The members of Sydney blues band The Wiseman’s Circus share their enthusiasm with us before their gig at The Lair for round one of Emergenza Festival Australia. They talk to us about how they got the inspiration to play the wicked Delta blues and psych tunes that come out of their instruments, who the amazing musicians in the band are, and how enthusiastic they are for the gig next Wednesday, April 9th at The Lair.

WHAT’S THE INSPIRATION FOR THE NAME THE WISEMAN'S CIRCUS?
The name is actually a satire considering the present global scenario, the materialistic false ego of power hungry human race that’s taken so much control over their wisdom that it’s turned out be nothing but a global circus, hence the name The Wiseman’s Circus.

WHO PLAYS WHAT IN THE BAND?
The band features Ben Chakravorty on lead, slide rhythm & acoustic guitar, Glen Geerin electric, upright & fretless bass, Dave Long on drums & percussion, Rod Smith on drums, Nicholas Perkin on keys, piano, Hammond organ & vocals, Till Kiesow on rhythm guitar, and Liz Robinson on vocals.

WHAT GOT YOU ALL INTO THE BLUES ROCK PSYCH MOVEMENT?
Throughout my life I have listened to great blues guitar players from the Mississippi Delta, like Son House, Charlie Patton, Blind Blake, Elmore James, Blind Lemon Jefferson and then later on legends like Robert Johnson, Howling Wolf, Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy, who had influenced a whole lot of guitar Gods in the 60’s like Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Keith Richards and many more, so I guess the thing is when you listen to these people and their music time and time over again, without attempting to play a note on the fret board, unknowingly, your subconscious mind gets influenced by their music, which automatically starts to flow out in your own playing. You then obviously start looking for like-minded musicians to have the same kind of influences like you do to get the band sound and the songs that you compose on those tracks.

WHAT KEEPS YOU INSPIRED TO PLAY MUSIC TOGETHER AS A BAND?
It’s the juice and the musical knowledge that we extract out of each others’ musicianship whether it’s in the rehearsals, live gigs or at the studio. It is so inspiring to witness as an instrumentalist/songwriter or an arranger the complete journey of conceiving a song from its first note to the final output from a recording session.

WHERE HAVE YOU PLAYED BEFORE AND WHAT WOULD YOUR DREAM GIG BE?
The Wiseman's Circus is honoured to be playing in some of Sydney's greatest music venues. From the soulful and sultry darkly-lit LazyBones Lounge in Marrickville to the Balls and Bush Inn/Hotel in Baulkham Hills To the Vanguard in Newtown and also gigs at various blues festivals.

HOW ARE YOU PREPARING FOR THE SHOW AT THE LAIR?
It’s been fun so far!!! We are looking forward to foot stomp the crowd with our original Delta blues rock tunes.

WITH OTHER BATTLE OF THE BANDS COMPETITIONS AROUND, WHAT MADE YOU CHOOSE EMERGENZA?
As it’s being the THE WORLD'S BIGGEST FESTIVAL FOR UNSIGNED BANDS!!
And we are actually looking forward to tour Europe with all our newly recorded material. The band is heading back to the studio to record the next album after this Easter.

For more details on the show at The Lair @ The Metro Theatre in Sydney on April 9th, click here.