Moaning Lisa sign to indie label Farmer & The Owl

Buzz band Moaning Lisa has signed to Wollongong-based label Farmer & The Owl.

The Canberra-born and Melbourne-based outfit joins a roster that includes Hockey Dad and Bad//Dreems.

“We’re so excited to be working with Farmer & The Owl. Wollongong has always been close to our hearts,” Moaning Lisa said in a statement.

“We love that they have small-town roots and then these big, worldwide aspirations. It’s so great to have a team that’s so supportive of our music and that wants us to do our own thing and be ourselves.

“We can’t wait to show everyone what we’ve got in store.”

The team-up started with a late-night email chain.

Farmer & The Owl label manager Kate Marning explained: “It’s not often you want to check an email that pops up at 10:36pm on a Friday evening, whilst you’re binge-watching Seinfeld for the umpteenth time.

“But the allure of it being new Moaning Lisa music was too strong to resist. And boy, did opening that email reap huge rewards. The Farmer team were all thrilled and excited at the prospect of working with Moaning Lisa.

“We’ve all been fans of them for numerous years now, so it was super flattering that they may be interested in working alongside us.”

The signing comes after they did their first show in a year this month, and which they follow up in April with the East Coast Something Tour.

It starts at Leadbeater, Melbourne (April 9), Vic On The Park, Sydney (10), La La La’s, Wollongong (15), UC Refectory Canberra (16) and Black Bear Lodge, Brisbane (17).

Charlie Versegi (singer/bassist), Hayley Manwaring (singer/guitarist), Ellen Chan (lead guitarist) and Hayden Fritzlaff (drummer) were four music grads who decided to make a loud mix of psych, punk and shoegaze.

They hit the road opening for like-minded bands, won the National Campus Band Competition, and snared two NLMA (National Live Music Awards) nominations.

Their second EP Do You Know Enough? caught the attention of triple j and US label Father/Daughter Records which issued the record in North America.

Moaning Lisa also featured on US TV series Dynasty.