While the holidays are wonderful and fabulous, if you are like me and want to pretend it’s still summer, throw on “Oops I Love You” from The Buckleys and grab a fruity drink with a fancy umbrella. Repeat as needed.
Australian siblings Sarah, Molly, and Lachlan Buckley have been rocking the Australian country charts with multiple hits.
Their album “Daydream” gave them success with the title track, “Money,” “Breathe,” and “I’m Comin’ For Ya (Love).” Their latest EP, “Take It As It Comes,” is also dropping hits including the title track and aforementioned “Oops I Love You.”
They have been in the US for the past few weeks – from NYC to LA – and of course, the home of country music, Nashville. And yet… I hesitate to label them “just” country. They have a fun pop “Red” sound that could absolutely place them on Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour.
Regardless of label, I was excited to hear they would be performing in Nashville after walking the red carpet for the CMA Awards.
Unfortunately, COVID visited my house and not only did I have to skip their performance, the interview we had set up was not an option as I did not want to risk ruining their trip by meeting them face to face with germs. Luckily, we were able to chat by phone, and I’m so glad we did because they are three of the sweetest Australians I have ever spoken to.
THE BUCKLEYS
Traci: Hey Buckleys! Where are you today?
Molly: We’re in Los Angeles.
Traci: How has your trip been?
Molly: It has been so lovely.
Sarah: Yeah, we’ve been absolutely loving it! We played our first show in LA the other night, and it was just so much fun. The crowd was awesome. We’ve just been having a great time getting to know some people over here.
Traci: Is this your first trip to Los Angeles?
Molly: We’ve been to LA before, but it’s our first time staying for a couple of weeks and actually being able to experience it a bit more. Last time we were here, we were just here for a couple of days, and now we’re here for a few weeks, so it’s been awesome.
Traci: And you were on the East Coast too. Was that your first time in New York City?
Sarah: Yeah. It was so incredible! We have – me and Molly, especially – have been dreaming of going to New York for so long, and we’re just excited to be there for the fashion. We wore the most ridiculous outfits. (laughing) We had a lot of fun there as well.
Traci: What has been your favorite thing on this trip to North America?
Lachlan: I would say playing live shows. Playing in Nashville, playing in New York and LA.
Traci: And you guys got to do CMA, the big time CMA Awards!
Lachlan: Yeah, that’s another one. Unreal!
Traci: Is that amazingly overwhelming?
Sarah: Yeah. We have grown up watching the CMA Awards, just all the time when it was on. So it was pretty wild and surreal to be there, a part of it, and on the red carpet. It was a massive milestone and literally dreams to be there, so we’re very grateful that they had us.
Traci: You guys recently had the number one song on the country chart in Australia with “Love Me Wrong,” right?
Sarah: Actually, it’s funny. Our latest single, “Take It As It Comes,” just went into the top 10, and then we have another song which wasn’t a single, but Australian Country Radio just kind of picked it up and it went number one for two weeks last week or the week before. So, yeah, pretty exciting and cool to see people responding to the new songs, and in ways that we didn’t really expect. To have two songs charting is pretty crazy. (laughing)
Traci: “Take It As It Comes” is your second EP, and you released a documentary of the same name. Is that behind the scenes of recording the EP?
Molly: Yeah, the documentary was filmed when we were recording the EP in Nashville at the start of this year. Grant James, who directed it, flew to Nashville to meet us and Christopher Jenkins, who produced it. They came to Nashville and just kind of caught the creative experience, the process of this project; it really gives the project a story and it was really awesome experience. Then we had the global premiere in our hometown, Byron Bay, for the Byron Bay Film Festival, so that was also an incredible experience.
Sarah: We’re actually super excited because it just was awarded with Best Documentary Short at the Independent Shorts Awards here in America. That is a massive achievement. We’re all super stoked about that. So it’s cool to see it out there in the world doing its thing.
Traci: Since you are siblings, what about your parents? Are you a musical family?
Molly: Yeah, very much so. We grew up in a very musical household. Our dad played music his whole life. Mom kind of picks it up here and there when she can, and it was always just something that brought our family together. Some families go water skiing or whatever; we all play music together.
Traci: Who does what in the band?
Lachlan: We all share the load depending on what we’re doing. So, going to gigs, we all have different roles and who’s doing what. The business side of it, we all kind of have our own sort of way of doing it.
Traci: Who is the songwriter? Or is it all three of you?
Lachlan: All three of us. Sarah has been writing for the longest and on this new EP, we’ve all written every song together except for “What Ya Gonna Do About It.” We all have a shared creative process as well. We love writing together and coming up with music.
Traci: What is your songwriting process? Do you just randomly get inspired?
Sarah: It’s always different. I feel like first it has to come from a place of inspiration, an idea, thought, something that someone said, or even a melody; any little piece of inspiration that comes to you, whenever it comes to you. I try to write it down or record it in that moment, so I have a big list in my notes of titles or just random thoughts, ideas. When I do get in that moment, if I can sit down and write a full song or a chorus or whatever, I’ll do that. Otherwise I’ll just kind of bank up all these ideas. And when I do sit down at a piano or a guitar or have a moment to create it into a full song, I will. But yeah, it always kind of starts with just something, anything really that can.
Traci: Then you yell, “Hey, Molly, Lachlan! Come here! I’ve got something!”
Sarah: Yeah, totally. I always love it. It’s always great when we get to write together because, like Lachlan was saying, we have different strengths and weaknesses and we do kind of really complement each other creatively. I love bringing the idea into these guys, and Lachlan is great on production and things like that. So it’s really great – the three of us riding together.
Traci: What’s next after this US trip? You head home and then?
Sarah: Yes, home, but we’re planning on coming back [to the US] early next year. Hopefully. Really excited about what’s coming next.
Traci: I know the EP just came out, but do you have another album on the horizon?
Molly: We’re always writing, so we’re always kind of working on the next thing and writing new songs for the next project, so yeah, we’re really excited to any time we can get back in the studio and do some fun stuff.
Thank you to The Buckleys and the next time you hit Nashville, I’ll take you out for Southern food, assuming I don’t have that pesky germ thing.
We look forward to hearing more from The Buckleys in the future, especially if it means more songs that inspire fancy beverages…
