Along with our City Travel Guides and Festival Guides comes a new feature, On The Road centres around the colliding worlds of music and travel. With these Q&A interviews we hope to delve not only into the touring side of a musician’s life, but to also see the world through their perspective.
In this instalment we’re chatting with Surfer Blood who are making an appearance at this year’s Splendour In The Grass as well as on their own run of sideshows. We chat to them about small town gems, touring with Foals, and Game Of Thrones.
You’ve just finished a massive jaunt across your homeland with Foals. What was it like to tour with the British five-piece?
It was honestly tough to keep up, those guys put a lot into their live show. Every night they have so much energy and are a blast to watch. They are also entertaining offstage and there was a special connection between the bands.
In a sense did it feel like you were their tour guides? What side of America or even American music do you think you showed them?
I kept trying to get them to go eat BBQ and listen to Hank Williams with me, and succeeded only once. That was a fun evening. I guess it wasn’t their first time in America, so they had already had a chance to take it all in.
It’s obviously not the first time you’ve undertaken a tour in America, but what makes this tour stand out from the rest?
This is the first time we’ve been on a longer tour playing new songs, so it was a pleasure and a challenge to perform them in front of an audience. I guess we’ve calmed down some over the years too, we don’t hang quite as late as we used to. We’re not the most professional band by any means, but this time around the whole tour felt a little more disciplined and finely tuned than it did a few years ago.
How has it been to tour your latest album Pythons in comparison to Astro Coast across your homeland?
It’s really refreshing to play new songs live because it kind of gives you a fresh canvas to work with. If you listen to Astro Coast on record and hear it live later it becomes apparent that the songs have evolved to become (sometimes radically) different during the past few years. Some of them translate faster, slower, louder or softer than they do on the recording, and there are spots where mistakes or improvisational moments have stuck and become a part of the live show. We’re still experimenting with all of the songs off of Pythons, so it’s fun to find different ways to present them live. I’m sure they’ll sound a lot different a year or two from now.
You obviously covered a vast distance around the country (including dates in Canada as well). Did you notice the crowds and shows varied much depending on what part of North America you were in?
There were a lot of firsts for us on this tour, we had a chance to play a lot of smaller towns in the middle of the country that we hadn’t necessarily been to before. It’s always fun to play to a crowd for the first time, or to come back to a city years later and see people who had been at the last show. Thats one of the most gratifying parts of touring, that and seeing people sing along.
While on the road did you make any detours and do any sightseeing? If so, where did you go and what did you do?
Driving through the Rocky mountains is absolutely breathtaking, the entire state of Montana is absolutely gorgeous. We went to the CN tower in Toronto for the first time on this tour, I think it might still be the tallest building in north America. The floors in parts of the tower are made of glass and I’m terrified of heights, so it was a little scary, but ultimately it was really cool to see the world from that perspective.
Everyone always has a few strange or crazy travel stories. Could you let us in on some of yours?
The first time we went to Japan was crazy, we only played two shows and were there for a total of seven days, so we had plenty of time to explore. The first night we were there we went to a karaoke bar and rented a private room. It was just Thomas, TJ and I singing to each other, which was great, but we got bored and were ready to leave after an hour so. We were on the way out when we were stopped by two Japanese businessmen in suit and ties. They couldn’t really speak English, but they managed to communicate that they were there with their entire office, so they pulled us into a room with at least a dozen other men and women in business attire. I guess they were convinced we were British and wanted us to sing all of these Beatles songs. We got through a couple and barely managed to get out of there alive.
Does travelling or touring influence the music of Surfer Blood very much? Did you find much time to get creative on this tour? Did this tour allow you to be in a mindset to be creative?
It can definitely be hard to write on the road. We bring our guitars into the hotel room every night and sometimes we have the energy to come up with ideas. We jam a lot during soundcheck though, and a lot of those ideas end up becoming parts in our songs. We record some of it to GarageBand and forget about it until later. Once we are at home and have a chance a think, we can piece together a lot of the ideas and turn them into cohesive songs.
How do you fill your time while you’re on the road? What music have you been listening to? What TV shows have you been devouring? And what books have you been flying though?This tour it was a lot of Ty Seagall and Thee Oh Sees (our sound guy is from San Francisco). We always tend to come back to the classics like Neil Young and T. Rex on long drives, and we’ve all been enjoying the new Tame Impala record a lot. As far as TV goes, I’m anxiously awaiting the next series of Game Of Thrones, I’ve also been watching Star Trek: Voyager lately and have been loving it. I’m currently reading a nonfiction book by Eugene Rogan about the history of the Arabs.
Did you discover any record stores along the way that vinyl hunters should know about?
I had heard of Sonic Boom in Seattle, but had never seen it in person until this trip. It was everything I’ve heard it was, and the people who run it are really nice. They have a huge selection and everything is super well organised and easy to find. I was also impressed with a record store called BK Music in Richmond, VA. It’s a little outside of town and off the beaten path, but it is massive, and they have movies, records, books and a lot more that I didn’t get a chance to see. We performed there and had the best time, the family who runs it were so sweet and hospitable, I definitely would recommend making the trip to anyone in the area.
Favourite show and favourite venue on the tour? Spill the beans!
My favourite show was our set at Sasquatch, we had a great crowd who gave us a lot of love and enthusiasm. My favourite venues were the 9:30 club in Washington D.C. and First Avenue in Minneapolis, both of them have long proud histories and are completely worthy of their fantastic reputations.
You’re heading back Down Under for Splendour In The Grass as well as dates in Melbourne and Sydney. Is it a quick trip or will you be taking in a few of the sights while you’re in town?
We are going to do as much sightseeing as we can. We are very excited to be coming back to Australia, we had a blast the last time we were there in 2010, and I’m sure it’ll be just as awesome this time.
And lastly what can Australian audiences expect from Surfer Blood this time around that they may not have got when you were here last for Splendour in 2010?
I think people will see a band who has grown a lot since their last visit, we are going to be playing a longer set with a lot of new material. I think it will prove to have been worth the wait.
Surfer Blood Splendour 2013 Sideshows
Presented by Channel [V], Tone Deaf, Street Press Australia, FBi and Deezer
Wednesday 24 July – The Corner, Melbourne
Friday 26 July – Oxford Arts Factory, Sydney
