The Delta Riggs
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The Delta Riggs

Moments before calling, The Delta Riggs frontman Elliot Hammond shared a sauna with Steve Kilbey, lead singer-songwriter and bass guitarist from The Church, where they talked about their upcoming performances at Queenscliff Music Festival later this year. If that wasn’t enough coincidence, whilst touring London the band hung out with Kilbey’s daughters, who formed a pop band called Say Lou Lou. It seems all signs are pointing towards The Delta Riggs’ performance at the festival in November. With the rigorous touring of the band, by the time QMF comes around they would have well and truly perfected their live set.
“Since we’ve been over in Europe playing every night we’ve definitely stepped it up a notch in terms of intensity and the urgency of the set. Because when you’re playing every night you can really hone it in,” he says.
That’s not to say their live performance isn’t already impressive, as Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page was impressed with the band when he saw them perform in London.
“He really liked a few different songs of ours and then we really got stuck in talking for about 20 minutes about English motoring – MGs versus jaguars. I’ve never owned either of those cars and only driven one, but I didn’t let on that I wasn’t as uninformed as him,” Elliot says.
“Jimmy was just a super nice guy. It was like you were hanging out with your friend’s uncle or something like that. It didn’t feel like Jimmy Page. Like this dude was just having a beer and was really keen to have a chat, and it wasn’t like we were pestering or anything like that.”
While the band looks up to Led Zeppelin, Elliot has found a huge source of inspiration in South African band Die Antwoord, who inspires him far beyond just their unique musical abilities.
“People like Jay Z and Kanye have thousand dollar budgets and Die Antwoord probably have a quarter of that but they make the cheapest shit with their own hands and come off better,” he says. “It just goes to show that whatever you’ve got going on in your brain can be more powerful than a whole bunch of money if you just know how to execute it properly.”
And The Delta Riggs certainly know how to execute on a budget, as most of their illustrations are done in-house by drummer Simon McConnell. They’re also ridiculously efficient at recording, as they knocked out Dipz Zebazios in just three days.
“So much of what we’re trying to catch is in the moment, like taking a photo. Sometimes you’ve got to take a photo and put it in Photoshop and edit it. I feel like once you do that it loses its natural ugliness that makes it beautiful,” Elliot says. “If you do it the way we do it you fully capture a moment, which is a huge part of what we’re about. Sometimes songs will take us longer to do than others, but we definitely have that punk ethos in that regard.”
Compared to their last record Hex.Lover.Killer which was dark and moody, Dipz Zebazios is far more accessible, and as Elliot says, the kind of music you’d chuck on before a big Friday night out. Either way, their set at QMF is bound to go down a treat.
When&Where: Queenscliff Music Festival – November 28, 29 & 30
By Amanda Sherring