Winterbourne Better Interview

The First Taste Of Their Forthcoming Debut Album

Winterbourne have returned with the release of their brand new single 'Better', the first offering from their forthcoming debut new album. Better is available now from here.

Premiering the single on Good Nights with Bridget Hustwaite, 'Better' is a new direction for long-time friends and collaborators James Draper and Jordan Brady. The song weaves rollicking guitars with pop sensibilities, as the lyrics rip apart cultural pressures around bettering yourself, something worsened by social media.

After years of honing their craft in the studio and on stage, the Central Coast duo recorded their debut album over a six-month period at La Cueva, an idyllic, remote studio in Byron Bay, as well as a few stints at The Grove. Winterbourne worked with their self-appointed musical dream team consisting of producer Andy Mak, engineer Jackson Barclay and multi-instrumentalist Thom Mak.

Originally discovered on the busking scene, Winterbourne have quickly amassed a loyal following touring consistently around the country. They released two EP's – All But The Sun (2014) which peaked at #9 on the iTunes Album Chart and Pendulum (2016) which charted #23 on ARIA Album Chart. In total, Winterbourne's music has now been streamed over 10.4 million times globally. Over the past two years they've sold out headline shows and supported the likes of The Rubens, Lewis Watson and Little May – just to name a few. Last year they journeyed to Canada for the first time playing at Break Out West Festival then spent three weeks co-writing around Europe/UK during which time they sold out their first ever London show (130 cap) in less than two weeks and secured a UK/Europe live agent (ATC Live).

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Interview with James Draper

Question: How would you describe your music?

James Draper: Like a hug from a tree that's branches are made of guitars, synths, catchy melodies and two dudes who never learnt to sing.


Question: What inspired the track Better?

James Draper: Musically it originally started with us just jamming about two years ago. I remember I wanted a song that started with that percussive piano thing, so I was playing that and then Jordan played the riff that became the verse melody over the top and we went for there. It was at a time when I was hell bent on getting a six pack and every day I would get up a look in the mirror to see if I had one yet, and I think lyrically the song came from that place of wanting to be better but knowing that it won't be the answer.


Question: What message do you hope listeners take from Better?

James Draper: No specific message, people can take whatever the song evokes for them personally. Hopefully is makes them feel something, even if it's just the urge to tap their foot.


Question: What can you tell us about the upcoming album release?

James Draper: That the album is completely finished and we are so excited for people to hear it. It's our first full length and we've been dreaming of making one of those for about 11 years now. Also it's really good, which is a relief. It's coming out early next year, we have a couple more singles to release from it first which we're really excited about too.


Question: Which is your favourite song to perform live and why?

James Draper: A song called Too Many. The whole song is like a slow burning release of energy that ends with us shouting.


Question: Do you prefer performing live or recording?

James Draper: They're very different things. I think I would be more excited about a month in a studio than a month of playing shows, because you get to bring your songs to life and that's what we've always found the most exciting. But at the same time, nothing beats lots of people singing the songs you wrote back to you, so it's a tough one.

Question: What is the story behind the name, Winterbourne?

James Draper: It's my Auntie's and Cousin's surname. Stole it straight from them. We visited them in England last year and it was very confusing because obviously everyone calls them 'the Winterbourne boys' and that's what we've spent the last 5 years being called.


Question: How did the band come together?

James Draper: We met in year 8 at high school and haven't stopped trying to be a band since. Winterbourne is the latest incarnation and so far the most promising.


Question: What motivates you most when writing music?

James Draper: Nothing like a bit of sadness, but that's not always useful. One of the biggest motivators for us to write songs has always been to have another song to listen to. The idea that you can create something from nothing is very exciting and motivating. It helps to be feeling some sort of emotion at the time though.


Question: Which music/artists are you currently listening to?

James Draper: Love the new Emma Louise record, have listened to that at least 15 times. Also The Money War and I Know Leopard. Eves Karydas and Tia Gostelow's respective debut records are fantastic. The new album from The Paper Kites too. We made a playlist on Spotify of all our favs, there's an insane amount of awesome music at the moment.


Question: What or who was your inspiration to go into the music industry?
James Draper: Probably one of the biggest inspirations was just seeing bands play live when we were younger. We saw bands like The Living End and Green Day as a couple of 15 year olds and pretty much knew that's what we were gonna try to do with our lives. We'd wear less eye shadow but we'd do it.


Question: If you could collaborate with another artist, who would it be?

James Draper: There's so many! I'd like to write a song with Chris Martin. Just to be in the room and hear him write a melody. I'd probably quit after that.

Interview by Brooke Hunter
Photo Credit: Daniel Boud