It’s been a huge three years for Brisbane-based siblings Amy and George Sheppard, who expanded their musical duo to a trio in 2011 with the addition of Jay Bovino and began working non-stop towards their debut album. As a group, Sheppard well and truly arrived this year with the single ‘Geronimo’ from debut albumBombs Awayknocking Pharrell Williams off the top spot on the Australian charts.
“It was an honour,” says Amy. “We were so excited. We’re still not over it. That day we were all jumping around – obviously we heard it on the radio that the second number song was Pharrell’s ‘Happy’; we were dancing around. We felt a little bit bad because we prevented giving him some record, but oh well.”
The trio didn’t complete the journey alone, however, with three more members – Michael Butler, Dean Gordon, and Amy and George’s sister Emma – brought aboard to solidify Sheppard’s live sound.
“It was really funny because George and I recorded a few songs and then we met Jay, who’s the third songwriter, and he changed our sound completely,” says Amy. “As soon as you add that third dynamic it’s not the same as it was. We wrote about 30 to 40 tracks together and recorded them all, and then once we started touring we realised we needed a band so that changed our sound again. Having live drums and a synth sound, I think we have a more full sound live than what we’ve recorded.
“It’s still just the three of us, that record – George, Jay and myself. Sometimes we’ll bring in Dean for the drums, but we’re the three songwriters and we’re very picky with how we want it to sound and we want it to be very experimental. We’ve been recording this album for over three years now and we’ve really put a lot of thought into it, changing things and experimenting with things. Our producer, Stuart Stuart, almost becomes our seventh band member; he really helps us out and lets us try ideas. We’ve had previous producers that have explained why the idea wouldn’t work and it’s taken longer to explain it rather than trying it.”
Sheppard recently finished their run of support slots for Keith Urban on the Australian leg of his Light The Fuse national tour.
“It’s been insane,” Amy chuckles. “We just had our last show in Perth … It was pretty special. The last show he invited us onstage and it was a bit of a shock to wing it for half an hour with Keith Urban and 15,000 people. It was really exciting for us and the whole tour was a luxury – to have roadies and sound guys, it was a first for us.”
That tour, along with other supporting shows, gave Sheppard time to finalise the album’s sound and consolidate what has been years of hard work.
“I think that’s why it’s taken us so long. Being our debut album we’ve had a bit more time to play [the songs] live, giving us the opportunity to develop the songs further, adding little vocal hooks or little drum fills that Dean has added. All of that helps, especially when you’ve had the opportunity to tour whilst being at the studio at the same time.”
Having now released the album, Sheppard are jetting off for numerous national and international promotional, festival and headlining appearances.
“We’ve got an album launch tour in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne,” Amy says. “Straight from there we’re going to the UK and Europe and doing V Festival there and Wilderness Festival, and after that we’ll go to Europe and do some radio. After that we’ll head off to the US in September and then a headline show in Australia.
“We’re not going to stop until Christmas. It’s full on, but it’s so fun and we’re so lucky to be able to do this as a full-time job.”
Bombs Away out now through Chugg Music / MGM. Sheppard will be playing alongsideNew Empireat the Big Top Sydney, Luna Park onSaturday July 26, tickets available online.
