Project Description
Interview with
SARAH GRACE, MOLLY and LACHLAN
from
THE BUCKLEYS
Interviewer – Vicky Hebbs
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How did you all meet and decide to become The Buckleys?
Lachlan: Well as a matter of fact we were lucky enough to be born from the same parents, so I guess that makes us siblings haha. As we grew up we always had musical instruments lying around the house with country, rocknroll and boogie woogie music playing so it was a pretty natural progression to pick up an instrument. However after our first trip to the Tamworth Country Music Festival where we unknowingly became finalists in the busking competition and got to play on the main stage! We then decided that maybe we should continue being a band, especially since we had loads of fun and it’s so convenient!
You just released your second worldwide and fourth Australian single, “Breathe,” on the 1st of June! How does it feel to have the single out there in the world?
Sarah: We are so excited to have this song out! This song especially means a lot to us and we are just so grateful to be able to put our music out into the world for people to connect with. To see the positive response is so heartwarming.
Can you share the story behind writing the song? What inspired you to write it?
Sarah: I wrote this while I was in Nashville toward the end of last year, only a couple days before we went in to record the debut album. It was at the time when the Australian Bushfires were happening which was so devastating and this was a message I feel like I really needed to write. When Chad Carlson and I started writing it (at his home studio in Nashville) we didn’t really have a ‘plan’ or idea for where the song we were about to write was going to go or even necessarily what we were going to write about… this literally just came out when Chad started playing guitar and we started singing whatever words and melodies came to us. It was really raw and natural and I’ve found a lot of my favourite songs I’ve written tend to happen that way.
What does “Breathe” mean to you? And what do you hope fans will take away from the song?
Sarah: What I’ve really loved about seeing the response for ‘Breathe’ is how everyone who hears it connects their own story to it and interprets it differently. That’s my goal as a songwriter – for people to relate to our music in their own way. What it means to me, is that in all our crazy lives it’s really important to take those moments to stop and just “Breathe”. I hope this is a reminder for people to take those important moments for themselves.
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How have you been connecting with your fans this year while live gigs have not been possible? What has the fan reception to the new single been like so far?
Molly: Well we all LOVE playing live/ touring, it’s one of our favourite parts of being musicians and we really didn’t want to lose that… So, using social media to reach out to people, share some positivity and live music has been a big part of the lockdown for us – honestly who knew you could do so much from home! We have just started an Instagram Live ‘talk show’ every Thursday and really just want to keep entertaining and bringing smiles to people’s faces while many of us are still stuck at home! Putting this new single out is a really special moment for us, especially because it’s another side of the band that people haven’t heard yet. It’s another layer, musically, that we’re really excited to share. Seeing the positive reaction and how people are connecting with ‘Breathe’ is really special.
You recently embarked on a virtual tour presented by Live Nation, where you performed individually curated shows for specific places. How did that venture come about?
Molly: Yes, we just wrapped up our ‘World Virtual Tour’ with Live Nation which was such a whirlwind and incredible experience! Many are probably wondering “A world VIRTUAL tour… What on earth is that”, well we had that exact reaction. Chris Murphy and Live Nation basically came up with this awesome concept of having us bring live-streamed shows to specific audiences around the world. We performed virtual concerts on Live Nation’s local facebook pages for many major cities and countries all around the world. We started off the venture as a North American Virtual Tour and as more and more countries wanted to be involved too, it quickly became a World Virtual Tour! We’re so grateful to Live Nation for letting us use their platforms to share some live music and entertainment during this time when I think everyone needs it.
The second run of virtual shows started with a virtual performance in India. What was that performance like? How did you ‘curate’ it specially for your fans in India?
Lachlan: For our virtual Indian show we tried to create something that hopefully everyone would love over there. We know India has such a rich culture of art and music so we tried to incorporate some of that into the set. I learned some traditional Indian guitar techniques which I incorporated into my playing in a part of the show and we also know that the Beatles are very popular there (writing a lot of ‘The White Album’ in India) and they’re one of our favourite bands, so we also played one of our favourite Beatles songs ‘Revolution’ too for the Indian Set!
How is the virtual experience different for you as musicians? And for virtual concertgoers?
Lachlan: Playing virtually is definitely a lot different and in its own way more difficult than playing in front of vibing people at a venue. You have to create your own vibe and get into the headspace that there are thousands of people jumping up and down in front of you (because realistically it’s only an iPhone camera and a tripod!). Unfortunately we’ve had a few complaints from our neighbours haha.
For virtual concertgoers I can only imagine the frustration they would have not being able to be there too, but we’re so lucky that today we can connect with each other through the technology that’s available.
Sarah: Yes we hope that during our virtual concerts people are on the other side of the screen in their lounge rooms dancing and singing along!
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Are there any unexpected surprises you have found doing virtual performances? Is there anything you learned that you might take into live gigs?
Molly: Well we didn’t expect our little brother Dylan (13 years old) to be so good at the drums! We’ve always known he could play but watching him really come to life and put on a show was fun to watch… We had never played with him before the Virtual Tour so he was definitely thrown into the deep end but he handled it like a pro! Hopefully he’ll jump on stage at a live show for a song or two soon as well ;)
Where do you find the most inspiration to write music? What is the creative process like for you?
Sarah: The creative process comes in many different ways. I’m inspired by people, stories, music, the world… really anything that makes you feel something you can draw inspiration from. I love writing by myself because it’s so personal but I also really love cowriting. When we first went to Nashville when I was 16, I had never cowritten a song before but we had met this amazing lady named Debby Throckmorton who was the band booker for Douglas Corner where we had played one of our first shows in Nashville. She took us under her wing and that’s when Molly and I were first introduced to cowriting. She had us writing with these amazing legacy songwriters we had grown up listening to the songs they had written for people like George Strait, Willie Nelson, Don Henley, Fleetwood Mac, Tammy Wynette and more! We’re so grateful for that experience and every time I go to Nashville I just can’t wait to write music with someone who has lived a whole other life story and they bring all their experience to the table too, and we make art! Songwriting is a magical thing however it comes about – there’s no rules and no right or wrong way to do it!
How would you say your music has evolved since your first single release to now with the release of “Breathe”?
Sarah: Evolution is one of the most important parts about creating music for us. If you’ve seen our documentary ‘Meet The Buckleys’ you’ll see the evolution of our music over the past 10years or so, literally in front of your eyes! The first song we ever wrote and recorded back when I was around 12 and the others younger, was a bluegrass song! Our music is constantly changing as we grow up, our music tastes change and we’re influenced by the experiences we lived. We always want to be excited about what we’re creating and always creating something that is ‘new’. Daydream was the debut single we released after singing our record deal, we had just met our producer Chad Carlson and it was our first experience recording in Nashville. We loved it so much and it was a really big moment for us! It was also the time that we really made the decision as a band that we were going to create what was authentic to us and not try to follow whatever trends were happening in the moment or what other people told us we should be doing. Our favourite bands are bands who were true and real – Fleetwood Mac, Queen, Prince, Eagles etc! You can hear when the artist is being real and is really loving what they’re doing.
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What are your thoughts on the country music scene in Australia? How do you see the country music landscape shifting in the coming years? Is there anything you would change about it?
Molly: Growing up in the Australian country music scene, it’s been so incredible to watch it grow stronger and see more and more people discover and fall in love with the genre. Even from when we started out as a band ‘til now the industry has grown so much. There’s such a strong legacy in Country music which is really beautiful, and there’s a lot of talented new artists coming up too who we love, all bringing something new to the table when they pour their own stories and influences into their music.. It’s a really exciting time for the country music.
What is your favourite aspect of country music?
Lachlan: My favourite aspect of country music would have to be the freedom, authenticity and storytelling. When you go to a country music show you may end up finding yourself having a great time, laughing and grooving out to a band that’s been jamming on a song for over 10 minutes, telling stories, messing around and just enjoying themselves. There’s a real community in Country Music and it feels like ‘Home’.
What are your plans for 2020? Will you be doing more virtual shows? Perhaps some live gigs if possible, soon?
Molly: We want to keep bringing people music in anyway we can. We can’t wait to go back out on the road and play some live shows when it’s safe to do so but until then we’re just going to keep rollin’ on, playing and creating music and connecting with people. We have so many exciting staple moments coming up this year one of them being the release of our debut album!
Do you have any ideas for the future of The Buckleys? Where do you see yourselves in five years’ time?
We want to keep writing and recording music, playing and touring as much as we possibly can all around the world and connecting with people through music! The goal has always been to bring smiles to people’s faces so we want to keep doing that!
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THE BUCKLEYS are
Sarah Grace Buckley – Vocals / Guitar
Molly Buckley – Vocals / Mandolin / Fiddle
Lachlan Buckley – Electric Guitar / Slide Guitar
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Follow THE BUCKLEYS
Website – Facebook – Instagram – Twitter
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THE BUCKLEYS
release emotionally vulnerable ballad
“BREATHE”
Australian three-piece, THE BUCKLEYS, recently released their second worldwide and fourth Australian single, “Breathe,” via Petrol Records / Universal Music Australia / Ume.
The new soul-stirring track comes nestled in an equally emotive video (above) that showcases a haunting and impassioned side of the band’s pop Americana trademark which they call “hippie country.”
“Breathe” was recorded and co-written by Sarah Buckley and two times Grammy winning producer and engineer Chad Carlson, whose credits include Taylor Swift, Jewel and the Hunger Games soundtrack.
“‘Breathe’ is our musical prayer to the world,” explains The Buckleys singer Sarah Buckley. “I wrote this last year at the time when our country was experiencing horrific bushfires. It’s a message of strength, vulnerability, hurt, hope and moving forward. I find myself remembering these lyrics in moments where I just need to stop, close my eyes, listen to thesounds of world around me and just breathe.”
The emotionally vulnerable ballad hopes to help people connect and find hope in our current times and has been instantly added to Australia’s largest Country playlists on Spotify and Apple as well as an across the board add with ABC Country.
Listen to “Breathe” HERE
The release of “Breathe,” follows their monumental and ground-breaking world virtual tour where the band became one of the first to capture a global audience and achieved a ‘virtual reach’ of more than 4 million. Presented by Live Nation, the world virtual tour was developed in conjunction with Live Nation and the band’s record label, Petrol Records and US label, UMe. Performing individually curated shows for specific regions of the U.S. (and later, the world) which were streamed through Live Nation and House of Blues’ local affiliates as well as the newly launched Live From Home platform, the rising hippie country siblings were able to recreate the personalised “live” experience during a time of social distancing.
The band kicked off their second run of shows with a virtual performance in India.
“India has such a rich culture of music and art, we are excited that through technology we can connect with you from all the way here in Australia. Not to mention, one of our favourite bands, the Beatles, wrote much of ‘the white album’ in India… so we’ll most definitely have to play Beatles in this set for you Beatles fans like us! We can’t wait,” said The Buckleys ahead of their India show.
All of The Buckleys virtual performances with Live Nation are available on the band’s YouTube channel HERE
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About THE BUCKLEYS
The single “Money” (Petrol Records/Universal Music Australia/UMe) was The Buckleys first worldwide release and embodies the band’s brand of “Hippie Country” – a genre representing the infectious personality and spirited conscience that the band maintains through these tough times.
Since signing with CM Murphy’s Petrol Records in 2019, the band has released two singles in Australia. The first “Daydream” catapulted the trio into the limelight, scoring a #1 single at Australian country radio and saw The Buckleys score their first Golden Guitar nomination in the ‘Best New Talent’ category. Followed by second single, “I’m Comin’ For Ya (Love),” which reached #3.
The trio of siblings have been making music together for as long as they can remember, taking over stages around the world including esteemed festivals like Music City Roots in Nashville, CMA Fest, and Byron Bay Blues Festival.
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