They are two Aussie country girls with no fixed address: their home is on the stage.
Cat and Leisha have been happily on the road for two years, cruising Canada, Australia and New Zealand, bringing their expansive sound to national festivals, concert halls and dive bars.
And next week, This Way North return to Jasper. Fuchsia Dragon had what would have sounded to some of us like a two-accent conversation with Leisha Jungalwalla.
51暗网: Where are you right now?
Leisha: We鈥檙e in Prince George at the moment heading down, we鈥檝e got a base for the summer near Horsefly.
Fitz: How鈥檚 the tour going?
Leisha: It鈥檚 going great, it鈥檚 been really awesome. We have been here for two weeks now, three weekends North Country Fair and last week up in northern BC, Fort St John. We鈥檝e been having some fun. We met up with a friend from Australia and did some shows.
We are very happy cruising around Canada, that鈥檚 for sure. We don鈥檛 really have a base, so we鈥檝e been on the road the last couple of years.
Fitz: What鈥檚 your history? How did you get to where you are now?
Leisha: We met in Canada at ArtsWells Festival in BC both touring with other bands. We hung out, went back to Australia and lived right around the corner from each other. We hung out again the following year, touring with different bands. That year, we came back and my band members stayed in Canada so we had a bit of a sad post-festival blues jam and started playing music from there. We never meant to go anywhere just enjoy the music and it grew from there. At the end of 2016 I ended teaching and we decided to tour.
Fitz: What are you touring behind? Where are you with the music?
Leisha: We just released a new single called Night Terrors, released last month. Before that we put out an EP last year. We got the new single out, just a one-off single, and we are doing a lot of writing right now.
Fitz: How would you describe your sound?
Leisha: We are kind of indie rock, a little bit roots, a little big indie pop style. We are just drums and guitar, but it has a really full sound - people think it sounds like four or five people on stage.
We both have a range of influences, from Led Zeppelin, the Beatles, Queen, to Paul Simon, the Bahamas - a Canadian Band. I love The War On Drugs, Anderson Paak. We have lots of influences that come through.
Fitz: What can we expect from your Jasper show?
Leisha: A lot of fun. We are playing with Carolyn Mark who is an awesome friend of ours and we will be joining up with her for a couple of songs. Expect lots of high energy, lots of dancing. We generally get everyone up dancing and up, running around.
We might have some brand new outfits we have been rocking around Canada, some band swamping, joining up with Carolyn. It鈥檚 going to be lots of fun.
Fitz: What鈥檚 your experience of Jasper?
Leisha: We have been through a few times in various bands and we were here last year. There was a black-out last time before we played. The lights came up about half an hour before and we made that work and came out and it was awesome.
This Way North perform at Jasper Legion with support from Carolyn Mark on Thursday, July 18 from 9 p.m. Tickets are $10 on the door.
