These guys are rock solid and won’t disappoint you. They’re guaranteed to put on a maddening live show, filled with hard riffs and sultry female vocals. If you’re hankering for a hard rock show, don’t miss your chance to see them rock the Epsy stage on June 23rd. They know you can’t stand the wait, so they take a moment to satisfy your pre-show curiosities.

CAN YOU TELL US A BIT ABOUT THE HISTORY OF THE BAND?
SHADOWQUEEN started somewhere around January 2010, but the genesis of the band really began way before that with Robbi and Si who have played and written together in bands for years, I {Alex-drummer} came into the picture in late 2009 and together we share a common bond of the love of great bands like Led Zeppelin, The Who, Black Sabbath, Janis Joplin, AC DC to Muse and QOTSA and so on. The chemistry between the three of us just felt right, and since then we’ve become a tight little family.

HOW DO YOU GO ABOUT YOUR SONG WRITING?
We get together in a rehearsal space and start playing, sometimes from just plugging in and warming up we'll come up with an idea and off we go, or one of us might bring in an idea like a riff or something and we'll just start playing and see where it takes us, it's very organic, what is important to us is that the three of us need to feel something, we need to get off on it, if we’re not feeling it we’ll move on.

WHERE DO YOU DRAW INSPIRATION FROM FOR YOUR ORIGINAL MATERIAL?
We each have similar musical influences like the bands I mentioned earlier. That certainly is part of it but inspiration can come in many different forms, from everything you’ve experienced in life really. I think it’s a human desire to want to create and to be a part of something greater.

WHAT’S THE SECRET TO YOUR SUCCESS SO FAR?
Are we successful? I guess it's determined by what you consider success to be. I think the fact that we've found a combination in the three of us together which is perfect for creating original music we can be proud of… that is a success. Hopefully people will connect with the music and feel the same way.

WHERE HAVE YOU GUYS PLAYED AND WHAT’S YOUR DREAM GIG?
We’ve been slowly building a following around our home town of Melbourne, Australia, opening up for some great national bands like The Butterfly Effect, Shihad {NZ}, Floating Me and Electric Mary. Melbourne really is the capital in Australia for the arts in general and Melbournians aren't easily pleased, so you have to be really good at what you do and stand out if you want to grab their attention. Our dream gig is playing to a full house with everybody singing along and rocking out! That really could be anywhere...

WHAT ARE YOU HOPING TO GAIN FROM THE FESTIVAL EXPERIENCE?
We're hoping to make some new friends and gain a bigger audience and connect with as many people as possible through our music.

WHAT DO YOU THINK WILL SET YOU APART FROM THE OTHER BANDS?
We rock hard and we're passionate and love what we do. We're a three-piece with an incredibly talented front women, vocalist, bass player, pianist with an infectious smile and personality to match! And we play each gig like it's our last. Our music is the product of our experiences and our influences. At times it’s intense, brutal and yet beautiful, but we don’t write love songs!