Meet Tawny Port – the band, not the wine, writes Caitlin Sloan
Just as the hype was building after the release of their first two singles, Tawny Port had to put writing, rehearsing and performing on hold.
The self-described “indie-pop-rock, with vintage influence” four-piece, fronted by Helensburgh singer-songwriter Georgia Anger, were formed shortly before lockdown number one in 2020.
Georgia is joined by local guitarist and long-time friend Jackson Batcheldor, drummer and then-colleague Olivia Hill, and Bulli bassist Michael McClelland – who, true to Tawny Port’s witty and good-humoured style, did not play the bass guitar nor any instrument when he became a bandmate.
Not unlike the initial challenges that the band faced starting up, Georgia says being locked down again in 2021 felt like being back at square one.
“For the first part of the lockdown, all of us were sort of struggling a little bit with motivation and trying to keep the momentum while there wasn’t really a light at the end of the tunnel,” she said.
“We had a few shows that were in the process of being booked and they couldn’t go ahead which was a real shame.”
This year, the band’s prospects are looking up. After a month off in January, they played two live shows in February and had another scheduled for 5 March, supporting Sydney band Jet City Sports Club at an iconic pub venue, the Chippo in Chippendale.
It’s great news for the up-and-coming band, who only made their live debut in December 2020, at La La La’s in Wollongong. It was an opening slot for Shire local and Ruby Fields’ guitarist Adam Newling and came after Tawny Port released their first single, Long Black Days & Earl Grey Nights.
Spurred on by the mundaneness of her former job, Georgia penned the pop-rock tune on the train ride home and later put it to the band.
“It was just something that came out [because] I was annoyed, and I was angry, and I angry-typed this funny, f-you song,” Georgia said.
Their second single, rage, followed in April 2021, inspired by lessons learned from relationship breakdowns.
“It was an idea I had a little after we did Long Black Days, and Jackson and I had been working with it, and he was like ‘I just can’t get the right kind of riff for it’,” Georgia said.
“I was like, ‘It’s fine, we’ll go back to it’, and then we did and I’m so glad that we did.”
Spending much of the first six months of 2021 supporting bands on tour around the Illawarra, Tawny Port quickly found a home in the local music scene.
“We got to support the band TOWNS, from Adelaide, which is one of our favourite bands ever, so that was a big career thing for us,” Georgia said.
“We got to play at The Factory Theatre in Marrickville, which was really cool because it was our first Sydney show.
“We’ve played around with some of our Wollongong music friends like The Tin Knees and The Vandastruts from Helensburgh as well.”
Throughout the Covid downtime, Tawny Port were busy writing new music and practising over video calls – or attempting to, as Georgia says – and the band now have their attention firmly set on getting to the recording studio.
“We will have some new music on the way,” Georgia said.
For the latest gigs, follow @tawnyportband on Facebook or Instagram
