Interview: Wade Forster on His Meteoric Rise, Tour, New Album
From the dusty outback of Queensland to sold-out arenas across Australia and the United States, Wade Forster’s journey is nothing short of remarkable. In just a few years, Wade has gone from working as a refrigeration mechanic and strumming a $50 guitar bought online, to sharing the stage with country music giants like Cody Johnson and Luke Combs. His authentic storytelling and energetic performances have captivated audiences, earning him a reputation as one of Australia’s most promising country artists.
Now, Wade is living the touring life -fresh off a sold-out 17-city American headline tour and currently performing to packed crowds across Australia. His debut album, “Gooseneck Party,” drops today, capturing the spirit of rodeo life and the heartfelt stories shared among friends at the end of a long day. With influences ranging from Garth Brooks to Kendrick Lamar (yep – the “Humble” guy), Wade’s music blends classic country roots with modern lyricism, offering fans a genuine Aussie cowboy experience both on and off the stage.
Sheldon Ang Media caught up with the down to earth, shy’ish Wade Forster to discuss his meteoric rise to fame, his near sold-out tour across America and Australia, and the release of his highly anticipated new Album Gooseneck Party – out today
The interview is also available on YouTube below.
Sheldon: Wade Forster, welcome and thank you so much for taking some time out from your busy schedule. Really appreciate it man.
Wade: Anytime brother, anytime.
Sheldon: I saw your performance at the RAC Arena in Perth when you were opening for Cody Johnson when I was photographing and reviewing the show.
Wade:
Oh, yeah! That was a great week! I had a great time.
Sheldon:
And I thought, ‘Mate, this guy is going to have his own arena show one day.’
Wade:
That’s the dream, right?
Sheldon:
And also, one of my writers wrote about your performance in Melbourne. You were opening for Tyler Hubert. She said you were great.
Wade: Really appreciate it!
The Rise to Fame
Sheldon:
Let’s talk about your life. Is it true that in 2017, you used to be a refrigeration mechanic and you bought a cheap $50 guitar, and three years later, you were jamming with Cody Johnson and sharing the stage with Luke Combs at Rod Laver Arena? That’s a surreal journey, right?
Wade:
Yeah. It’s been crazy. I didn’t grow up as a musical kid. I grew up playing rugby and rodeo, and being able to play an instrument wasn’t on the cards at all. But I moved to this town for a job, and I didn’t really have any friends in this town. All the cowboys were a bit older than me and they didn’t want to stay up all night drinking beers and rodeo so stayed at home and all that. So, I found a hobby myself, and I was like, ‘Oh, there’s a guitar online on Facebook Marketplace for 50 bucks.’ I had enough cash, and I was like, ‘I might go buy this thing, see what it is.’ And from the first song I learned, it was Wagon Wheel, which I think everyone learns as a pretty basic song. The minute I learned that I got hooked, I was trying to learn every song that I had on my phone. And from there it just snowballed.
I’ve lived a hell of a life. So I played rugby as a kid and rodeo and I was a tradie. So then writing songs was a easy transition for me to tell stories like I was telling them to my friends but might as well make them lyrical and all that.
And then Cody Johnson was coming down under, and he was already doing pub gigs after Covid. He said, ‘I wanted to win a battle in Australian rodeo,’ and I was like, ‘Im that guy’ and I put a TikTok up. He saw and a a couple days later, he called me up and said, ‘which rodeo.’
We went to Townsville Rodeo and competed together in an Australian professional rodeo. The next day, he took me to Melbourne and we were singing on stage with Luke Combs. It was just unbelievable. I went from playing to 50 people at a pub to 15,000 at Rod Laver Arena.
Sheldon:
Amazing, man. So you must be regretting it, right? I bet you wish you were still a refrigeration mechanic, right? (I was joking)
Wade:
No, god no! The best thing is when I am home, mom and dad don’t have to get a refrigeration mechanic. I can normally fix things myself, which costs them a lot less money because we live on a cattle station, so it’s about an hour or two for anyone to come out and fix anything.
Sheldon:
Hold on, so after performing with Luke Combs, you’re still living with mom and dad, is that correct?
Wade:
Yeah. I work on a cattle station, 60,000 acres in Winton, Queensland. When I’m not on the road, I’m still working cattle and rodeo and all that stuff. Got to keep true to myself and still working at the cattle station for dad. I dont work for him anymore and I just help him when I can.
Sheldon:
And you just got back from America on a 17-City tour, and that’s all sold out. How was the American reception to an Aussie kid from outback Queensland?
Wade:
It was a crazy reception. We sold 15 to 17 of those shows out on our first ever international headline tour. People came down and from the minute go, they wanted to sing along and have a good time. We were the first Australians to sell out the Twisted J, which holds 1,500 people. It’s crazy considering two years ago I was playing for fuel money.I wouldn’t even get a check out of that because I would need to drive in and out of the cattle station. It wouldn’t cover the bills would encounter fuel money in our just doing it for fun. And now I’m doing this is a pretty surreal experience.
The Gooseneck Party
Sheldon:
So before we go on to the Australian tour, let’s talk about the music that got you to where you are now. “Gooseneck Party” – you mentioned that it is the best party that you’ve ever been to- is that a literally a party or a metaphor about your current life?
Wade:
A gooseneck is a horse trailer that attaches over the tray of a ute or a truck. At rodeos it is sort of sacred because at the rodeos the bars shut at 12. Us cowboys get down there and we’ve got beers in the fridge and we get down there and we sit on the eskeys or down the dirt after the bars are shut. And talk about cowboy stuff – love, hate, friends, funny times. It all happens at a gooseneck trailer. To talk about the big cowboy thing is a big honour for me and the great of the rodeo community. It’s a sacred thing for us cowboys, and a special spot in my heart because all these songs either happened or I heard at a gooseneck party.
Sheldon:
So is it an Aussie thing?
Wade:
It’s more Aussie. In America, they’ve got more bars, so they don’t have to drink on a gooseneck but they still do. It’s a pretty Aussie thing to have a gooseneck party.
EMILY
Sheldon:
On the other end of the spectrum, vibe wise – your song “Emily” is quite poignant. What happened to Emily?
Wade:
Emily was part of my music journey from early on. Her name’s not actually Emily – I changed it. We split ways because she wanted to do her own thing, and I wanted to focus on the band. When she left, it was a bit like a breakup, so I wrote the song to get those feelings out. I showed her the song and she thinks it’s really funny. It is that feeling when you lose someone really close to you that you wish you were still friends with. I wish we were still the same friends as we were you know I mean
Sheldon:
So you were not romantically involved?
Wade:
No, not at all. I wish we were still the same friends you know what i mean?
Sheldon: Do you feel that fame may have interfered in your relationship?
Wade: Nah, she was the big part of my band coming through, when we split ways it’s sort of felt weird because she was the youngest in the band, like a little sister. Once you left we felt like we had a lot more time to do with it It’s good to see her doing her own thing. Now obviously we still wish that she was with us but that’s life. People going to do that one thing we wish them all the best from the sidelines.
Sheldon: Her dad thought you were trash, is that true?
Wade: Nah not that haha. I had to change that too!
AIR IT OUT
Sheldon:
There’s also another song called “Air It Out.” Who did you sing that with?
Wade:
I sang that with Piper Butcher from Newcastle. She’s one of the most underrated country artists in Australia, in my opinion. Great vocalist, one hell of a guitarist. Like an all around, musician. And, I heard this song because I didn’t write. I heard the song for the first time in January when I was doing a co-headline tour with The Load and Drifters in the States, and, a girl called Shelby Stone was singing it, and it’s written by Travis Roberts and Jordan Nicks, and we’re at Turkey, Texas, at Hotel Turkey, and she was singing it, and I was like, this song is just great. I remember leaning over to my guitarist and I was like, ‘We should do this song’. And he’s like, ‘oh, I might as well ask.’ So I called them all up and I said, ‘Can I have a go at trying to do that song?’ And they said, Sure. So I called Piper up and I said, ‘Okay, would you jump on this song with me?’ She said, yeah, I’d love to. And the rest is history.
KENDRICK LAMAR
Sheldon:
So growing up, did you listen to Alabama, John Denver and co ? Who are your influences?
Wade:
I grew up on rodeo country as a kid we got the big CD pages…Garth Brooks, George Strait, Chris Ledoux, and then Kid Rock, Gorillaz, Limp Bizkit. For lyricism, I look up to Kendrick Lamar. His lyricism is immaculate. I’d say he is the greatest lyricist of all time. I try to write about the little details, like he does. But, for my lyricism especially, I think I look up to Kendrick Lamar a lot. His lyricism is immaculate. I would say he’s one of the greatest lyricists of all time. And, when I got into music and writing my own songs, I was like, well, everyone writes like this…you know, the same old topics.
Instead of that, I’m still writing about the same stories that other people are somewhat. But, instead of talking about those specific things, I talk about the other details, you know, the very, very little things, that other people would, just gloss over like if you heard any Kendrick Lamar songs, he’d sit there telling me about the bowl on the table for that, four lines.
Yeah. You know, that’s that’s the type of lyricism I like where you can literally picture the image in your head.
Sheldon:
Would you do a country version of Humble with Kendrick Lamar?
Wade:
Definitely! I’d love to do something with Kendrick one day. I’d sing a chorus for him any day. Him or Schoolboy Q—big influences on me. Definitely. Big influences on me. But nowadays, you know, like Cody Johnson and, Tyler Childers and, you know, Nicholas Jamison, those are the song writers i look up now.
Sheldon:
Speaking of influences, your album “Gooseneck Party” will be released on October 24th. Does it reflect your whole life—past, present, and future?
Wade:
Yeah. It’s it’s more or less the stories I’ve heard at a gooseneck party and, Yeah, all of them summed up into a 122-song album. You know, it’s an honor, especially coming out on October 24th. There’s a big rodeo on, up north and all my friends at the rodeo probably give it a spin at a gooseneck party, which will be a pretty cool site, you know?
So, yeah, most of the stories are from the past, not looking into the future much. Maybe I’ll do that on the next album.
THE TOUR
Sheldon:
You’re touring across Australia at the moment. Two of the tickets are sold out. What can fans expect?
Wade:
The real the real Aussie cowboy experience. You know, when I go on stage, I’ll give 110% if I don’t come off stage sweating and they weak in the knees. I haven’t done enough and I’ll be upset with myself. But, from the minute go you get any time, there’s no downtime. The music slow and the fun never stops.
You know it. The only time the fun stops is when I stop serving drinks at the bar. So, for us, it’s just about keeping the keeping the movement happening and keeping the songs flowing. And on this tour, we got all the new songs on the set. If you want to come down and hear them for the first time in Australia, don’t be shy. But the tickets if they arent already sold out.
Sheldon:
You’ll also be sharing the stage with Jelly Roll in Perth, right?
Wade:
Yeah, we’re on the Strumminbird Festival -Sunny Coast, Newcastle, and Perth with Jelly Roll, Trademark Revival, Livelihood. I’m also doing headline shows in Sydney and Melbourne. So many great artists on that lineup and to be a part of it, you know, pretty big, pretty big honor for me, especially hanging out with those dudes in a that they’re killing it right now and they’re some of the best songwriters in the game. So to be able to get out and hear those songs live, that’ll be something I’m really looking forward to. I think the fans are looking forward to
Sheldon:
There’s no doubt you’ll be super famous one day. If I can get a plug about showing any media you own, that would be great.
Wade:
Hi, this is Wade Foster, and you’re watching Sheldon Chang Media.
Sheldon:
Thank you so much, Wade. It’s a great honor to have a chat with you. You’ve got a very genuine, chill-out demeanor.
Wade: At the end of the day, it’s just people doing people things.
Wade:
Yeah, I appreciate it, bro I hope to see you soon, buddy. Thank you so much
Gooseneck Party album is out now.
Tickets to Wade Forster can be purchased from his website
About the Interviewer: Sheldon Ang, photographer, writer and the founder of Perth-based Sheldon Ang Media (est. May 2022) has interviewed rockers Suzi Quatro (pictured below), Ian Moss, Ace Frehley (KISS), John Steel (The Animals), Frank Ferrer (Guns N Roses), Phil X (Bon Jovi), Andrew Farris (INXS) plus over 80 artists. HHe has been accredited to over 200 of the hottest acts including Taylor Swift (ERAS Tour in Sydney), Coldplay (Perth), Backstreet Boys, KISS, Iron Maiden, RHCP and P!NK with reviews shared by the likes of Belinda Carlisle, UB40, Delta Goodrem, Roxette and Tina Arena. He’s also a contributor on Triple M Radio as a music journalist.
