We caught up with Toby Leaman of Dr. Dog to have a chat about the new album Be The Void, touring and much more!
How are you going there?
Yeah, really well.
Where abouts are you at the moment?
I’m at my house in Delaware.
How has the year been treating you so far? You’re about to head off and do another tour.
Yeah, it’s been great. It’s been amazing. The crowds have been bigger than ever and as a band we’re playing better. I’m really excited to play some of this new stuff. The record has been out for a month now so we can finally start playing some of our new stuff.
It feels like an album that would translate quite well, it’s more down to earth in terms of the live performance aspect. Is that fair to say?
Definitely! That was intentional. We wanted an album that would translate really well live. It took a long time, it just took a while to piece the songs together. It was a delicate thing that we were picking apart and really into. This record we sort of realised what kind of a band we were.
It feels like a much more efficient way of making a record than in comparison to previously.
Yeah definitely. A lot of my favourite songs didn’t make the record. They were the songs that needed a little more attention. The attitude going in was if we need to do that to a song, that song probably shouldn’t be on this record. A lot of my favourite songs didn’t make the record for that reason.
Are these other songs going to pop up in the future? The ones that didn’t make the cut?
Yeah, I really hope so. I’d be really upset if two songs specifically didn’t make it out at all.
I saw you when you were down here around 2008 or 2009. Was it really that long ago?
Yeah, we were down the with The Black Keys and Gomez for a New Years show. I don’t remember exactly when it was because everything already is a blur. You’re not sure what day it is or what month it is, and then there is also a year? God, it’s just too much to keep track of.
Yeah, it’s definitely been a while. Are there any plans to come back to Australia any time soon?
I hope so! I was really excited when I heard we were doing an Australian interview. I’m sure we’ll be back in the immediate future. I don’t know when though, but I can’t wait. It’s my favourite place to tour outside the US by far.
Just checked your schedule, and I’m going to miss you by one day in Austin just before the SXSW mayhem.
Yeah SXSW is always insane.
Well we’re really excited for the album to come out in a couple of weeks in Australia. It’s a great album and we hope we seen you soon!
Hope I see Australia soon too!
