The Wombats have carved out their place in indie music history, building a reputation for infectious energy and introspective lyricism. Now, as they gear up for the release of their sixth studio album, Oh! The Ocean, Quench’s Jenny Algieri sits down with drummer Dan Haggis to talk about music, nostalgia and the ever-evolving nature of their craft.
Oh! The Ocean is an album of reinvention, a product of patience and trust in the creative process. A track that almost never was, Can’t Say No, originally written for their fourth album Beautiful People Will Ruin Your Life, has found new life on their latest record. “Things can take time,” Dan muses, “and you go through your own little process in your mind – Is it right? Is it finished? Is it good enough?” It’s a testament to the band’s careful curation, allowing some ideas to gestate over years before finding their final form.
This slow-burning creativity isn’t new to The Wombats. Dan recalls how Greek Tragedy started as a simple collection of chords, sitting on his phone for months before it was finally introduced to the band. “It was probably a year from when I first had the idea to when it actually got shown,” he reflects. The wait, it seems, is an integral part of their song making process.
A standout from the new album, Blood On The Hospital Floor, invites listeners to engage with shifting perspectives. “It leaves a little bit to the listener,” Dan explains. The track examines how our perception of reality changes from moment to moment: “One day, you could look at a situation and think the worst of it; another day, you could look at the exact same situation and go, well, that’s supposed to be there. It’s fine.” It’s an exploration of self-awareness, anxiety and the mental frameworks that shape our experience.
The deeply introspective nature of the track extends to Dan’s own reflections: “Is it me that’s causing all the anxiety for myself? Is it actually what’s happening outside? Is there anything I can do to ‘pour concrete on the boomerang’ and calm myself down and stop the spinning thoughts?”
As the band prepares for their UK and Europe tour, Dan is most excited to share Blood On The Hospital Floor, alongside Reality is A Wild Ride and The World’s Not Out to Get Me, I Am – a title affectionately shortened by their tour manager to ‘The World is Not Enough’ (someone’s clearly been watching too much 007).
Touring is a core part of The Wombats’ DNA. From sweaty grassroots venues to sold-out stadiums, Dan expresses gratitude for their journey. “We’ve worked our way up and we’re lucky that we’re not considered an arena band everywhere. Dan emphasised how they’re able to “still keep one foot in that world” and experience the raw energy of the venues that shaped the band all those years ago.
Playing at Manchester’s AO Arena is particularly surreal for Dan. “It’s a pinch-yourself moment. I watched Bryan Adams and The Killers there as a teenager. Now, I’m on that stage.” Yet, he maintains that both large and intimate gigs hold equal weight. He laughs, recalling an early performance where their only audience members were his ex-girlfriend and two flatmates.
Long tours take their toll. RSI in his arms and voice is an ongoing challenge, but Dan has learned to adapt. “Yoga, vocal warmups and our pre-show huddle keep us grounded,” he shares. The band’s ritual is so compelling that even Pixies’ Frank Black once asked to join. “We were like, holy – what the fuck? Did we just have a huddle with Frank Black?”
The chaos of tour life has mellowed with age. In their early years, every new city was a playground for partying and adventure. “We were just going full throttle. If we’d kept up that pace, we’d be hanging on a washing line somewhere,” Dan jokes. Now, they navigate the duality of normal life and the “weird bubble” of tour routine, with a much-needed balance between the two.
Dan reflects on the first time they played in Melbourne: “I remember we were so jet-lagged once. You know, I don’t know if you’ve ever been to Australia or been horrendously jet-lagged, but you wake up at three in the morning and can’t get back to sleep. And then you do that day after day. We all fell asleep backstage, our tour manager came in and said ‘You’re on stage in 10 minutes’. It literally felt like it was breakfast time and she just went, ‘Right, shot a tequila’ and we went on stage.”
When asked why their music resonates across generations, Dan credits universal themes: “Mental health, relationships – whatever it is, people connect. The same way you read Dickens and relate to emotions from another time, music does the same. There’s something for everyone in our music if they want to find it.”
For Dan, songs act as “sonic photographs.” Each track is a time capsule, a snapshot of a moment in their lives. “It’s like when your parents pull out an old photo box. Whether you’re the same person or not, you can look back and remember.” He vividly remembers singing to his grandmother, who suffered from Alzheimer’s; “She struggled to speak, but when I sang to her, you’d see a flicker”, emphasising the importance of music and memories.
“As soon as I think of any of the songs from the first album, I remember being in Dad’s lounge, he’d always ask ‘How much longer are you going to be practicing for guys? You want some dinner?’”
Dan leaves aspiring musicians with a simple message: “Keep the grassroots music scene alive. Get out what’s in your head – it’s better on paper than stuck inside your mind.”
As for The Wombats, they’ll be in Cardiff on March 21st, returning to a city that holds some of their earliest memories. “We played this tiny venue and ended up sleeping on the promoter’s floor. He had a pet mouse – so squeaky, running on its little wheel all night,” Dan laughs. “But nothing but fond memories.”
With Oh! The Ocean, The Wombats continue to capture moments, emotions and fleeting thoughts, turning them into something tangible. Two decades in, their sonic photographs remain as vivid as ever.
Oh! The Ocean is out now. Stream here: https://thewombats.ffm.to/ohtheocean
words by: Jenny Algieri
edited by: Olivia Griffin
Featured image courtesy of Julia Godfrey. No changes have been made to this image.