presence of Canadian Oh Susanna, we folk in Queensland will be deprived that particular pleasure.

“She’s not going to be in Brisbane. She’s actually finishing in with us in WA, and then she’s going home. It’s a shame she’s not going to make it to Brisbane because she’s something special.”

How did the dynamic between her solo work and The Waifs mesh together?

“It was fantastic. Musically we’re quite different. It’s got not to be too similar. As soon as she starts singing people have to stop and listen. A lot of the stuff is quite low, and we were concerned the crowds might get a bit rowdy. She was seducing the audiences for us.”