A Handstamp Interview with Rowena Wise

Hi. Handstamp is a weekly music newsletter created by me, Josh Coyne. In each edition, I talk to a creative person about live performances that have meant something to them. Previous guests include Anna B Savage, Big Special, Cassandra Jenkins, Chastity Belt, Chet Faker, Christian Lee Hutson, Courtney Marie Andrews, Craig Finn, Gold Panda, Holy Fuck, Idlewild, Jasmine.4.t, Jason Stewart, Joalin, Madi Diaz, Mat Baynton, NoSo, Public Service Broadcasting, Richard Dawson, Rio Kosta, Searows, The Twilight Sad, Uwade and We Are Scientists.

It’s funny that when you live in a city, you take tourist spots for granted, putting some of the biggest landmarks on the backburner. When I travel to any European city for the weekend, I’ll keenly find myself in at least one cathedral and walk on as many bridges as I can physically handle. Yet, it took me until this month to see Elizabeth Tower - home of Big Ben - up close. Let me tell you, that’s an impressive, well-decorated building.

Between the belated local tourism and breaking in a tricky new pair of loafers, I’ve been a particularly busy boy of late. However, a few weeks ago, I jumped at the chance to speak to Australian musician and songwriter Rowena Wise. We explored some of her most game-changing musical memories, but first, she took me back to square one.

Rowena Wise: “I grew up in a small coastal town, three hours south of Perth, which is the most isolated capital city in the world..”

Handstamp: So, what did your access to live music look like?

Rowena Wise: “It was quite limited in that town, but there were some beautiful community events now and then. However, I had an interesting upbringing, in that I grew up in a very musical family. We were a family band, called The Wise Family Band. We played our first gig when I was eight years old, at the Bridgetown Blues Festival in Southwest Australia. We used to tour from that corner of Australia across to the east most summers. We’d drive as a 5-piece band, 3,700 kilometres to play at the folk festivals. We also did a tour of Ireland and another in America. So, there wasn’t much going on where I am from, but we travelled a lot. I was blessed in that respect.”

Handstamp: I guess your first musical memory was watching a family member then?

Rowena Wise: “My actual earliest memory is from when I was three years old, watching my dad play with his blues band at a local brewery and I was sat in a tractor tyre, which was small enough to climb inside. I saw dad playing his harmonica. So, as my overall first memory, it has to be my first musical memory too.”

Handstamp: That is such an idyllic memory of a countryside music event, with you sat on a tractor tyre. Was it a tyre swing, or just a random tyre on the floor?

Rowena Wise: “It was a pile of tyres for kids to play in. They made a bit of a recycled material playground. I’ve been back as a grown woman and realised that I must have been so tiny to fit my whole body in one of those.”

Handstamp: Was the harmonica your dad’s main instrument?

Rowena Wise: “He was a multi-instrumentalist man. He grew up in Perth playing in rock bands but went to folk music in the 80s. He played guitar, mandolin, dobro and harmonica. He was a luthier, so he built all of his instruments and all of mine. He built my guitars, my ukeleles, my violins, I have a dulcimer that he built. I’m very lucky.”

“Everybody felt connected by the same thing. I didn’t grow up going to church, so that was as close to spirituality that I would get. It felt like I was part of something beyond myself.”

Handstamp: What a talented man. You mentioned your family tours to Ireland and the US, how old would you have been?

Rowena Wise: “12 or 13 in the US. I think I was around the same age when I went to Ireland too, actually.”

Handstamp: That must have been a bit of a mind-expanding experience?

Rowena Wise: “Well, the audiences in Europe were very different, in that they are older places and there is a deeply entrenched appreciation for the arts. That exists here too, but people would REALLY pay attention over there in Ireland. I mean, we were playing folk music, but what is Australian folk music? Some would say its first nations music. We played Scottish and Irish fiddle tunes, old English folk songs, old-timey American songs and the odd Beatles cover. It was great to see, at a young age, I got to see the impact that music had on a very different demographic of audiences, all over. Everybody felt connected by the same thing. I didn’t grow up going to church, so that was as close to spirituality that I would get. It felt like I was part of something beyond myself.”

Handstamp: In Ireland, music truly is the third language, isn’t it? It’s such a major aspect of the culture there. Young kids are dancing to the fiddle on a Saturday night next to 60-year-olds.

Rowena Wise: “That really is beautiful.”

Handstamp: What about the trip to the US?

Rowena Wise: “We played quite a lot of house concerts, grassroots gigs and some festivals. A lot of the house concerts were in the Boston area, due to some old connections of my mum’s, as she’s from the states originally. Funny story, actually. We also did a gig in Phoenix, at a folk club, but had just been over the border in Mexico to get a bite to eat and I think we got food poisoning from a food vendor. That night, we played the gig but half way through, a couple of us got very ill and had to exit the stage, but we didn’t make the toilet.”

Handstamp: Woah…

Rowena Wise: “[laughs] only vomit, by the way.”

Handstamp: So, was that the end of the show?

Rowena Wise: “I think we carried on, just minus two members.”

Handstamp: You can’t fight through food poisoning. That’s pretty tough.

Rowena Wise: “I learned those important lessons early though, about having to be prepared for the unexpected stuff. I remember we had an 11-hour layover in Heathrow airport. Between the five of us, we had SO many bags, full of merch, instruments and personal things. So, we found this little alcove and were near a bunch of arcade machines, beeping and making noise for 11 hours. I still remember some of the loops, some of the sounds the machines made.”

Handstamp: Traumatic. Death by arcade sound bites.

Rowena Wise: “Yeah, exactly. The other thing I think of is just so many long drives in tiny cars where I couldn’t see out of the window because I had so much stuff on my lap.”

Handstamp: All valuable lessons, I’m sure. As important as your family are to your musical journey, was there a first show that you remember attending away from them and claiming it as your own?

Rowena Wise: “Yeah, I reckon I would have been about 15 or 16 and I was dating a boy who introduced me into more pop and electronic music. We went to see Gorillaz. It was a real divergence from the folk music I was used to. They toured Australia and brought a 10-piece band. It opened me up to a lot more music.”

Handstamp: Naturally, as they’re such an expansive band too. Really genre-bending.

Rowena Wise: “I can’t pin them down really, you’re right.”

Handstamp: It’s also not fair that Damon Albarn has achieved such a crazy level of success with two different bands either. Not having it. Was that show a bit of a culture shock for you then?

Rowena Wise: “A little bit. The folk audiences are very attentive and are really listening for the authenticity of the story being told. At that Gorillaz gig, the production value was so high and there were so many teenagers chatting, so it was as much of an anthropological exercise than anything. It was great seeing other kids my age going to see contemporary music and enjoy it. It wasn’t a better way or worse way to enjoy music, just a different way.”

“So, we found this little alcove and were near a bunch of arcade machines, beeping and making noise for 11 hours. I still remember some of the loops, some of the sounds the machines made.”

Handstamp: Right, there are different ways of celebrating music. Even without a completely captive audience, hanging on every word, they can still bring energy to a show. Was there ever a show you played that directly made you want to keep performing in the long term?

Rowena Wise: “I think it would have been one of the main stages at a folk festival in Australia. So, maybe Woodford Festival. Everybody took a turn to sing lead and I remember really enjoying that, taking the microphone to sing and feeling the band around me. It made me realise that I love the feeling of being the one to channel the story. There was a high and there’s nothing quite like it.”

Handstamp: Having played live for so many years, how has your relationship with attending gigs developed?

Rowena Wise: “Well, I find that my tastes have broadened as I’ve gotten older. I’m less wanky and purist now. I used to be uninterested in seeing artists if I wasn’t into their lyrics, as I came from such a stout background and thought I NEEDED to hear a good story. I’m not quite like that now and I think it comes from going to more gigs over the years, embracing parts of songs beyond the songwriting. The storytelling lies within the instrumentation too. Pretty wanky answer, actually.”

Handstamp: Well, firstly, I’m glad that ‘wanky’ is a thing in Australia, great adjective. Secondly, I can totally relate. I used to be focused on things I didn’t like, rather than using my energy to celebrate what I did like. I would indirectly limit myself. As I’ve gotten older, I have gained a larger appreciation for people trying stuff and taking risks, even when I don’t necessarily understand it.

Rowena Wise: “Definitely. As a young adult, you’re not a blank canvas, you’re a malleable bit of clay, you’re an osmotic thing that will have influences travel through and you collect what you like. Over time, as you mature, you realise that the little things matter and everybody’s just trying their best. You can go and like what you like, have tastes that define you, but you’re not going to be as wanky.”

Handstamp: Third use of ‘wanky’. I’m delighted. Which show that you’ve seen has had the most significant impact on you?

Rowena Wise: “I saw Bonnie Raitt when I was 17. She came and played at festival in Perth and I was blown away by her confidence. I felt like she was a friend, the way she talked to an audience of a 1000 people in such a personable way. She’s such a skilled musician and put on such an engaging show. I found it super inspiring. I think I got my wallet signed and remember her saying I had nice long eyelashes. [laughs]”

Handstamp: Incredible! What a meaningful confidence booster. So, the record is out. How are you feeling about playing the new music to a live audience?

Rowena Wise: “I’m feeling really excited. I’m taking a full band on tour with this album. I’ve never headlined in Australia with a full band before, to this extent. When I wrote the record, I had a band in mind. When I toured my last album, I got used to doing it one way, but I always knew I’d make this move, touring it with a group. I look forward to having so many skilled players around me and bringing new life to the songs.”

The latest Rowena Wise release Bad Things Feel Good* was released in August 2026 via Beloved Records. You can find tickets to her tour here. Subscribe to Handstamp Substack for future interviews. Follow @itshandstamp on social media and just bloody listen to Chief Springs on your chosen platform, will you? Illustrations by Alice Bowsher.