Angus and Julia Stone

Julia Stone talks about the long road to album #2, Down the Way.

Despite being recorded with a lot of different people in a lot of different places, it has an organic flow. That's impressive for a record made on the road. It was written on the road because that's where we've been for the last couple of years. But the way Angus and I record and make music is continuous, so all that really changes are the mics: a studio is essentially the same thing everywhere you go. A Book Like This was recorded half in London and half in Sydney and I thought it all came together well.

So it was done in dribs and drabs because of expediency, or were there particular people you wanted to work with? "Expediency" is a good word to use. We do a lot of writing, so when we have a few weeks off in between tours and festivals we try and use that time to record. And that comes back to what studios are available, and what studios are suggested to us by other bands and people we meet. For instance, the recordings we did in New York was because Martha [Wainwright]'s husband Brad told us we should record in his studio, so after our tour in California we flew over, did a show and then recorded there. It's a convenience thing, but it's also about the people you meet and wanting to see them and hang out with them again. 

Hanging out with A&J sounds like a remarkably social activity... It can be there! Certainly touring with other bands is such a beautiful thing because you're on the road with these people and in such an intense environment together everyday in amazing places, and you'll be sleeping in the same hotel and sharing the same bus. It's like school camp, because you get to know each other so quickly…

Is it hard to part at the end of the tour? I fall in love with the other people we tour with, and it's a sad thing because you get so close to them and then when the tour is over you don't know when you will see each other again. So when Angus and I get time off we try and re-connect with the other bands we've met. I can't imagine touring with other bands and not feeling sentimental with them and about the music they are creating. Andrew P Street