The Family Stone Issue #39

For Australian duo Angus & Julia Stone, making music is a family affair

By Tatyana Kagamas
Published: March 1st, 2009 | 3:02pm

“We grew up by the beach, by national parks, so a lot of our childhood is sand and surfing. So to be around those things [feels] comfortable and safe,” says Julia Stone. Raised on the beaches of North Sydney, brother-and-sister team Angus and Julia Stone’s music, a collection of charming and poignant folk songs, reflects the inspiration provided by the scenic landscapes of their childhood, as well as their connection with a deeply musical family and community.

The pair is but the latest chapter in a family history rich with musicians, beginning with their cabaret and opera singing grandparents. Their father, a local musician playing in what Julia describes as a “party cover band,” started the school band when the siblings were young. Angus picked up the trombone, and Julia chose the trumpet. Despite the occasional brass duet, the two remained musically separate into their teenage years. They could not have been more different, according to Julia. Angus spent most of his adolescence surfing and listening to rock bands, while Julia preferred the Spice Girls. “I thought he was a lazy loser, and he thought I was a bore,” she says.

At 18, Julia embarked on a trip to Chile, where Angus, two years her junior, soon joined her. One night in the Amazon, Julia recalls listening to her brother play songs on guitar that struck her as profoundly beautiful. For the first time she saw him as an individual. “I remember thinking, ‘Where did you come from? Where did the kid go who was shooting me with the BB gun?’” The trip allowed them to gain perspective on their relationship. Distanced from their daily routine, the siblings were finally able to bridge the divide between their specific tastes to discover what truly united them as people — the love and comfort they find in their music.

Returning from Chile nine months later, the bond the two formed through traveling remained strong. They moved into an empty house owned by their father close to their childhood home. There they lived rent-free and were able to fully explore their musical aspirations, both together and separately.

The collaboration played to each other’s strengths. Lacking in motivation, Angus needed Julia to move forward professionally. Enamored with the spirit of his songs, she encouraged him to begin playing open-mic nights in Sydney, and the short sets he would perform were widely well received. Eventually, Julia gathered the courage to play songs she had written alongside of him, and they began splitting stage time, a format for shows and recordings that they continue to this day.

In this spirit, their American debut, A Book Like This, is an album composed by two different people. The songs written by Angus vary from detached to desirous of love and life, while in Julia’s songs the ephemeral qualities of a young ingénue are tempered with a wise, but warm cynicism. While each songwriter possesses his or her own unique voice and strengths, these differences are far from divisive. Rather, they serve to form something of a cohesive whole. “When he writes a song,” Julia says, “I feel like it could’ve just as easily been the words out of my mouth.” Every truth can be told in different ways.

From their success at open-mics and busking competitions, the two were encouraged to record an EP in their father’s house. The fruit of their labor, “Chocolate and Cigarettes” was eventually released in the UK and Australia and quickly grabbed the attention of fans and musicians, including Fran Healy of Travis who took the duo under his wing. His contribution to their success included recording half of A Book Like This. It wasn’t long after the Australian and UK release of the album that the duo found themselves in the spotlight, touring with Martha Wainwright.

With the US release of A Book Like This slated for March 2009, Angus and Julia Stone will be touring the States in support of California singer-songwriter Brett Dennen.

Still, their albums reflect most strongly their rich family history and their intimate connection as brother and sister. “I don’t think that we’d be doing what we’re doing if we didn’t grow up in a musical community,” Julia says. “Everything about us and our relationship is what makes this work.”