2016 is shaping up to be one impressive year for Pretty City.
The threesome dropped their debut LP Colorize in April, to rave reviews and frothing fans and are about to head out on a nationwide tour this August, in celebration.
Pretty City’s resident drummer boy, Drew, chatted with us about their upcoming tour, playing next to Seth Rogan’s party, and the supreme warmth of vinyl
HAPPY: Y’all are heading out on tour this August in celebration of your debut LP, Colorize. What’re you most looking forward to ’bout it? What can we expect to witness?
DREW: Yeah, we’re really excited. We’re definitely looking forward to playing a run of shows. All three of us absolutely froth for live shows, so we’re extremely excited to get out there and smash out some sets. In terms of the content of live shows, we’ll be playing plenty of tunes from our album, as well as some brand new tunes, which we’re really looking forward to showing everyone. The usual on stage mania will be on display as always.
HAPPY: You guys have released the LP on vinyl as well as in digital form. What inspired the decision to release the record on wax? The sound? The tangibility?
DREW: We released the album digitally in May, and really felt that we owed it to the record to have something big, and tactile that we could give to people. The sound of vinyl played a factor too. It’s got a richer and warmer sound that works really well with our music. But I’d have to say the tangibility of it was really the clincher.
Also, we’ve put in quite a lot of thought to the way in which the album was structured so that it really works as a cohesive, total piece. Having the album on vinyl just makes it so much more likely that people will sit down, and listen to the whole thing start to finish, as we intended. I know that when I listen to music digitally, I often track surf, and rarely listen to whole albums.
HAPPY: Do you guys have any on tour rituals?
DREW: Sure do, and they all revolve around food and caffeine. Johnny’s ritual of ingesting crap food on the road has even inspired him to do his ‘Shit food reviews’, where he interrogates the culinary delights of Maccas nuggets, truck stop sandwiches, and servo coffees. Hugh, and I just smash coffee and snacks until we can keep up with Johnny. One recent drive up to Sydney, we actually listened to every Beatles album in chronological order. It got us the whole way from Melbourne to Sydney, and I would love to make that a driving ritual.
HAPPY: Do you have any crazy tour stories? if so, tell us one!
DREW: By far the craziest tour stories revolve around SXSW. We played over there in Austin this year, and that is a wild joint. The first night we played was at this awesome bar in the really old part of town. It’s basically old southern houses that used to serve food, and drinks to anyone walking down the street. This morphed into a live music Mecca and there are bands playing up and down the street every night, particularly during the festival.
So, we played on a Tuesday night, and noticed there was a roped off area outside just to the left of stage. Anyway, Seth Rogan and a bunch of his mates rocked up and had a private(ish) outdoor party, which was a total heap spin. It’s just nuts for 5 days, and the whole thing is a blur of shows, cheap beer, Johnny forcing crappy Australian snacks on unsuspecting American musicians, Hugh being stalked by fashion students, and me indulging in the finest, strongest, cheapest alcohol.
HAPPY: What’s one thing that makes you guys happy whilst on the road?
DREW: Listening to Johnny and Hugh endlessly debate the merits of every Oasis album. It’s my happy place…
The Colorize Vinyl Tour dates:
Fri 5 Aug, Adelaide, Crown & Anchor 18+
Sat 6 Aug, Brisbane, The Bearded Lady 18+
Fri 12 Aug, Sydney, Waywards 18+
Sat 13 Aug, Melbourne, Yah Yah’s 18+
