In our 28th instalment of “Stumbled Upon”, we meet Sydney’s Betty & Oswald, and chat about the band’s spur-of-the-moment formation and their latest track ‘King Of Bohemia’.
Band Name:
Betty & Oswald
Website / Social Media:
Facebook / Soundcloud / Bandcamp
Genre:
Grimy city blues & art house jazz
Members & their roles:
Pete Sotiropoulos (guitar, vocals), Claudia Schmidt (vocals, accordion, guitar), Rosie Fitzgerald (bass, vocals), Simon Ghali (drums)
What music or artists inspired you?
Tom Waits, Louis Prima, Patrick Watson, The War On Drugs, Father John Misty, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Half Moon Run, Salvador Dali, Rene Magritte. Anyone who captures the grittiness of life.
How did the band get started?
It was pretty spontaneous. Pete was playing a festival and at the last minute we decided to throw something together. Claudia had only been playing accordion for about a day.. And funnily enough we were actually opening for Ash Grunwald at that festival. Lucky we didn’t fuck it up. After that we travelled around a bit and played on the streets of Italy and France, and more recently Montreal, and it seems like that spontaneity has stayed with us and driven us.
How would you best describe your live show:
Gritty mediterranean grooves, spontaneous toplessness, a foreign lover, reckless abandonment.
What shows do you have coming up?
We’re having a single launch for our new tune at the Brighton Up Bar on April 10th. Our last show there exceeded our dreams of sweaty grooviness so hopefully this one will be even more reckless.
After that we have some tour dates along the East Coast in April before heading to Canada in early May to play Canadian Music Week.
Keep an eye on Facebook for more dates.
Tell us about your latest release:
We’ve just recorded a new song called ‘King Of Bohemia.’ It’s loosely about this homeless guy in Newtown who we see nearly everyday. It’s the delusions of a madman but also a homage to the value of a life spent moneyless. How do we measure existence and what is more fulfilling? A life of security or one spent living on the edge? Passionate and unimaginable.
Where can I get your music?
You can buy our last EP online (Soundcloud / Bandcamp ) or get a physical copy at gigs, and ‘King Of Bohemia’ will be on iTunes in a few weeks.
Check out a playlist of past “Stumbled Upon’ artists on Soundcloud
