Angus and Julia Stone
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Angus and Julia Stone

Julia Stone sips coffee in a Melbourne café on her way to plan a game of tennis with a mate. “Not a bad way to spend the day,” she says with a smile. Not to be mistaken for a lady of leisure, we caught up with Julia on the eve of their Summer Tour 2015.
Julia and her much loved little brother Angus, will play the Costa Hall on Thursday February 26 and they’re bringing along a few friends – alt rockers Cloud Control and Brisbane boy Jarryd James. “We played with Jarryd at a show in Canberra and he was just stunning. We watched his set and were so mesmerised by his music that when it came to choosing an extra support, Jarryd was the one we wanted,” she says.
“It was the same with Cloud Control – we’re fans of Cloud Control and have been for many years. They were one of the first bands we put to our booking agent that we wanted to support us. Angus and I have wanted to tour with them for a long time. So when they said ‘yes’ it was a pretty exciting moment. We’ve been hanging out with them this weekend up on Angus’ farm, just jamming on songs. We’d love to get them in the set and share a moment with them on stage.”
Julia says their self-titled third album was all about capturing life’s precious moments, and with the help of renowned American producer and founder of Def Jam Records, Rick Rubin, they created what is arguably their finest work yet. “When Rick suggested Angus and I work with him on a new record, I’ll admit at first we took some convincing. At the time we were both pretty adamant about being solo artists and very happy with what we were doing. Don’t get me wrong, Rick is not the kind of guy that would ever put pressure on a situation – he just isn’t that type of person. Once he planted the seed, Rick just let time do its thing,” Julia explained.
“We soon realised that this would be an incredible opportunity to explore a new way of working together. Previously Angus had always done things apart, writing separately and on separate days in the studio. During this experience we both found that we actually enjoyed jamming and the process of writing music side by side – who knew!?” Julia laughed.
“It was certainly a game changing experience for me,” Julia continued. “I’m of the ilk that if a song doesn’t come out quickly and all at one time, I’ll move onto something else. I wrote ‘Death Defying Acts’ just staring into space!” she grinned. It’s a blessing and a curse to be able to write in that way. Angus is more of a craftsman – he will work on a song and develop it. ‘My word For It’, for example, evolved over time. Angus and I never actually said this to each other but I know the making of this record was really important for us – it changed the dynamic between Angus and myself forever.”
Angus and Julia Stone began playing the pub circuit back in 2006 at the tender ages of 20 and 22 respectively. They’ve grown up on stage and become closer than ever. “Things happen and people change. We’ve both grown up a lot and I think you can hear that on this record – we definitely sound more self-confident. I can only speak for myself, but I believe that going on my own solo journey has helped me feel more grounded in who I am. I wasn’t as frightened making this record as I have been with others. I felt more comfortable in the situation and that gave me a lot of confidence as well. Having Rick around for support wasn’t bad either!
“We both really love being around him – he’s a great guy and he is such a believer in our music and what Angus and I do together, we couldn’t help but feel a sense of, ‘Yes, this is where I’m meant to be’. I can hear that in this record – there’s a kind of relaxed element to it that perhaps wasn’t there in the past. This album definitely feels the most like Angus and me.”
Julia revealed that she and Angus are planning to start work on their next album as soon as they wrap up this summer tour. “We both worked so hard last year playing back to back shows, so this year we wanted to give ourselves a bit of space between shows, not totally burn out and leave time to write music. Angus and I feel re-inspired by everything that has happened in the last two years. I’m so proud of what we have created in the past and the journey that we’re on together – it’s been wild!”
When&Where: Costa Hall, Geelong – February 26 & Margaret Court Arena, Melbourne – February 27
By Natalie Rogers, Photo by Dan Boud