Wade Forster On New Album ‘Gooseneck Party’

Award winning country artist Wade Forster has released his twenty two track sophomore album Gooseneck Party, featuring the moving new track Air It Out recorded with soulful, emerging artist Piper Butcher. Revealing a more tender side of the outback Queensland cowboy, the record also features Wade’s recent singles Last of a Dying Breed, Take That Buckle Home, One Night Stand, Emily and title track Gooseneck Party with the album leaning into the sensitive storytelling that has become his calling card.

Wade will return to the US in February to support Shane Smith and the Saints at the Ryman Auditorium – the historic Nashville venue known as the “Mother Church of Country Music”—and again in April to perform at Two Step Inn Festival in Georgetown, Texas, alongside Brooks & Dunn and Chris Stapleton. Further US dates will be announced soon, continuing Wade’s rapid rise on the international stage.

Following the success of the US headline tour, Wade returned to Australia to play a huge sunset slot at Deni Ute Muster and became one of the most talked-about sets of the weekend. His Dying Breed national tour of Australia has now commenced with highlights to include performances at Strumming Bird Festival alongside Jelly Roll and Shaboozey, opening for Treaty Oak Revival in Sydney and Melbourne (sold out), and his own headlines dates with Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide, Geelong, Townsville, and Mackay already sold out, weeks in advance. Wade talks to Hi Fi Way about the album.

Congratulations on the album, you must be stoked that it’s finally out there?
Yeah, it’s been going really good, that album, and I’m hoping more is to come from it, but we’ll see. You know, it’s one of them waiting games in music, and it’s a bit tough, but you just got to ride it out.

Is it a feeling of relief, or is it excitement as well, especially when you’ve been working and holding these songs close for so long?
A bit of column A, bit of column B. For it to be out, it was a bit of weight off my shoulders, but I was very proud of how hard I worked for that album, and all the long nights, figuring out what else could go into it. It’s been quite the process, but I’m real proud of how far it’s come.

Is it true what they say about the second album, that that’s often the hardest?
I’m pretty green to the music industry still, and I would definitely say this one was a lot harder than the first one. But at the same time, all music’s hard in its own way, because I didn’t grow up playing guitar, and I wasn’t a musician kid. I was a rodeo cowboy, so I’m still agreeing to it, so it’s going to be hard for me for a very long time.

So how did you find music? Is it just something that came to you, what’s the story there?
I bought a guitar in Mount Isa for fifty bucks off Facebook Marketplace, because I was bored, and just learnt off YouTube. Taught myself how to play, and I always liked writing poetry and stuff like that, so when it came time to join both those things, it felt pretty seamless. I really enjoy writing songs, and I would say I’m more of a songwriter than an artist any day.

Can you believe how quickly that sort of journey’s taken off? It must be mind-blowing to make that sort of ground in such a short space of time?
It definitely is. As a dude that used to work cattle stations and out of trade and everything like that, I’ve lived a hell of a life before I turned twenty seven. To be in this music industry now and talk about all them things, it’s been quite the journey, and I’m still learning every day. You never master anything, so I’m just taking it day by day so far.

With the second album, did you have a clear plan in mind in terms of what you actually wanted to do this time around, given that you’ve learned a lot after finishing one album?
It was definitely a little easier. When I did the first album, I didn’t know that you could order your songs. The order of the first album’s actually in chronological order of how I wrote it. So I didn’t know anything about that, and I knew how to structure all that now, from studying other people’s albums. It was a little bit easier making the album this time around, but still a challenge every time.

Did the creative process work any differently this time for you, or does it pretty much follow a similar blueprint?
Same blueprint for me. It’s when you least expect it, that’s when you get to write a song about something you really care about. For me, I’ll be working at home or on the road, and I’ll be writing lines down in my phone. The amount of times I pull over on the side of the road just to write a big heap of lines down in my phone to go home and write them later… I’m always thinking about the next song I can write. The blueprint has always been like that, so it hasn’t changed none.

Two albums down now, have you found that you’ve got even greater confidence in your own ability as a singer, songwriter, and performer?
Oh, definitely. A lot of artists don’t release as much music as this until years and years down the track. For me now to be able to go to gigs and not have to cover songs, because I’ve got enough of my own, it’s a pretty good feeling.

How would you compare both albums? Is there a difference in sound, or have you been conscious to keep evolving and moving forwards?
I don’t see much of a difference sound-wise. My music’s always been a bit of a mixed bag anyway. You get a bit of anything, depending on what you feel like. I think it’s much the same from the first to the second album. You get a bit of anything, depending on what type of music you’re into. If you like the slower stuff, a bit softer, there’s definitely that, but there’s also some pretty fast, rockier songs. So everyone gets what they want in one of my albums, I make sure of that.

Were there any sort of tough moments making the album where you think, oh, this is not going to plan, or it’s not coming together as you thought it would?
One of the toughest moments was actually whittling down which songs were gonna make the album, and it’s got twenty two tracks on it. To make it only twenty two, I had like forty or fifty to whittle them down from. I’m always writing, so that’s the hardest part, making sure which songs are going into the album, because I’ve got so many banked up.

Do you think you’ll revisit some of those that didn’t make the album? Do you think they might fit something else, like an EP or another album?
Yeah, definitely. I see it coming on another album pretty seamlessly. It’s just about trying to find the right time and right order for the right songs. This album’s just come out, it’s got twenty two. We’re looking at some more next year, and some more after that. There’s always going to be music coming out from me, and I got to pace myself as well as keep writing.

Are there any plans to tour around the country again with this album, or are you looking to go overseas, particularly in America, and tour over there?
We’re already touring at the moment. We’re practically sold out nearly everywhere. I think we got a few tickets left in Brisbane on the second night, a few tickets left in Rockhampton, and a few tickets left in Katoomba. Other than that, Adelaide, Geelong, Melbourne, Sydney, Townsville, Mackay, they’ve all sold out. Brisbane Night one too. It’s been a good start to the album run, and we’re going back to the States next year. We’re playing at the Ryman with Shane Smith and the Saints and Ken Pomeroy. That’s another big achievement for us, and we’ll go and play our album over there. It’s all happening, I just got to figure it out and figure out how to get everywhere.

With how big the tours are, and especially with touring overseas, do you feel like pinching yourself with how well it’s actually going, and it looks like the possibilities are endless?
Yeah, I’m pretty blessed to live a life like this. I’ve worked some hard days in other jobs, and always dreamed of having something nicer, something I cared about more. It just so happened to win Star Maker really kick off my career. The possibilities are endless, you never know where you’ll end up in five, ten years. Every day I take a minute to go, how lucky am I?

Do you set goals, or do you just let things happen and see where they take you?
I just let things happen. I let the music talk. I don’t really get involved with the politics of it all. I just like making music and entertaining.

With the journey so far, what are some of the moments that have really stood out for you that you always look back on with a huge smile?
This year we were the first Australians to ever sell out the Twisted J in Stephenville, which is a pretty iconic venue. It holds fifteen hundred people. I’ve played at Green Hall, and some pretty interesting places in America that not a lot of people in the world get to play. Winning Star Maker, I was the forty-fourth ever Star Maker, and being able to run with the banner for that, there’s definitely been some highlights. I haven’t won that many awards or anything, but it’s never been about awards. A lot of people base their whole career around winning Golden Guitars and stuff like that, but it’s not really for me. If I win one, yeah, good, but it’s always been about the music, it’s always been about the fans. I just keep rolling with the punches, and you never know where it’s going to take us.

Interview By Rob Lyon

Gooseneck Party is out now…