Oolagh Hodgson, James Newsome and Blair Murray are blazing their way into the indie music scene with fresh, captivating tracks that radiate summer vibes. The three musicians united in 2020 to form Halifax band Wax-Tree-Cast, and have since wrestled their way onto festival bills such as Kendal Calling, where they will find themselves playing alongside legends Stereophonics and Supergrass this month. Although only newly formed, the group’s lead guitarist Blair Murray is a former member of Manchester’s cherished Twisted Wheel, as well as having collaborated with Johnny Marr. The trio’s exuberance has landed their energetic songs on Radio X and BBC 6 Music recently, and with a string of shows lined up, they’re bound for incoming success.
A personal favourite WTC tune of mine is ‘RUN!’, a classic, catchy indie-pop track. The song is lively and radiates the fun that this group are obviously all about. I caught up with the band ahead of the release of their new song ‘Fizzed Up’ to see where the trio draw their inspiration and boundless energy from. Here’s what they had to say…
WAX-TREE-CAST IS A COOL BAND NAME WITH A MODERN SOUND, WHERE DID YOU COME UP WITH THE NAME?
“There are a few theories about the band name, one is that it came to Blair in a dream… but really it’s all about originality. The words seemed to fit together nicely, if you google Wax-Tree-Cast, then we are the first thing that comes up, that’s what it’s all about really.”
WHAT’S BEEN YOUR FAVOURITE GIG TO DATE AND WHY?
“Our favourite gig to date has been supporting Sea Fever at The Trades Club in Hebden Bridge, we’ve supported them twice now and they’re really cool, also everything is just done right at The Trades, the bands are well looked after, the sound is great and they even put on a pink light show for us. We can’t wait to headline there on September 10th!”
TIME TO EXPOSE – DO ANY OF THE GROUP HAVE ANY DAFT, NON-NEGOTIABLE RITUALS BEFORE EVERY GIG?
“No not really as of yet, it’s nice to get the pink on though. Once we’re in our Pinks then it’s show time and that always feels good.”
THE HALIFAX MUSIC SCENE IS REALLY BUSTLING AT THE MINUTE, ARE THERE ANY OTHER LOCAL BANDS YOU’RE INTO OR DRAW INSPIRATION FROM?
“Yes absolutely, even though we’re quite different sound-wise, we dig The Orielles and The Lounge Society. It’s great to see those bands putting Halifax on the map. We’re also into The Hazy Janes at the minute and we’ve actually got a support slot with them this weekend, we’re buzzing for that.”
YOU GUYS ARE SET TO PLAY KENDAL CALLING THIS MONTH, WHICH IS SUPER EXCITING! WHAT’S IT LIKE PLAYING FESTIVALS AND DO THEY DIFFER FROM NORMAL SHOWS?
“We’re preparing a really cool set for Kendal and we’re just working at being super tight and on it. We want to give everyone a really great show! The biggest difference is that we just need to be super organised as there’s obviously so much going on. We’re all camping for the weekend too, so that’s a bit different and it’s cool having some social time together as well, but once we’re on that stage and it’s show time we just want to smash it like any other gig!”
‘FIZZED UP’ IS AN UNDENIABLY CATCHY TUNE, WHAT WAS THE INSPIRATION BEHIND THE NEW RECORD?
“The song’s generally about escapism and leaving everything behind with no consequences,
Blair had a girl in his mind who was dealing with anxiety and filled her car up and just started driving.
It was written though on a guitar that Blair found in a skip one morning after leaving work,
so he rescued it and put it to good use!”
YOUR TRACKS HAVE BEEN SPUN ON THE RADIO QUITE A BIT RECENTLY, THAT MUST HAVE BEEN REALLY EXCITING! WHAT ARE YOUR NEXT MINI-GOALS AS A BAND?
“It’s always great to hear your songs on the radio, more than anything it just gives you a little bit of belief that you’re doing things right and people are digging it! Our goals really are to just keep the momentum going and build our fan base, and hopefully get some more cool gigs lined up. We’re not getting carried away though with anything, we just keep working hard and see where it leads us.”
‘TWO’S COMPANY, THREE’S A CROWD’ – IS IT TRUE?!
“Three is the magic number!”
GIVEN THAT THIS IS YOUR FIFTH SINGLE RELEASE, CAN WE EXPECT AN ALBUM ON THE HORIZON?
“We hope so at some point, but we don’t want to throw something out there just for the sake of it, it has to be the right time for us, an album will happen but for now it’s just about building our following though single releases and when we feel the appetite is there we will get an album out!”
Wax-Tree-Cast will play The Parish in Huddersfield on August 6th, a headline show at Hebden’s iconic The Trade’s Club on September 10th and are set to appear at The Halifax Town Festival on October 14th. Their new single, ‘Fizzed Up’ will be released July 15th and is certainly their best yet.
Rockstars HQ 
Leave a comment