Interview: How the realities of life on the road left the Stones cold

WHEN Julia Stone had her first taste of life as a professional musician she wasn't sure she liked it. Her brother Angus was equally unconvinced.

The brother and sister, who grew up in Australia playing open mic sessions at local bars liked the fact the record company paid for them to live in London for a while. They were flattered when their first album, the folk-inspired A Book Like This, released in 2009, found fans across Europe and America, but they weren't blind to the downsides.

They'd loved each and every one of their gigs, but living in a tour bus for the best part of two years took its toll.

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So much so that despite being deluged by critical plaudits, when they were asked to record a second album they very nearly said no. "We'd written all the songs while we were out on tour with A Book Like This and the album was ready to go," says Julia, speaking from New York, where she recently recorded her first solo venture. "The problem was we didn't know whether it was the right life for us. Everything had happened so quickly and it was just such a contrast to what had gone before. We were tired of living on top of each other."

A self-enforced break from the touring circus helped clarify their thoughts and much to their record company's relief, A Book Like This turned out not to be both debut and swansong. Instead came Down the Way, an album arguably more accessible than the first and which produced stand out track Big Jet Plane.

"We took seven months out and during that time we changed the way we thought about what we were doing," says Julia. "If anything, it's even more crazy and hectic than it was before, but not many people get the opportunity to do what me and Angus do, so we just decided to look at everything more positively." Both siblings have recorded solo albums which gave each of them much needed space and for Julia the experience of going into a studio without the supportive arm of Angus, was terrifying, but ultimately rewarding.

In The Memory Machine has been described as a "paean to lost love from simpler times" and emerged as a perfect showcase for Julia's stripped-back, haunting vocals.

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"I really respect Angus as a musician and when he says something about a recording you know there's no point arguing with him because he's always right," she says. "But if I'm honest I think I had become a little too reliant on him. Doing the solo album gave me a lot more self-confidence. It made me grow up a lot."

Now 25, Julia and 22-year-old Angus got back together earlier this year for a tour to promote their second album, ending with a sell-out show at Shepherd's Bush Empire and are currently on a second string of UK dates. "I love festivals because there's a distinct buzz from a crowd who have made a conscious decision to escape reality for a weekend," says Julia. "I definitely think we give a more energetic performance at festivals, but we probably play better at quieter, more intimate gigs."

Much has changed for the Stone siblings, but one thing which remains the same is their love of recording music which makes them happy.

"I'm told a lot of radio stations won't play our stuff. I'm cool with that," says Julia. "You can't please everyone. Our manager is the one driving the ship. If she tells us we're playing Czechoslovakia then great, to us they're just people who like our music."

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After the latest tour comes to an end on Dec 11, Angus is planning a snowboarding trip to Canada, while Julia is hanging around in the UK for a while before they both head back to Australia for

an important date.

"Our mother is getting married and we've got three weeks off, which feels like an incredible luxury," she says. "It will be good for a while just to do some normal stuff with mum."

Angus and Julia Stone, The Wardrobe, Leeds, Dec 5. 0113 244 3446,

www.lunatickets.co.uk.