We caught up with band members Bryce Wilson and Gus Romer
Image: John Angus Stewart.
ARIA Award-winning Australian act, Amyl And The Sniffers recently unveiled their third studio album, Cartoon Darkness. We caught up with band members Bryce Wilson and Gus Romer to unpack the release and chat about their upcoming Australian tour.
Kicking off at Hindley Music Hall in Adelaide on January 16, the run of shows will continue on to Perth, Melbourne, Sydney, Wollongong, the Sunshine Coast and Brisbane, before wrapping up with a set at Party In The Paddock in Tasmania on February 7. The bands world tour will then continue on to New Zealand, North America, Germany and the United Kingdom. Tickets are on sale now.
ON THEIR EVOLUTION AS A BAND…
Bryce Wilson: It changes a lot. We kind of sat down and maybe put a bit more time into thinking about it than other releases before. We spent like a week and a half or something doing pre-production, which we'd never done before. I guess kind of fucking around with different vibes for different styles of music and like. Amy and Declan were doing a lot of stuff together, I think just like acoustic, and Amy just singing with Declan in the same room kind of thing. I think in total, everything just stepped up a bit or kind of had to step up a bit. So we were in like a really schmick studio and we had all this kind of crazy gear. Maybe like a bit of a half organic progression, and then the other half like, 'alright, we actually gotta sit down and like actually think about an album,' you know?
ON THE SOUND AND LYRICS OF THE CARTOON DARKNESS…
Gus Romer: I mean, we don't know the lyrics until pretty much the rest of the world does. Like when it's kind of writing the music and whatnot, it's just like we can't hear fucking shit. This most recent album, me and the boys went in and would write in the daytime and then Amy would come in later on and throw lyrics down. But yeah, we kind of don't really know until we're in the studio. So I guess we're learning the words with the rest of the world.
BW: To me it doesn't really sound that much different sonically to other stuff we've done. I think that's kind of, I don't know, it's kind guess a bit of our signature Amyl sound - that we kind of sound a little bit the same in like a lot of our shit to be honest.
ON THEIR FANS REACTIONS TO THE NEW SONGS...
GR: It's been a super positive reaction. Well, from everything you see because that's just like what I see like at the shows and whatnot and on the streets. I don't read reviews. I don't think you do Bryce mate, do you?
BW: Yeah, fuck those reviews man [laughs] Fuck Anthony Fantano. I think Do It Do It is a song that really surprised me with like the crowd reaction, and Tiny Bikini as well that's been sick. Like there's been heaps of girls getting on shoulders of people in their bikinis every time we play that song. Which is mad. But I think for the most part, every show that we just did on that tour, almost every song went as nuts as the last pretty much. Which is pretty lucky. Generally pretty awesome reactions all over to be honest.
ON BEING BACK ON TOUR AND PLAYING NEW MUSIC LIVE…
GR: It's everything. Writing's a pain in the ass, recordings a pain in the fucking ass. This is the reward, it's the light at the end of the tunnel. It's been an absolute treat and it's been heaps of fun.
BW: Yeah, it's definitely the most fun part.
ON THE IMPORTANCE AND IMPACT OF LIVE MUSIC…
GR: It's everything really. I think we always consider ourselves to be a live band. I'd say it's definitely the thing we kind of think about the most and care about the most in terms of like the facets of the band that we are.
BW: Yeah, and you kind of will never really engage with your fans in any other scenario really. Like that's kind of the only time to. It's the only time you kind of visually see like the fruits of your labor as well. People actually enjoying it in real time. It's a breath of fresh air.
WHAT TO EXPECT FROM THEIR UPCOMING AUSTRALIAN TOUR…
GR: A lot of the new album is played live. Other than that we just kinda run through the motions I think. I guess we're kind of known for a live show, but it's like, you know, that's kind of our bread and butter. so it's just big.
BW: Yeah, big high energy. High octane rock 'n' roll.
ON WHAT SETS AUSTRALIAN CROWDS APART FROM THE REST OF THE WORLD…
BW: Maybe a bit more feral [laughs]. A little bit more of that they probably are.
ON CURATING A SET LIST…
BW: Like, you know when you don't use a footy or something for like a really long time. You got a new football or some shit and then you leave the old one. You start to feel sad for it. That's what it feels like now. But yeah, it is definitely more considered again thinking about the set list now. It actually matters a lot more now, the way we actually play and the set list and all that. We've kind of got a system.
WHICH THREE SONGS FROM CARTOON DARKNESS WOULD MAKE SOMEONE AN INSTANT AMYL AND THE SNIFFERS FAN…
BW: Tiny Bikini, because that's a fucking anthem and it's really, really fun. It's like my favourite song to play now at the moment. It's a sick party song. Doin In My Head because it's kind of a bit more classic Amyl but a little bit different. And Big Dreams because it's a different vibe. Totally different vibe. Let's do yours as well Gus, let's see if they match.
GR: Tiny Bikini, Do It Do It and probably Big Dreams as well. Very, very close.
Cartoon Darkness is out now!
Thurs, 16 Jan – Hindley Music Hall, Adelaide (AA)
Fri 17 Jan – Port Beach Beergarden, Perth
Sat 18 Jan – Port Beach Beergarden, Perth
Fri 24 Jan – Sidney Myer Music Bowl, Melbourne (AA)
Sat 25 Jan – Horden Pavillion, Sydney (AA)
Mon 27 Jan – Waves, Wollongong
Thurs 30 Jan – The Station, Sunshine Coast
Fri 31 Jan – Tivoli, Brisbane (AA) Sat 1 Feb – Tivoli, Brisbane (AA)
Fri 7 Feb – Party In The Paddock, Tas
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