Andrew Stockdale: Wolfmother, Woman and the riff that stuck | Ultimate Aussie Pub Rock Reunion

Why fans still care

People still call for Woman and Joker and the Thief the minute Wolfmother comes up. He has been the band’s only constant member since 2004, and in 2026 he took the debut album back out on a North American anniversary tour, playing it in full.

Early life

He was born in 1976 and raised in Brisbane, as uDiscover Music places him, and Premier Guitar’s 2016 interview has him describing himself as 39 that year. Before Wolfmother he lived in an abandoned Sydney warehouse that artists had taken over and worked as a photographer. A band he photographed offered him a support slot. That was when he brought in Chris Ross on bass and keys and Myles Heskett on drums, he told MusicRadar. He had been in bands since he was 18, and he was 27 when Wolfmother started.

Career chapters

1. 2004Wolfmother forms in Sydney
2. 31 Oct 2005debut album Wolfmother released in Australia
3. 29 Oct 2006three ARIA Awards
4. Feb 2007Grammy for Woman
5. 5 Jun 2007APRA Songwriter of the Year (with Ross and Heskett)
6. 2009Cosmic Egg
7. 2010By the Sword with Slash
8. 2013solo album Keep Moving
9. 2014New Crown under the Wolfmother name again
10. 2016Victorious
11. 24 Oct 2020Joker and the Thief at the AFL Grand Final, the Gabba
12. Nov 2021Rock Out
13. Jun to Jul 2026North American debut-album anniversary tour

Debut years 2004 to 2007

Wolfmother formed in Sydney in 2004 as a power trio: Stockdale on vocals and guitar, Ross on bass and keys, Heskett on drums, as Premier Guitar records. By Stockdale’s account to MusicRadar, their first EP was made on a home computer and “went gold within two weeks.” The debut album Wolfmother, produced by Dave Sardy, came out in Australia on 31 October 2005. It peaked at No. 3 on the Australian albums chart (australian-charts.com) and at No. 25 in the UK, where it spent 22 weeks on the Official Albums Chart. Rolling Stone reported half a million US sales by August 2008; Consequence and a Universal Music anniversary release both record a US Gold certification.

On 29 October 2006 the band took three ARIA Awards: Best Breakthrough Album, Best Rock Album and Best Group, as ABC News reported and the ARIA past-winners list confirms. In February 2007 Woman won the Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance. “We’re blown away,” Stockdale told ABC. On 5 June 2007 he shared APRA Songwriter of the Year with Ross and Heskett at Melbourne Town Hall; Joker and the Thief was nominated for Song of the Year on the same night.

Later Wolfmother albums and By the Sword 2008 to 2016

Ross and Heskett left in 2008; he kept the Wolfmother name through later line-ups, as Rolling Stone reported. Cosmic Egg came out in 2009. In late 2009 he wrote By the Sword with Slash, Ultimate Guitarist Reunion number 43, who took an acoustic guitar to Hollywood while Stockdale was working on that album, Slash later told MusicRadar (via Songfacts). The track became the first single from Slash’s debut solo album in 2010. Stockdale told BBC Newsbeat, via Songfacts, that Slash may have picked him for his “old-school delivery,” and that “It’s an honour.”

In 2013 he released the solo album Keep Moving. He was back under the Wolfmother name for New Crown in 2014, then Victorious in 2016 with Brendan O’Brien producing. On Victorious he played every guitar and bass part, with Josh Freese and Joey Waronker sharing the drums, he told Premier Guitar. The album reached No. 25 in the UK.

Independent years and the anniversary tour 2019 to 2026

Rock’n’Roll Baby came out in 2019. On 24 October 2020 he played Joker and the Thief in the pre-game entertainment at the AFL Grand Final at the Gabba in Brisbane. AFL.com.au wrote that he “whipped the crowd of 29,767 into a frenzy.” In November 2021 Rock Out arrived with, in his words, “no label, no distributor, no manager,” recorded in the Byron Bay area with a then-19-year-old SAE Institute engineer, Cameron Lockwood, as Louder reported. “I just enjoy putting music out this way,” he said.

In November 2025 Consequence announced a 23-date North American tour for June and July 2026, playing the debut album in full for its 20th anniversary, with James Wassenaar on bass and Christian Condon on drums.

Craft, sound and style

Guitar, bass and drums

“What we need is just guitar, bass, and drums,” he told Premier Guitar in 2016. “That’s when this band sounds most exciting and most dynamic.” He tried a second guitarist and decided it “wasn’t essential,” because jamming got harder once every part had to be taught.

Riffs and melodic solos

His advice on riffs, to MusicRadar, is to keep it simple, “find the groove” and “make a statement in the strongest possible way.” For solos he prefers melodic, hook-like lines. He names Jimmy Page, Ultimate Guitarist Reunion number 32, Keith Richards, Ultimate Guitarist Reunion number 31, George Harrison, Ultimate Guitarist Reunion number 44, and Robby Krieger as influences, and says he likes players “who don’t necessarily just shred.”

Gear through the years

Early on he played a Chinese replica SG, then a 1970s SG Standard, with a green Russian Big Muff, he told MusicRadar. The first SG “got smashed into about five pieces” on his first flight to Los Angeles. On the debut album he used a 1973 SG bought at Black Market Music in LA, through producer Dave Sardy’s rotating vintage Laney, Hiwatt, Marshall Plexi and Orange amps. For Victorious he borrowed Brendan O’Brien’s SG with a Bigsby-style whammy and a Rickenbacker. Gibson gave him an EDS-1275 doubleneck. On the 2024 tour Premier Guitar filmed a Rig Rundown with a loaner ’61 SG reissue, a vintage Supro (a gift from Seasick Steve) and a Gretsch White Falcon, into a Line 6 HX Stomp.

Stories people still tell

1. The warehouse photographer.

   He lived in an artists’ warehouse in Sydney and worked as a photographer. A band he shot offered him a support slot, which led to forming Wolfmother, he told MusicRadar.

2. The smashed SG.

   His first SG broke into about five pieces on the first flight to Los Angeles, so he bought the ’73 SG in LA that he still had a decade later.

3. Writing with Slash.

   Slash got his number through Tom Zutaut, took an acoustic to Hollywood, and they wrote By the Sword together while Stockdale was working on Cosmic Egg.

4. The Gabba Grand Final.

   In 2020 he played Joker and the Thief to 29,767 at the AFL Grand Final in his home-state capital.

Legacy

He led what MusicRadar called “one of the most successful rock debuts since the millennium.” The album reached the Australian top three and the UK top 25, sold half a million copies in the US by 2008, and carried a Grammy and three ARIAs. Twenty years on, he was still taking that record around North America in full. He remains Wolfmother’s constant guitar and voice.