Palace On Their Return To Australia Next Month…

Palace are Leo Wyndham, Matt Hodges and Rupert Turner. Singer Leo Wyndham, guitarist Rupert Turner and drummer Matt Hodges began playing together in 2012 after fate had brought them all separately to London. The childhood friends released their acclaimed debut EP Lost In The Night in 2014, followed by the Chase The Light EP the year after. With four albums under their belt, So Long Forever, Life After, 2022’s Shoals and last year’s Ultrasound, the band have acquired a loyal fan base across the world.

Following their sold-out 2024 UK and European tour, Palace return to our shores next month in support of their new EP, Greyhound, kicking off on Wednesday, June 25 at Sydney’s Enmore Theatre. A favourite of Australian audiences, the band was last in Australia to play headline shows in 2022 and 2023, along with an unforgettable performance at Splendour in the Grass.

Palace have also announced four exciting Australian artists who will support them across the tour. Girl and Girl will take the honours in Sydney and Brisbane, The Belair Lip Bombs will open in Melbourne, Adelaide’s sold-out show will fire up with Swapmeet, and Humble Armada will kick off the last show of the tour at Metropolis Fremantle.

Palace recently released their atmospheric new single, Greyhound. Drenched in reverb and featuring Leo Wyndham’s enchanting vocals, the track comes from the EP of the same name and marks a new chapter for the band as they release it under their own label, Palace Presents. Matt, Leo and Rupert talk to Hi Fi Way about the tour.

Great to be talking to you all. It must be really exciting to be returning to Australia for this upcoming tour. It’s absolutely going gangbusters. The response has been really strong, I know here in Adelaide it’s a sold-out show. That must just add to the whole excitement and build-up to coming back?
Leo: Big time. Yeah, I think we’re pumped, aren’t we, lads?

Matt: Yeah, yeah, it’s incredible. I feel like in Australia we’ve sort of only just scratched the surface. We’ve only been a couple of times, obviously, but it just feels like there’s so much potential for coming back loads and loads. There’s something about Australia that I think is going to be really big. Hopefully, this is the start of many, many tours and lots more shows to come.

Do you feel like the hard work is just starting to pay off now? For you guys, it’s been a slow burn.
Matt: Yeah, it’s been a slow burn. We’ve worked pretty hard, but it’s been it’s been a slow burn. But it was never the plan to be a band and “make it big,” so everything is just a bonus. It’s been a really fun journey, to be honest. Seeing it grow like this is extra rewarding because there was never any pressure from the start, no pressure from us or anyone else. So it’s just really cool. The Australia thing, I guess, takes a while for most people. The boring reality is that it’s really expensive to tour over here. It takes time to build up to Australia, but it definitely feels like we’re there now. This is the start of really hitting it and going as much as we can. I’m really excited about lots more Australia tours.

Do you start noticing big shifts in streaming numbers, particularly in Australia? Do you see the impact your music is having?
Leo: Definitely. I think you can actually track the response by seeing streams, and they always tend to go up massively. Australia and the U.S. seem to be our big ones. There’s something happening in both places, which is great because it means we get to visit exciting countries and get out of the U.K., which is always fun.

Matt: Australia is actually top of the list in terms of listens, above the U.S. and the U.K., which is pretty cool.

Leo: No way! That’s amazing.

What is it about touring Australia that you love? When you look back on your last time here, were there any experiences that stood out?
Leo: What do we love? Right now, I can say I love Ange Postecoglou because he manages Tottenham Hotspur, and we just won a trophy last night. That’s one thing! But overall, we love the adventure, the culture.

Matt: I was going to say the outdoor pool near Sydney was amazing last time. Just walking along the cliffs, from Coogee Beach to Bondi. We did that walk, and it was really cool, amazing landscape, totally different to here. That’s definitely something to look forward to.

Leo: Crowds are rowdy there too, aren’t they? I really feel like Australian crowds really go for it. There’s serious energy in the crowds when we play there. I remember the first time we played, was it Melbourne? It really took me by surprise how rowdy it was. Definitely one of the rowdiest crowds we’ve played to.

I guess there’s also been a subtle shift post-COVID. When live shows were taken away for a while, people seem to enjoy them even more now.
Leo: Definitely. There’s still this residual energy that people are releasing in celebration. You really feel it when you’re playing.

The support acts for this tour are absolute gems. Did you have a strong hand in choosing them?
Leo: Yeah, we did. To be honest, we always get sent lists of potential support acts, and quite often, they’re just not quite our vibe. So, we went on a mission, looked into the scene, found these bands. We were blown away by all of them! Luckily, they were keen to join us, so it’s going to be amazing to see these bands play. They’re doing really interesting things, and they’ve got pretty strong audiences themselves. Some of them have even played in the U.K. or America. Do you know them well? Are you a fan? Either way, it’s going to be awesome getting to hear great music every night.

In terms of the tour’s set list, is there a particular focus? Is it more focused on the Greyhound EP and Ultrasound album?
Leo: With us, people love the first album so much that certain songs are a must. There are certain tracks we always want to play because people would probably kill us if we didn’t! So our sets always feature a mix that spans each album. But we’re squeezing in as much new stuff as possible, it’s always fun playing fresh material. Our set jumps around a lot in terms of EP’s and albums. We go right back to the beginning, and then we play present-day stuff too, it is a bit of a mixture.

The Greyhound EP is fantastic. Are you stoked with how it turned out?
Leo: Yeah, really chuffed with it.

Matt: Really cool. It feels like a really nice, I don’t know, it sort of encapsulates a lot of what we’ve done sonically in the past but also moves things forward. So it feels very forward-facing and a lot more positive tonally. But I think it’s a really nice collection of tracks. There’s a great mix of sonic vibes, and we’re really happy with it. Plus, the songs are really fun to play live, which is always a good sign.

How do you compare it to your last album Ultrasound?
Leo: I think, as Matt says, tonally it’s different. There’s a more pronounced positivity in the writing at the moment. Ultrasound has hopefulness in it, but there’s also a heaviness in the themes and content. With this new music, we’ve made a conscious effort, plus, it’s just what we’ve been feeling, to create songs that feel more uplifting and hopeful. There’s a positive energy to it, and also, it’s music you can move to. That’s something we really want to develop further, making music that makes people move, sway, and engage physically. With Greyhound, we’re dipping our toes into that kind of energy.

Is the path forward going to be more EP’s, given that you can turn over new songs more quickly and get them out there?
Matt: We’re not really sure what form the next collection of songs will take. But making Greyhound was a really interesting experience, it showed us what’s possible. We’ve been having a lot of conversations about the musical landscape and the industry, and how things have shifted even since we first started. The way people consume music is different now, and, as you say, EPs allow songs to breathe on their own outside of a full album format. We’re still figuring it out, but it’s been interesting to explore the difference between working on an EP versus an album.

Do you still believe in the concept of an album?
Matt: Definitely, we’ve talked about it a lot, and we’re all very much aligned across the band and management. A lot of people assume dropping individual tracks is the way forward, but we think that’s too narrow-minded. The end goal for us will always be an album. Albums document a moment, a musical moment, a life moment, a creative period. They’re essential for telling a complete story. So yeah, the idea of an album is definitely here to stay.

Are there plenty of ideas floating around for what could become an album, an EP, or something else?
Leo: Yeah, loads of ideas. We’ve just finished a long US tour, and we wrote a lot while on the road over five weeks. Our soundchecks are quick, about half an hour, and then we use the extra time to write and jam on stage. Our sound engineer records everything, so we came back with tons of ideas from those sessions, which we’ve been developing. It’s really exciting, we’re deep in the process of putting things together, and it feels like a great creative moment for us.

Beyond the Australian tour, what’s next for you guys? Another country, another tour?
Leo: We’ve got festivals lined up, playing with Khruangbin in London in August, which is really cool. There are lots of festival dates, plus recording and writing and then, yeah, I’m sure more tours down the line.

Interview By Rob Lyon

Catch Palace on tour on the following dates, tickets from Live Nation…