Wolfmother Frontman Andrew Stockdale on the Evolution of Their Songwriting, Making of ‘Victorious’ and Working With Brendan O’Brien

Matt Matasci

Just last week, Wolfmother released their fourth album entitled “Victorious.” It was recorded with the assistance of Brendan O’Brien and includes drumming from legendary studio musicians Josh Freese (A Perfect Circle, The Vandals, Nine Inch Nails) and Joey Waronker (REM, Beck, Atoms For Peace). The result is an album that is well-polished but still able to cut loose from time to time. Singles from the album include the blistering title track “Victorious” and the moody ballad “Pretty Peggy.”

The band is currently on tour in support of the album and will make a stop in Los Angeles on March 24 at the GRAMMY Museum and The Fonda on March 26. Andrew Stockdale of Wolfmother took the time to speak with Entertainment Voice, giving some insight into the creation of “Victorious.”

You brought on the legendary producer Brendan O’Brien for “Victorious” after self-producing the last Wolfmother album and your solo album “Keep Moving.” What was it like working with the man behind many of alternative rock’s most popular and successful albums?

It was great. It’s good to have someone to bounce off […] ideas and arrangements and things like that. He’s great at bringing out the best performance in the studio and he brings out the best in [the performances]. He works really quickly and it was a welcome change musically. The thing with Brendan is he is a multi-instrumentalist so it’s good being able to just sit down and play the guitar and he can add his perspective.

As Wolfmother has gained and lost members over the years has your approach to the songwriting process changed or evolved at all?

It’s funny, going back to the first record I used to present demos to the band where I’d played everything like on “Joker & The Thief,” “Woman” and “Vagabond” – and somewhere along the line, I forgot that I used to do that. There’s something about songwriting where you forget how it happens. So for this record, I just went back to that rather than jamming it out with the band and the band being involved in arrangements. I thought maybe I’ll just doing everything myself with an engineer just editing the parts and whatever else. So it’s a slightly different approach from the last [album]. It takes a bit of effort, but I think it pays off in the long run.

Your songs have been praised for their unique sound that blends classic rock riffs with more modern sounds. What sorts of artists inspire you in your songwriting process?

Rod Stewart, “Every Picture Tells a Story.” That one inspired me a bit. I like the bands Diamond Days and Electric Citizen. They are pretty good. King Crimson. That’s been an influence on this one. Bowie. Deep Purple. Just a bit of everything.

Songs like “Gypsy Caravan” and “City Lights” feature massive riffs that are reminiscent of your breakthrough debut LP. After celebrating its 10th anniversary, was that album a reference point while writing the songs on “Victorious”?

Yeah, I really wanted to get that galloping, “riding on the horse” kind of beat we had on “Woman” and “Joker” – that galloping, swinging beat. I played around with that on “Victorious” and “The Love That You Give.” Now enough time has passed [since the release of “Wolfmother”] that you can reflect on it and see what worked and what made it good. I think about that record and use it and just branch out from it.

Compared to the big riffs heard on the rest of “Victorious,” the song “Pretty Peggy” is a laid-back affair. What is the inspiration behind this quiet psychedelic track that builds into an anthem-like conclusion?   

A lot of great songs are only three or four chords so I decided to sit back and play a song with three chords on the acoustic guitar and let the vocals take it to a different place. It’s just the idea of a nostalgic tale of an old flame.

How did splitting time between two different drummers, Josh Freese and Joey Waronker, for the tracks on “Victorious” shape the sound and dynamic of the album?

You look at “Gypsy Caravan” and “City Lights,” [songs] that really suit Joey Waronker’s jazzy, groovy feel. And then “Victorious” and various other songs really suit Josh Freese’s hard-hitting style. In all honesty, sometimes I’d listen to a song and I’d think I can’t even say which one it was! And I was like, “Oh that was Josh Freese? I thought it was Joey Waronker!” Sometimes it gets confusing! They are both great drummers, though.

You played with the idea of dropping the Wolfmother moniker when you released “Keep Moving” in 2013. Although this will be the second straight album you’ll release under the name Wolfmother do you ever think about continuing on without the band name?

I think at this point I’ll just continue with the band name. I enjoyed making this record and I like making Wolfmother records that sound like “Wolfmother” to me. I don’t know if I’ll do a solo album at this point because I’m just enjoying exploring the Wolfmother sound.

“Victorious” is available on Apple Music as of Feb. 19.