The local band that’s ‘like Iggy and the Stooges drenched in eucalyptus oil’

There’s a large stone monument at the Meredith Supernatural Amphitheatre, home to the Victorian festivals Meredith and Golden Plains, shaped almost like the Madonna with her face tilted to the sky. It’s unmarked, but those who loved Donna Magree – who worked at the festivals for years before succumbing to a brain tumour – understand its significance. The 2.5 metre stone was installed by her sculptor brother Shane as a tribute, and overlooks the Yarrowee River, perfect for watching the sunset while sipping a Donna Summer cocktail.

Stiff Richards will be performing at Golden Plains in 2023.Credit: Jack Golding

So there’s a kind of poetry to Stiff Richards being booked to play the next Golden Plains in March 2023. Frontman Wolfgang Buckley is Magree’s son, and first attended the festivals with his mother when he was nine. Magree had run the staff kitchens and Pink Flamingo bar, and painted much of the signage. When her son hit 16 he and his mates would get jobs there too, in exchange for free tickets, and run amok.

The festivals, which have remained resolutely non-commercial, have inspired a family-like loyalty since Meredith began in 1991 (Golden Plains followed in 2007). Synchronistically, Stiff Richards inspire that same unwavering devotion. They were formed in Rye on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula in 2016 – an area that’s light on venues to play, but tight-knit in its friendship groups – and soon gathered a startling grassroots momentum.

“There was a ripple coming up from the Peninsula to the city, talking about this band Stiff Richards,” says James Young, owner of Cherry Bar on Melbourne’s Little Collins Street. He’s booked the band multiple times, including for his festival CherryFest. “I was blown away by their energy, which was like Iggy and the Stooges drenched in eucalyptus oil. Wolfie certainly has no problem with getting down to his undies and coming into the crowd, and more than one person said to me, ‘Who could have ever believed that when we lost Donna we were going to get her back, on stage through her creative and talented son?’”

Donna Magree was a beloved figure at the Meredith Supernatural Amphitheatre.Credit: Michael Harris

Young first met Magree at the Meredith Music Festival years back and immediately clicked with her larger-than-life personality. He held her benefit fundraiser, Donnafest, at Cherry Bar. “Despite the sadness of the time, Donnafest was still full of effervescence and energy and sunshine,” Young says. “That’s where I first met Wolfie. There are people in this world who are taps and people who are drains, and like Donna, Wolfie’s definitely a tap.”

Now Stiff Richards are three albums in, and recently came back from a sold-out tour of Europe, the fevered reception of which surprised the band. There seemed to be an Australian literacy among gig-goers there, knowledgeable not only about Stiff Richards but also their peers such as Civic, Coffin, The Chats, and Amyl and the Sniffers. A fan in France even got Buckley’s signature tattooed on his leg – “Which I vehemently told him not to do!” the singer insists.

Then there were the Australian fans who followed the band overseas. An inflatable kangaroo kept getting punted around at shows in different countries, and in the end the band brought its deflated carcass back to Australia to present as a souvenir to the two teachers who’d originally brought it along. “We call them the mum and dad of the band because they come to all our shows and bring us homemade gifts,” says Buckley.

The icing on the cake came when Iggy Pop played the band on his BBC Radio 6 show, Iggy Confidential.

“I’m still processing that,” says Buckley. “I never thought in my wildest dreams that I would ever hear that gravelly voice say my band’s name, or my own name.”​

Buckley’s mother had been a massive Stooges fan, and Buckley based his stagecraft on that of the king of self-inflicted injury.

“In the beginning, my way of getting people to come forward would be to get in the crowd and sing in people’s faces and roll around on the ground,” he says. “It opens up the floor for other people to do it. Now it’s become part of the show, so I think people might feel a bit cheated if I didn’t get in their face.”

Stiff Richards performing live. Credit: Jack Golding

At Golden Plains, Buckley is looking forward to seeing Bikini Kill, being an admirer of ’90s female-fronted agitator-punk bands. As for Stiff Richards, it will be interesting to see what injuries Buckley can accumulate on a festival stage, since it wouldn’t be a Stiffies show if he didn’t wind up with cuts all over his back from broken glass.

“I got dropped on my head in Hamburg when I was crowdsurfing, and I often get punched in the face – not in a mean way, but more of an accidental way. I’ve got a million chips in my teeth from smashing them into the microphone,” he says. “But there’s always love as well. Everyone will always be there to pick me up.”

Stiff Richards will be performing at Golden Plains in March 2023.

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