The Preachers - new video and exclusive interview

We've been championing Sydney's The Preachers for a long time now. Their bluesy, country rock n roll sound won us over the first time we heard it and, since then, the five-piece have continued to evolve and to push themselves creatively. Their 66 Project last year was an interesting one and now, joyously, we are seeing the fruits of their labour, with new single, Take a Card, hitting the airwaves. You can check it out above. The song is the lead-track from their second EP, Shaking Hands, which is due for release in April.

Directed and edited by Simon Day (Ratcat) and Rob Saponja, the clip for Take a Card was shot at their studio in Sydney's infamous heritage-listed old building Hibernian House (where Bobbysix.com used to have its headquarters) in a little under two hours in early February. When asked about the vibe of the clip, vocalist/keyboardist Isabella Manfredi said: "We wanted something that captured the band naturally; a classic performance video with no shots of us running through fields."

Keen to find out more about the new single and EP, Bobbysix's Heidi Pett recently sat down for a chat with Isabella and vocalist/guitarist Gideon Benson in the very same room in which they shot their clip. As ever, they proved themselves to be charming, as well as very passionate and driven when it comes to their music. Have a look and a listen for yourself in our little video-clip below:

More free awesomeness from The Preachers

As we mentioned a while ago, Sydney's The Preachers are working on The 66 Project, which is basically aimed at recording and releasing as many high-quality demos (at least one a month) over half-a-year. Not only that, but everything the release during this period is absolutely free.

Excitingly, the latest free track, Pale Rider, landed last week, so give it a listen here.

Wanna know more about this up-and-coming band? Read our interview with them here.

The Preachers at The Gaelic Club, Sydney

Having recently chatted to The Preachers, BobbySix.com checked them out at Sydney’s Gaelic Club:

With their songs ranging from melodic country to bone-shaking blues, The Preachers’ guitarist Gideon Benson and keyboardist Isabella Manfredi shared vocal duties throughout this final residency show and offered an excellent dichotomy. Benson’s voice combined the thunderous growl of The Cubical’s Dan Wilson with the strained howl of a pre-pop Caleb Followill, while Manfredi offered a more seductive tone. Throughout, the band’s dynamic was consistently pleasing, as the four boys - all sweat and mops of hair - wielded guitars and bashed drums in a blur of motion, while Manfredi jigged playfully during the dancier numbers and shuddered with emotion as she hung from the mic stand during the more pensive moments.

While there was a decent diversity to their set, the strongest points came when they were belting out the visceral garage blues. Of course, it’s tough to have such a sound in this day and age without coming across as derivative, but The Preachers displayed such honesty in their music and in the way they delivered it that this was never a problem.


The band is set to take a brief break from the live circuit in order to get some recording done. It’s early days yet in The Preachers’ journey but, while one senses they have yet to completely pin down their own inimitable sound, this show suggested they have potential in abundance.

Getting To Know... The Preachers

Sydney's The Preachers are one of the bands to watch in 2012. Vocalist/keyboardist Isabella Manfredi talks to BobbySix.com about the band’s inspirations, the future and their home city:

I would describe The Preachers' sound as blues rocknroll with a dash of country.

We take inspiration from The Band, The Stones, The Patti Smith Group, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Elvis Costello, Bob Dylan, The Clash, Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Jack Dejonette. We like the old school ethos of production and musical process. People like Brain Wilson and Phil Spektor, George Martin and T-Bone Burnett. Individually our tastes are eclectic and we're definitely not a 60’s wannabe band.

Sydney is its own worst enemy. There's no shortage of talent and ideas coming out of the music community at the moment, but Sydney folk are a notoriously competitive and cliquey bunch. We're always looking at the guy next to us thinking "who does he think he is?". It's a lot easier to be resentful of other bands, especially if there’s an ideology clash there, but, at the end of the day, they've got a record deal and you've got a reputation for being an arrogant cock. Support and respect for what other people are doing builds community in the true sense of the word. Here are some Sydney names that have our respect: Danimals, Domeyko/Gonzalez, Arkestra, Sooners, Hero Fisher, Royal Headache, Jack Ladder, Kirin J. Callinan, The Holy Soul, Psychonanny & The Babyshakers, Step-Panther. We could go on…

I wish The Preachers had written Me and My Woman by Roy Harper. One of the first experiments with multi-track and a serious Opus for anyone interested. I'm also hooked on Sweet Surrender by Tim Buckley (in fact the whole album Greetings From LA is genius) and Keys To Your Heart by The 101s at the moment.

It might surprise people to learn that [guitarist] Jak and [bassist] Thomas recorded and mixed our entire EP themselves. We spent six months amassing the gear and moved it all into an orchestral practice hall in Stanmore [inner-west Sydney]. The EP was recorded there over two weeks using 8-track and a lot of ingenuity.

In five years time we won't still be living with our parents... fingers crossed.