Adelaide duo Wing Defence unleashed their debut EP Friends today, and it’s everything you could want from a pop-punk duo who got their name from the least valued, but most reliable player in netball.
Created in collaboration with Mario Späte (Montaige, Jess Kent), their guitarist Benny Tamblyn-Morrow and engineers Wade Keighran and Rick O’Neill (Silverchair, You Am I, Powderfinger), Friends is hopeful, raw, and contemplative – all weaved with the kind of Australian twang accent best reserved for unabashed pop punk.
It’s clearly high time we all got to know Wing Defence’s Skye and Paige a little more. Check out our Q&A with one half of the band, Skye, below.
Check out Wing Defence’s EP Friends:
How did your artist name come about?
Back in 2017, I wrote a poem which I read out to Paige when we were out one night. It was quite dark and expressed feelings of resentment towards someone.
The last line of the poem was a little ‘off beat’ and somewhat disjointed from the rest of the body of work. It read, “What position did you play, Wing Defence?”
Now, Wing Defence is the first position to go if you are short of players, meaning it’s the least valued, but at the same time, Wing Defence is always lurking around the outside of the goal circle yelling, “Here if you need”. So they are also the first to help in reaching the teams goal.
After I read her this line, Paigy yelled, “That’s our band name” and ran off around the corner and drew a little mascot which is the one you see on our first t-shirt design.
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How would you describe your music to your grandma?
“Now Grandma, there is some swearing in a lot of these songs so just block your ears if you’re not too keen on it”.
Tell us about a few of your tracks; their titles and what they’re about?
‘Weapons’ was written by three of us from the Wingos gang… Benny, Skiz and Paigy girl. It’s a collaboration of all of our thoughts and experiences on trying to navigate through a feeling of alienation.
We’ve all been there at some point in our lives so it was a great writing session to bond over when we first started WD. We just released our EP and we feel as though ‘Weapons’ was a good one for the lead up, being quite different from our other tracks and giving off a more ethereal, dream pop vibe while still staying within the Wingos sounding territory. An epically fun one to smash out live!
Check out a stripped back version of Wing Defence’s ‘Weapons’:
‘Silence’ is about having to leave someone who’s been in your life and whom you’ve loved for a very long time. When it was written, there were two major break-ups very close together.
One a very close friend and the other a long-term partner, so the song covers the feelings and events that surrounded the end of these relationships. There is so much that is unsaid, so much heartbreak and a never ending feeling of “unfinished business” hence the title.
‘Bob’ is a song about Skye’s baby to be. We all started referring to the baby as Bob throughout the pregnancy hence the title.
Check out Wing Defence’s ‘Bob’:
When Skizzo first told me she was having a baby I just remember thinking how lucky this kid is going to be to have parents who will love the hell out of them for whoever they are and whatever they decide to be. Our good friend Benny and I ended up in the studio for a writing session and we wrote it in a few hours and then gifted it to Skiz and her partner Stevie that night.
No sooner after that we got Skiz to add her vocals in to tie it all together in a really special way
‘Relocate’ is song is about relocating your negative energy into positive things rather than letting the loneliness of that energy consume you and make you bitter.
Check out Wing Defence’s clip for ‘Relocate’:
What do you love about your hometown?
I love it that the beach is a 15 minute drive from the city. I love that you can walk between music venues to see all the bands you want to check out.
I love that you can find a free park in the city if you know where to look. I love that it doesn’t get dark until past 9pm in the summer time and the air is dry and not humid.
I love that we have most beautiful wine regions in the world that have the best wines.
Career highlight so far?
Playing at Festivals such as Glastonbury, Groove in the Moo and Laneway.
Fave non-music hobby?
Vanlife.
What’s on your dream rider?
Massage. Bloody Marys. Fresh oysters.
Dream music collaboration?
Dream Wife and Bikini Kill.
What’s your go-to karaoke song?
Aretha Franklin – ‘RESPECT’.
What’s one obsession you have that no one would guess after listening to your music?
Waste Management.
