As the band prepare for the release of their new LP Round the World, the first single of which, “Here We Go”, is now available (and streaming below), we had a chat to Adelaide’s Lowrider. We chatted about the new album, upcoming tour, the scene in Adelaide, and the war of words between Christina and Gaga.
Here We Go by LOWRIDER
// You can purchase the track on iTunes here.
Lowrider! Thanks for taking the time to talk to us! Where are we speaking to you right now?
All good. We’re all in Adelaide right now.
Working on the new show for the Round The World national tour.
Before we get to the band, I’d like to talk for a moment about the Adelaide music scene. Put simply, it’s a scene Australia doesn’t hear nearly enough about – with the exception of a few bands here and there such as yourselves – yet it sounds vibrant! Can you tell us a bit about what it was like being an up-and-coming band in Adelaide?
You definitely feel slightly isolated from other cities but that really can help as much as hinder, in larger cities with endless amounts of bands there is always the danger of sounds becoming a bit incestuous and individuality becoming lost. There are a lot of Adelaide musicians, not just bands, that are starting to get some well deserved recognition now which is nice to see. As the world becomes closer to one population through technology hopefully the segregation will break down because a lot of it is silly and always seems to end up as a contest, that’s not what music is about.
How has the scene there changed since you guys formed back in 2004?
We’re older!! Nah, Adelaide has and continues to deliver a lot of great music to the world, it’s just great to see how diverse that music is, not just rock bands.
And the age old question – how DID you form?
The Adelaide music scene really isn’t that big, most people know most people. John and I obviously grew up together, John knew Joe through school and I knew Scotty via other bands in Adelaide.
Now that you’ve travelled around Australia extensively, do you think coming from Adelaide has advantages? disadvantages? Or doesn’t really matter?
Wherever you come from, it provides you with a different set of circumstances, it’s really up to you to find the positive aspects and use them to your advantage. We have always looked at coming from Adelaide as a very positive thing, something that we are proud of and still enjoy to this day.
Speaking of touring, you’ve toured with the likes of Hilltop and Christina, and played just about every festival you could possibly play in Australia – what have been some of your highlights to now?
The Christina Aguilera and Alicia Keys tours were certainly highlights from a learning stand point, they were both about as deep a deep end as you could get thrown in. Doing the Big Day Out tour with the Hilltop Hoods was the most fun, those guys are good friends and we were very grateful for that opportunity, it was basically a continuous party! Apart from that, because we jam a lot on stage so any night really has the possibility to become a highlight night for any number of us. That’s what makes playing live so exciting, there’s that element of the unknown.
And I’m sure you’ll be touring Australia extensively once again off the back of your new album, Round the World (released in July). It’s your first album in two years – can you tell us a bit about making the album?
We spent about 4 months in Chapel Lane Studios in Adelaide, an experience that we just didn’t want to end, can’t say enough about how fantastic the people there are. Most of the music was written over the two years since our last release and it was mostly written without much concern of what a LOWRIDER song should sound like, more just about us making music that we liked and we were passionate about. That mentality has certainly given us the most confident, strongest, boldest and most diverse album we’ve made. Something we are very proud of.
How does the album compare to earlier recordings, and how did your experiences compare recording them?
Hopefully every album we get to do will show some sort of growth, whether it be emotional, musical or personal. To me this album, above all, sounds more confident. Everything sounds more deliberate, from what we are playing, the risks the music takes and how the thirteen songs sit together. At the end of the day every time we step into the studio to make an album we know each other better as people and musicians and that has to have an effect.
Going back to the live thing – are you pumped to start properly playing the new material?
We can’t wait. There is more live energy on this album than our first album (Diamond Amongst The Thieves), which is going to hopefully translate really well to the stage.
Will you be bringing any friends along on the road?
Just us. Our live engineer and 5th member P-DaMix is always with us on the road. We would love to have been able to have Chopshorns (from New York, who played on 3 of the albums tracks) with us for the tour but really isn’t an possibility at this time…..something to look forward to though.
Along similar lines, who do you reckon we should all be listening to?
I’d never dream of pushing music on people, I would just hope that people where listening to music that is honest, music that has had someones heart and soul bled into it, music that makes you feel something and can act as a marker and reminder for moments in your life, not just something that sounds great as a ringtone.
And finally, in this whole Christina vs. Gaga “battle” – whose side do you take?
Neither, but I’d sure as hell watch the fight!
Keep your eyes on
http://www.lowridermusic.net
for the latest tour dates and album info!
