albionblog.wordpress.com

After performing for nearly 20 years, it’s understandable when artists get a little too used to the sound checks, interviews, and general wear and tear of life on the road. Yet, talking to Dandy Warhols’ lead singer Courtney Taylor-Taylor offers a refreshing surprise. While years of doing interviews might leave some artists with a large supply of stock answers, Taylor-Taylor is spontaneous, genuine, and honest. He offers up new elaborations on what might seem like old observations.

 The band, comprised of members Taylor-Taylor, Peter Holmstrom, Zia Mccabe, and Brent Deboer, has been performing since 1994,  and Taylor-Taylor looks forward to performing material from their upcoming tenth album, This Machine, on their European tour this summer.

 “The most constant awareness that I have during a European tour is that you can’t read a damn thing that’s on any [highway] sign,” he says. “The music part is fairly constant the world over. We are the same band, more or less, and the audience is fairly similar, so you don’t attract [the] kinds of people that you wouldn’t want to hang out with.”

 Whether it’s touring the continent or laying down new tracks, the Dandy Warhols are rarely free. According to Taylor-Taylor, they’re “constantly making music,” working with producer Jeremy Sheerer at their own studio.

 “Jeremy is just our house guy, he’s the angel of our studio, so we’ve been working with him constantly for years now,” he explains. “I don’t know if a week has gone by in nine years that we haven’t recorded something; a b-side or a tribute for someone’s tribute record.”

 Taylor-Taylor has a hard time identifying his favourite place to perform, but he knows exactly what to look for in a venue.

 “I think the size and shape of the room is important because that [affects] the acoustics,” he explains. “The texture of the walls, do they echo? How close are the walls to where I’m standing? How much are they influencing what I hear? Is the stage wood or is it carpeted?”

 As far as the upcoming tour goes, the band is especially excited to perform “Well They’re Gone,” which they have made available as a free download on their website.

 “We’re all extremely excited to play that one live,” he says. “I just like playing new songs live because, you know, we’ve been playing ‘Not If You Were the Last Junkie On Earth’ for 16 years now, and it’s fun, we’re very good at it, but it’s great to have new songs too.”

 When speaking about the group’s songwriting methods, Taylor-Taylor notes that their growing experience and skill in the studio, coupled with their obvious passion for their art, promises a strong future for the Dandy Warhols.

 “I have to wait for [songs] to happen to me, but generally once I have one, then I take it to the band and go, check this out, and we start playing it, and we all play it together, and then everyone works out what they want to play on it … It’s incredibly inspiring.” 

Dandy Warhols play Theatre Corona on June 2. Tickets are $31.25 and go on sale Friday April 13.