Will Stoker & The Embers
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Will Stoker & The Embers

Perth, Western Australia, Australia | INDIE

Perth, Western Australia, Australia | INDIE
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"Kasabian support review"

Another night, another sold out gig in Adelaide. If our city keeps up this intense work rate we could be in for a long summer filled with festival sideshows. I’m going to be optimistic and hold my breath for that. Will Stoker And The Embers are regulars on the Perth festival circuit, and on this particular evening they were well received from an amped crowd at Thebarton Theatre, with many happy to get loose and sweaty to their punk rock style of play. A few even managed the occasional fist pump and even a brief sing-a-long to The King, which has been receiving some light Triple J rotation recently. Front man Will Stoker demonstrated a flamboyant stage presence and the crowd lapped it up, so I think it’s safe to say that their first show in Adelaide would have left a sweet taste in their mouth.
Kasabian lead singer Tom Meighan is a rock God. Just ask him. In saying that, if I could make girls slide off their seats with a simple come-hither gesture or a suggestive touch of my belt buckle then, ok, I’d proudly wear my sunglasses throughout an entire indoor gig too. Then why do I get the feeling that while his band mates are slugging it out on stage, Meighan should perhaps pick up an instrument and contribute instead of poncing about the stage? And no, the tambourine doesn’t count. So why don’t I share these sentiments with other “rock Gods”, specifically Julian Casablancas? Like Meighan, he’s another front man who is (on occasion) allergic to instruments and is prone to a pair of fashionable opticals indoors. But he was also a major contributor to Is This It?, one of the most influential albums of the last decade, which means if he wanted to call himself Captain of the Universe then no one should deny him of that. Back on topic, if you look at Kasabian’s albums not one of them is a standout, but between the three of them you could make one hell of a fun mix tape. The English lads came smashing out of the box early with Shoot The Runner and what followed was a bunch of similarities to that of their Big Day Out set earlier this year, such as some ouch-inducing crowd surfing, compulsory shirt removal for the blokes, a poor reception to anything instrumental (Swarfiga) and/or unknown (Julie And The Mothman) and, no matter how hard they tried, they could not quench the peoples thirst for a good ol’ fashioned party anthem (Vlad The Impaler).

On one occasion Meighan left the stage for what I can only assume was for a change of sunglasses, and left guitarist Sergio Pizzorno, who is also the main song writer of the group, and other band members to perform Take Aim and they didn’t miss a beat. I guess Meighan could take solace in that fact that if he met his untimely death tomorrow the group could easily carry on the Kasabian legacy. The set was noticeably West Rider Pauper Lunatic Asylum heavy, which was to be expected. However the Kasabian historians were kept happy with Cutt Off and Club Foot while everyone came together (uh, perhaps not literally) for encore tracks Fire and L.S.F. (Lost Souls Forever).

The group is rumoured to have commenced production on their fourth album and if Meighan is content with his current on-stage antics then he could at least do his best to ensure that said album is ground breaking. Alternatively he could take up banjo lessons. - http://www.ravereview.com.au/adelaide/gig-reviews/245-kasabian-wwill-stoker-and-the-embers-thebarton


"Interview with Will Stoker"

I'm about to ask sonic-oddball Will Stoker one of the well thought out questions written on my hand when he steals the tempo:

WS: I just finished watching this Jeff Koons documentary. He was massive in the 80's. He kind of makes kids' crap then sells it to rich people. Actually he doesn't even make it - he gets other people to make it. His most famous piece was probably Michael Jackson and Bubbles in porcelain. He's cynical but not really - he's just trying to be happy. He was based, I think, in New York.

JJ: New York you say. See there's this urban myth about Will Stoker that goes: Will was a roadie on the NY leg of a US tour. Then he went AWOL saying "Fuck this, I want to be a rockstar!"?
WS: I went to America with the Screwtop Detonators. I was that little whiny bitch who was selling t-shirts. A week into it (in New Jersey) I cracked the shits, took off and spent three weeks in New York City. I thought "I don't like this because I'm treated like a bitch and I'm acting like a bitch, I'm not getting paid for it. This fucking sucks!" I knew I could make a band. There was a band in my mind. All I needed to do was let the seeds grow, get the right people, and eventually I have.

JJ: How do you get ‘the right people', instead of say the wrong ones?
WS: Instead of advertising you say "Can you just do me a favour for a couple of weeks and have a jam with us?" And the next thing you know the guys have been in the band for two years. You see ads that say "Must have gear, must have transport, must have commitment." Its like "Oh yeah, I'll commit myself to people I've never even met before!"

JJ: So from Jersey to your album launch Friday. Join those dots?
WS: It's been like five years. I went to Melbourne for a year. That didn't work. I came back. Put the band together. Entered the Next Big Thing which was in four weeks so we said "Four song set list. We can do it!" We made it to the finals - didn't win. But then straight after that was Campus Bands and we ended up winning that. The judge for the final in Melbourne became our manager. He works for Shock Records, so we got a Shock distro.

JJ: I'm glad I got an interview instead of reviewing the album, because then I'd have to classify your genre?
WS: Demanding, impatient, claustrophobic. I don't know, just imagine if The Birthday Party tried to be the Beatles. I try to write a really good song and then fuck it up.

JJ: Claustrophobic could almost be a one-word treatment for the Five Beds For Bitsy music video from your EP.
WS: Mat de Koning made it who's a really good friend of mine. It was all just about trying to do the most effective video clip we can with no money. It was done in the hallway of the house we were living in and we just had a super 8 camera and a couple of lights. It was just me jumping around. It's all we've got - jumping around.

JJ: You guys got anything in the can for the new album?
WS: Yeah Mat did the new clip for The King from the album which will screen at the launch. We did it in an abandoned movie theatre. I think he put a preview up on Youtube this morning.

JJ: I guess I'm a long-time listener, but a first time caller - what can we expect from Will Stoker & The Embers at the launch?
WS: Five gents on stage dying for their art, because we're all just bitter frustrated, overworked, underpaid musicians, and it's a long time coming for some sex...success to come our way. - http://www.sixthousand.com.au/hear/will-stoker-and-the-embers-interview/


"Album Review"

Perth boys Will Stoker and the Embers are set to release their debut self-titled LP. It’s frantic and furious punk rock. The King is a powerful track displaying Will Stoker’s veracious punk-rap lyrics and then lifting into an Oasis style anthem of a chorus. Tickets Please pays homage to Zeppelin’s more up tempo works – and as the album’s opener it also gets the old feet tapping. But it’s not all trashy punk rock from the four-piece, as His Waves Hiss and Burst shows off their lighter and cheekier side with an alluring woodwind intro and circus trumpets blaring like crazy throughout. Stoker never lets up his energetic routine. He spits and splatters like some kind of passionate late-70s punk rocker, while the band powers on like a frenzied and hysterical freight train. It’s exciting stuff all around. Good job! - http://www.theindiepolice.blog.com/


"WIll Stoker & The Embers live at The Tote"

The first time I saw Perth rockers Will Stoker and The Embers live some two years ago, I was, no shit, blown away. Frontman Will Stoker was a storm in a skinny-jeaned, booted bottle. His wailing, shouting, crooning and growling amidst his band’s furious indie-punk rock was yards (nay, streets! – Ed) ahead of bands more famous than them – an injustice that has since been rectified with the Embers’ own commercial success.
Will Stoker and the Embers finally make their way over to Melbourne’s inimitable Tote Hotel (71 Johnston Street, Cnr Johnston & Wellington) to launch their self-titled debut album, which is out now through Shock Entertainment. They play with deep South country rockers Dead River Deeps, Mildura two-piece rock ‘n’ rollers Jackson Firebird and the hard hitting Level Spirits. - http://www.ctrl-x.com.au/archives/903


"National Campus Bands 2007"

“The song writing nouse that went into each of the songs was quite breathtaking really. They were the most inspiring easily on the night, and they were the most exciting on stage … it was passionate all around the room for the fans, for the judges, even - I mean, we were standing at the back of the room just gaping going, ‘this is the finest thing I’ve ever seen’.”

- James Clements, BEAT MAGAZINE (NCBC Judge) - Beat Magazine


"Perth Bands.Com.Au Review"

When the Will Stoker and the Embers self-titled album crossed the PB.com review desk, there were some high expectations. Suitably so, given the high profile the band have built for themselves over the past year or so with a series of incendiary shows, culminating in a sizzling album launch at the Rosemount last month. Surprisingly, given the band's on-stage colour and flair, they have went for an austere-looking, grey album colour scheme with a tetris-like front cover, invoking images of utilitarian Soviet-era posters with the band's name printed above in stark lettering. The dreary cover, however, hides eleven tracks of barely-bridled, satisfying rock.

According to the notes sent about the tracks, the songs are a combination of observations about Perth and frontman/multi-instrumentalist Stoker's experiences while traipsing in Europe. The concept of combination also enters the musical structure of the songs, with tracks like The Waves Hiss and Burst where bombastic horns and a mournful clarinet compete with staccato guitar and bass lines. Lead single The King is another prime example of the band's mix-and-match approach to songwriting, swapping back-and-forth from Stoker pontificating like a mad preacher amidst a chaotic, churning backdrop of guitar screeches and thundering drums, and a 180-degree turnaround into anthem territory for the chorus, tempting audiences to alternate between crazed dancing at the Stoker's altar and waving their hands in the air participating in a mass singalong.

Elsewhere, the songs are more straight-forward, with album opener Tickets Please featuring some great guitar work from guitarists Gareth Bevan and Luke Dux. Ten Thousand Horses is another fantastic rock track with an addictively catchy main riff and both guitarists nicely complimenting each other. Crowd favourite In The Belly Of The Beast makes its malevolent presence known towards the end of the album, grabbing the listener with its first whispers, then flinging them across the room as the rest of the band leaps into the speakers.

What is doubly impressive about this album is that Will Stoker and the Embers have been able to preserve their live presence and flair on the album. More often than not, bands have found it hard to translate their live energy onto record (Metallica's first four albums would be a famous example) but on this album, the band's energy is palpable. As the album spins towards the end, it bristles with a barely restrained energy, much like a hurricane threatening audio armageddon...and then gently sails away with Penelope, the closest the band has come to a love song (accompanied with cutesy hand claps and ending with a cascade of tambourine).

In describing the enigmatic lead single The King, Stoker quotes King Ludwig II of Bavaria: "I want to remain an eternal enigma to myself and the world." He, and his band have certainly reached that goal with this intriguing, ambitious and intelligently-written album.

- Perth Bands.Com.Au


"Xpress Will Stoker Album Review"

Will Stoker & The Embers’ debut album hasn’t been giddily rushed out too early in the band’s career – and it shows. After a solid apprenticeship in the local scene, this album is carefully considered and focussed, with each song benefiting from plenty of on stage development.

In terms of radio play, The King is a clear stand out with its dramatic changes of pace and its unexpectedly rousing chorus. In the verses Stoker spits bile and rapid-fire adjectives in a pulpit preachy style undoubtedly inspired by Monsieur Cave; but just as you’re ready for a similarly theatrical regrain there’s a swerve ball chorus so catchy and anthemic it could’ve been on What’s The Story Morning Glory. Odd – but it works.

That sense of unpredictability is really the strength of the album, as it is in Stoker’s live show. There’s the slightly grubby beat pop of Bovine City, thumping four-to the-floor blues rock of Bower Bird and the earnest, acoustic shimmer of Penelope.

The bombastic, Led Zep vibe of Tickets Please is a slightly deceiving opener given the more off-beat moments on the release - but listeners who give this album a full listen will find that behind the shifts in style and pace this is very much an old fashioned, cohesive long player. Tracks 1-6 would make a great A-Side in anyone’s book.

_DAVID CRADDOCK
- Xpress


"Rave Will Stoker Album review"

Intelligent songwriters reinvent dumb rock
In another world, this emerging Perth act could have settled for being a fun tribute to classic heavy rock. Happily, their ambitions reach far higher. On their self-titled debut album, Will Stoker And The Embers embrace the best of their forefathers’ work – the memorable riffs, the gleeful self-indulgence – and restructure it on their own terms. The youthful enthusiasm and sporadic live energy are both accounted for, but within a framework of careful craftsmanship. The variety from bar to bar ensures no song outstays its welcome, with frequent mid-tune shifts in fidelity, timing and style. For every moment of unapologetic, balls-to-the-wall extravagance, there’s a fleeting flirtation with rockabilly or brass backing that proves real rock & roll isn’t just about distortion levels. It’s a solid opening statement, and an effective advertisement for what can only be an amazing live act.
ALASTAIR CRAIG - Rave Magazine


"Xpress Live Review"

Starting with a bang and a high kick, Will Stoker brought his A-game with the busted-up, bluesy, rock-out sensation that is The Embers. The sound is grizzly and completely unafraid. Although it’s steeped solidly in blues-rock, the flair of original songwriting shows through with moments of demented reverie and some of the tightest breaks ever.

The back screen imagery ranged from the oddly industrial, to the down right outrageous, a fitting motif for the entire set. But the best rock ‘n’ roll experiences are the ones where you’re never quite sure what could happen; which is a speciality of Stoker, who’s is like a crazy human Jenga, ready to get down at any moment. He managed to maintain, and even surpass, his charisma through the entire set, becoming simply riveting in Ten Thousand Horses. As a testament to grass-roots zeitgeist, the band finished on a magnificent cover of Gloria. Stoker ended up crowd-surfing and performing his guts out. He ended up back on stage with the rest of the band, victorious and stoking a fire that will continue to burn for some time.

_LAURA GLITSOS
- Xpress Magazine


Discography

2008 - 'Five Beds For Bitsy' EP
2010 - 'Will Stoker & The Embers' LP
2013 - 'Matt Doust' LP

Photos

Bio

Perth band Will Stoker and The Embers burst onto the Australian music scene in 2007 after winning the Australian National Campus Battle of the Bands competition. Since then the 5 - piece have been gaining fans on both sides of the continent drawn to Stoker’s magnetic stage persona and the impressive collective musicianship of The Embers.

For the uninitiated, Will Stoker & The Embers seek out and embrace the darker elements of rock, blues and dusty stripper jazz, veering wildly from seething rage, to tender bar room balladry and all stops in between. In April 2010 Will Stoker $ The Embers released their self-titled debut LP through Shock Entertainment.