Melbourne singer/songwriter Queenie – the self-declared trash queen alter ego of musician Eloise Thetford has teamed with alt-country artist Henry Wagons to create their first artistic project together titled Queenie & Hank marking the moment with a self-titled debut release.
As far as duet albums go, Queenie & Hank gallop to the country and western of a bygone Hollywood era.
From Hank’s brooding guitars combined with Queenie’s tender vocal delivery, she’s the femme fatale caught in the glaring headlines of his nostalgic groove.
Queenie spoke to The Write Drop for our At The Bar series.
MY CITY
I live in Naarm/Melbourne. I moved here 12 and a half years ago from Tassie and I haven’t budged. The food, the music, the arts, the people – I love that I can live 25 mins out of town and be almost in the bush, but still close to all the wonderful things happening in the city.
FAVOURITE FOOD MEMORY
The chickpea bowl at Moroccan Soup Kitchen. I will never forget the first time I ate there after I moved to Melbourne – that taste has been on my tongue ever since. I’ve never found something that warmed my soul the way that dish did!
FAVOURITE BAR
Lulie Tavern. I’ll have a Tommy’s Marg any day of the week, wonderful food, free shows and the loveliest staff you’ll meet. The owners are pretty damn cool too.
DRINK THAT DESCRIBES YOU
Orange juice, tequila and soda, Orange, bubbly, a little bit sweet and a whole lotta kick… sometimes also a giant headache.
BEST HANGOVER CURE
Catch me leaving the house NEVER these days; but my go to is chips and gravy. Never fails to revitalise my disgusting, groggy soul.
BEST INTERSTATE BAR
The Eltham in NSW. What a place. Good vibes, gorgeous staff, meticulously sourced decor and the best live acts to boot.
OVERSEAS BAR
My favourite little jazz record bar in Shibuya, Japan is 33 1/3. The lovely man who runs it takes requests by handing out little bits of paper to everyone in the bar and folks writing down the song they’d like to hear (from between 1960-1980). His record collection is extraordinary. You can sit there, smoke a cigarette inside and listen to all the classics while sipping on a Suntory and nibbling a Japanese platter. HEAVEN.
FAVOURITE WINE
I am a sucker for a Payten and Jones Pinot Noir. Locally made in Healesville, only 40 mins from my house and it is delicious. I’m not a huge red wine drinker but this one is *chefs kiss*.
FAVOURITE WINERY
Ringer Reef Winery in Porepunkah. You can ride the rail trail from Bright all the way there, sit on the hillside and listen to a live band. My dearest darling took me there on a holiday to Bright and it was just magical.
NEXT DESTINATION
Back to Japan in December baby. Then next year I’m hoping to get over to Mexico with some friends, maybe play a show or two.
THREE SONGS WITH HENRY WAGONS AND HOW THEY HAPPENED
Open The Door, Big City Blues and Got What it Takes. These are the first three on the album. Henry Wagons and I met a few years ago at the APRA Awards and jokingly made a pact to write some songs together. Everyone knows how it goes, you meet another artist at an industry event, you vibe, and you swear to write together one day and then you keep saying that for the next 50 years. But this time it actually happened! Henry invited me over to his studio (we live 15 mins away from each other) and it just flowed like lava. We had three songs after two sessions. It was such a wonderful, genuine and wholesome musical connection and we worked so well together. We figured we’d better do an album to keep the hungry hoards happy and here we are.
WHAT DID YOU ENJOY MOST ABOUT THIS MUSICAL COLLABORATION
Henry is one of the kindest, most genuine people I’ve ever met and I’m so glad we kept our pact to write music together. We’ve become such good friends and I just adore his wonderful family. Every time I go round to his place, there’s a margarita or a Negroni tinkling in hand ready to go. We’ve formed such a great relationship since writing together and it’s such a pleasure to sit down and create music with someone so easy-going and fun to write with. Having a project that’s a little bit tongue-in-cheek but still brilliant music, has been such a wonderful way to enjoy writing new music over this past year.
THE FIRST SINGLE ANYHOW I LOVE YOU – how this one came about
Anyhow I Love You is the brain child of Guy Clarke and the brain grandchild of Damian Cafarella. Damian reached out to us to say he wanted a cover of this brilliant Guy Clarke song to test out his new digs at Ziggy Tone studio. Henry and I scuffling for another track for the album with a looming deadline and jam-packed schedules saw it as the final nail in the Queenie and Hank coffin. It lent itself beautifully to a duet and it rounded off the album so nicely we figured it had to be a single! The production is glorious, the sentiment is sweet and I’m so proud of how it turned out! Big thanks to Damian and Ziggy Tone for that one.
