RÜFÜS DU SOL frontman Tyrone Lindqvist joins Barry, Brad, and Lord Taco of The What Podcast to discuss the band's journey in creating their most recent studio album, Surrender.
Lindqvist discusses how the band was headed for drama when they decided to trade their whiskey shots for ginger shots, but how the trio is much healthier for it. The Australian musician also talks about how the forced time off over the last few years and becoming a father changed his life.
Plus, The What hosts reveal how your artistic talent could win you tickets to Bonnaroo 2022! (You can also get tickets here!). Visit thewhat.co/win for details on how to enter.
Make sure to like and subscribe to The What Podcast wherever you get your podcasts, and also follow the Consequence Podcast Network for updates on all our programs. Snag the "Radiate Positivity" T-shirt at the Consequence Shop.
Topic: RÜFÜS DU SOL
Guest: Tyrone Lindqvist
Oh, hello, podcast listener. Don't want to interrupt your fine day. I know we have a big show, but we thought we'd jump in real quick and tell you about how you can win Bonnaroo tickets with a camping pass Barry Courter. This is huge. This is a man I wish I could I wish I could. By the way, when you say that, I want to see your hands, by the way. I need the hands above the table and you say this is huge. Huge on the screen. All right. So this is exciting. So you get in the years past, we've basically just done. Hey, saying something nice about us now, we've taken the we've gone next level with our vanity and we want you to make art with our faces. That's right. I need you to I need you to draw something about me. OK. And if Brad and Russ are in the in there as well, that's great. But mostly about. Wait, wait a minute. Oh, it's about Baring. Oh, we didn't agree to that. I mean, I think anything what podcast related, if you could whip up something and whether it be by hand, whether it be on Photoshop, whether, you know, it's a something you force your child to do, whatever you need, whatever you can do to get these tickets in your hand. That's what we need from you. Yeah. Yeah. It'll be fun. Make it fun. And how do we submit that, Russ? Send them to comments at the what podcast dot com or you can tweet them to us. The what underscore podcast. I didn't even know that was the thing. Comments at the what podcast dot com. Yeah. OK. Is that never any comment we've gotten? I have keep sending them. Is that where we got the the first drawing already? First one came to us on Twitter. I have to say, it's pretty strong. I love it. I love my hair. It looks very jaunty in the picture. It's a great first example of what we're looking for. Maybe we can put it on here for people to see till they know what they have to be. Well, you leave it to Russ. He's got it going on. He's got the thing popped up. That's all good. That's our first submission. Do we know the names of this person? The name of this person? I know Ponto. Gary got it. All right. There you go. Be like Gary. Submit your fine piece of what podcast art for Bonnaroo tickets. We'll do the drawing. I give it four weeks. You think we can make this happen in four weeks or we want longer? Four weeks limit on it, given knowing how we operate. I would put a deadline on it. It's a good point. We'll pick them when we're ready. Yeah. How about that? All right, pal. Suppression me on to the what podcast? A big show today. Let's do it. Consequence podcast network. A genre pool we so rarely dip our toe into. This week on the what podcast, we talk to one of the biggest electronic artists in the world, Tyrone from Rufus to Soul. New album, new song, new tour dates. Where they started, how they got here, the highs and lows along the way. We dive into it all today on the what podcast. It's electronic music day, kids with Tyrone from Rufus to Soul. Brad Steiner, Perry Quarter, Lord Taco. The what podcast starts right now. The what podcast, which bands this year that matter Barry Courter, Lord Taco, Brad Steiner afternoon, guys, how are you? How are things? You look pretty, Barry. You look well. Everybody OK? Super. Doing great. Yeah, we're doing great. Yeah, doing great. OK. Yep. Everything's good. How are you? You know, I don't think I've ever heard you say, yeah, I'm just OK. Yeah, I'm not. I'm always good. I'm just good. All right. Taco, how's the bus? Bus is good. Just like, yeah. What you got in that cabinet? What you got in that cabinet? Cabinet. Oh, you can reach into the cabinet. Oh, you got a PBR cabinet. Yeah. You got your own PBR cabinet. Wow. How about that? Take it back there. Yep. Yeah, because you don't want the boss to see it. You don't want to see. No, that's why I'm in. That's why I'm in the bus hiding out. So this is an exciting week for us, Barry. I think that we have the biggest artists we've ever had on the show. That's right. Am I you think I'm overstating it? You think I'm bloviating? No, no, no, no. You know, if we're going by the poster. Yeah, if we're going by our own poster, if we're making our What Show podcast festival poster, they would probably be our headliner. This would be the headliner. OK. Their second line on some other other posters, but on ours. Man, it's tough. Pretty cool. Yeah. So it's not really about any festival in particular, although that they are playing Boston Calling and Forecastle. You know, I. I. I'll talk about it afterwards. About their interaction with festivals in general, because something about this conversation sort of struck me, and I I don't think we've ever really dove too far into it because we are we live in this world, you and I and taco where festivals really matter. And to some artists, they just don't. Yeah, you know. Well, you know, I was thinking about that because we do put a lot of emphasis and and it's one of the questions that we've asked for five years. Which ones do you like the most? And for the most part, they see a bus, they see a backstage and they see a stage and then a crowd. What's what is and then they see a check and they see a bus and then they go then they see the road. So, yeah, and you know, we've asked the question before, which one do you do you approach this festival differently than the other? And of course, the answer is no. Because who's going to say, yeah, we do this one better. You know, we put more energy into this one than that one. Nobody's going to say that. Well, we always because we personalize it. We personalize it because we think it's a girlfriend. You know, which which girl do you like better? Pick one. You have to. But the other thing is and we have heard people say Bonnaroo is different because sometimes they stay longer. You know, they actually go to see other acts. They might stay a day or two, number one. But the other thing I was thinking about is the stage and the show and the 90 minutes are pretty much. They're similar. I don't want to say they're all the same, but they're similar. It's what happens away from that 90 minutes that makes one festival different than the other. Right. I don't always see that. Yeah, you know, so I see what you mean. Yeah. Well, to cut to the chase, our guest today, Rufus Assol, Tyrone from Rufus Assol, and believe me, it was all I could do to not sing called Tyrone while he was talking to us. I wanted to so bad. Right. Because how many times you actually meet somebody named Tyrone? Not very often. I can't think I've ever met a Tyrone. Now that I think about it, I don't think I can find a Tyrone that I know in my life, except for him. And I so badly wanted to say that I just couldn't do it. Couldn't bring myself to do it. It was great. It was really cool talking to him. So it's pretty much a standalone episode today where, you know, we're not going to get into much festival talk. We spent a good 25, 30 minutes with Tyrone from Rufus Assol, talks about the new album, talks about, you know, what they've been doing the last two years. I love the conversation about his kid and how priorities have changed. And, you know, I feel like at least I take from it and I mention it. I hear a lot of mental health things happening in and around this conversation, not to mention it did feel as though it was on the brink of ending. Did you pick that up? Yeah, to be clear to your point, they it's it sounded like they fixed it. They fixed it. It doesn't sound like they're in it now, but they were they were headed towards, as he said, a shit storm. Yeah. Well, you'll hear you'll hear it from him. So here we go. Rufus Assol. Rufus Assol on The What Podcast. Enjoy. Hey, Terrone. How you doing? I'm doing great. You're doing great. You're doing great. I'm doing great. How are things? Great. Things are great. Yeah. I got to imagine so. I mean, it's not like your I don't know. Your band seems to be doing just OK. You know, we've had a good run. I'm stoked about it. We've been together for like 11 years and it's been a really smooth. I mean, it's been a really smooth experience. It's been a great, great journey. And we're here and I'm stoked. Well, I will talk about the new album, the new song, of course, here in a little bit. But I kind of wanted to start at Bonnaroo 2018 because I don't think that there was a more talked about tent show afterwards than what you guys pulled off in 2018. Do you have any memories of that? Why? I. They all run together, don't they? They really do blend in at a certain point, and especially like having not done many shows over the last three years. I think like 2018 and 19 basically shows just came to a halt for us and we went into the studio and started writing music and made the most of not touring. And I don't know. It's weird. I don't really remember being on tour like I don't remember much before it. I got to know. I do. I remember being on a hamster wheel doing a lot of shows and it's exciting. And yeah, it's sort of like the case of the covid brain, right? There's life pre covid and life post covid and it happened before it. I don't. Were we even alive? Did we do anything? Exactly. Yeah, it's changed so much for us. Like in a real positive way. I mean, you know, we've we've we're hard workers. We work a lot, probably workaholics like we spend a lot of time making music and it just forced us to slow down a bit. And I don't know. It was a really nice reminder of the fact that we're friends, like we're three guys that are in the band and we're best friends. We love making music. And, you know, it was a good pause for us to kind of reset and rethink where we want to go. And I don't know, we changed the way we write to. Usually it's like in the past, it's been late nights throughout, you know, till the morning, just following the creative train, hoping that a song kind of is born out of it. And this time around, we just we had more structure. We did more of like a nine to five and it was eleven to seven for us to skip the traffic. Still not waking up early, are you? Still not waking up early, are you? Well, I am. I'm a dad and I've got I've got a little two and a half year old son. So I'm up at five at the crack of crack of dawn. Yeah. Well, congratulations. Yeah, that's nice. This is what I kind of wanted to get at, because you said eleven years and you guys started in Australia and now you're in Los Angeles, right? And you're got a child. What was what's that transition been like? I mean, I know I was reading a little bit, especially about the property where you recorded your first album, right? Sold sold for a nice little bit of change back in Australia, right? Because apparently they sold it as the place where a roof is recorded, right? That's kind of funny. But what's it like going from that to where you are now as far as like a band? What's that transition been like over the years? It's it's surreal. I mean, I think when we started out, we had dreams and aspirations that were far smaller than they are now. Like, you know, in Australia, we grew up in Sydney. So it was like to play the local kind of live venues there. And then as you kind of grow, our goals and the goalposts shifted. And it's been like a steady climb. And I don't know, I guess the biggest transition has been the last two, three years where we've where I'm a dad now, I'm married and we we as a band, like if we were to sustain the way we were going, like we had to change some things. This was just like so many shows and we were running ourselves into the ground and it was compromising the quality of the shows. And, you know, it was also just like pushing each of us as friends further apart. And so it's just been like a nice reset that wasn't easy. It wasn't like in the last three years haven't been easy. It's been difficult. And I feel like we're reaping the rewards just in terms of our friendship and the music making and and me just being a dad, too, like I didn't know. I wouldn't have known what I was missing out on. I would have been on the road being like, yeah, I'm a great dad. And, you know, I wouldn't have known any different. And realistically, I wouldn't have been in my son's life nearly as much. And it's been a big gift that I get to wake up next time and, you know, like hang out and and then go make music with with my friends. But you said that it switched and changed a little bit of your priorities. You know, those shows did get really massive and you guys did that on purpose. And it gained you so much traction in the community. You got such a massive amount of of fans throughout the last couple of years. And now it's a switch of the I guess a little refocus of the priorities. What does the next two years look like for you guys? I mean, it looks quite similar, really, like we're still we're back in the studio now. We got back in there to make more music a few weeks ago. And that's our plan, like to continue making music. It's what we love to do. Yeah, but you said you said you said there was a bunch this year. But you said there was different. You said there was a part of it where it was almost like tearing you guys apart. You don't want to get back there. So what do you do to sort of protect yourself from that kind of experience again? Sure, sure, sure. I guess it's the amount of touring. We go on the road for three months at a time and then come home. Now it would look like touring for four weeks and then coming back for a week and then touring for four weeks and coming back for a week. And maybe it's a it's portioned out a little more like spaced out. So you might do like five tours in a year, like across the country, across the globe. And there's just more space between where we can kind of reset our clock, reconnect, get in the studio. Because it's also like, you know, when we're on the road at three months at a time, there's no new music being written. Like so that the muscle I see it as a muscle being in the studio where you're, you know, you're being creative. The longer that you're in the studio, the better you get, the sharper your tools get. And maybe you, you know, fall on the easy, quick fixes or quick ideas. But for the most part, you're really like trained like, I don't know, like someone in sports that's really sharp at their skill in the studio. And it just feels nicer and healthier for us to be able to not leave either the live arena for too long or the the writing arena for too long. Just because, yeah, even not like having a year and a half off touring, coming back and playing our first show at Red Rocks this year, this year or last year. It was like quite daunting, really. It was exciting. But we're like, are we going to know what we get, what we do? Like, we know how to do this thing. And yeah, it's like riding a bike. You don't forget. You said it started about three years ago where you sort of realized you needed to do something. Was there an event or was it? Did you, you know, was there one night where you kind of blew up at each other or did you see it coming and then COVID hit and it gave you the chance to fall back and rethink? It was kind of a shit storm, a shit storm that was growing. It was kind of all directions and all things were coming to a head where, you know, things were really exciting for us. A lot of exciting things were happening, like playing a bunch of festivals in front of a lot of crowds, like big crowds. And, you know, I think just you inherently as an artist put pressure on yourself to create new things and make new music. And we weren't really getting that time. And when you're touring so much, you're like, your personal lives kind of pushed to the side a bit. So in terms of becoming a new parent, for me, that was really difficult. And I know for the guys too, it was really hard. So it was an accumulation of a lot of things. And then just having been in a band for 10 years, or I guess, eight years, nine years at the time. I think you just undergo change in that time period. Like we were early 20s when we got together and now we've entered our 30s. And I don't know, I think you just change and evolve and priorities change and shift. It just gave us a time to kind of talk to each other and reset the clock and come at writing from a different perspective. And I don't know, I just feel like great things come out of doing that, as opposed to if we just steamrolled ahead and I don't think we'd be here right now. Well, I mean, it sort of feels like the way that you're describing it is that you found not just the way that this operation works best for you, but also maybe even funneled its way into your songwriting. You know, the way that I kind of describe it as emo EDM. You know, you guys are so vulnerable, you actually put so much actual work into the songwriting part of it, which is the part that I find to be a little bit more refreshing. And it does feel as though this album is a little bit more focused on that, right? Am I reading that wrong? Yeah, sure. No, no, that's fair. I mean, all of them. We throw ourselves as much into all of them and they like kind of like a timestamp, not like a diary entry. It's like an unintentional timestamp of where we're at, at that moment in time when we make a record. You know, some people, bands might write the songs, go in there and record in a studio over the course of like a month or two. We're in the studio writing on our synths and our drums and like an unlimited amount of tools kind of at our disposal to write and create. We've been there over the course of like a year, a year and a half, and that's like full time, just going into the studio. So it's a lot of time that we're spending on fishing. It's like you go in there and you can write a bunch of ideas and they could all be crap, but occasionally you just like stumble on a really, real raw song that reflects where we're at. And it is vulnerable. I feel like when we're at our best is when we're like, you know, we tap into something that's vulnerable, but also hopeful and it feels, I don't know, it feels good. A lot of my favorite bands like Radiohead, they do that. It's like this hopeful, dis-ease, discomfort, euphoria, but it's like just treads a line that I just think is really exciting. Given all that, how much did it change over if you had that much time? Did the final sound sound like what it did when you started or did what you were doing when it started completely go away or did you keep some of that? You know what I mean? We had a lot of creative freedom going in because we didn't have a deadline. Like touring was wiped off, so it wasn't like we had, oh, we've got two weeks to write a song. It was kind of like, all right, we went to Joshua Tree. We were in this ranch type thing, which is a studio. It's called Escape Studios and it was awesome. Like it's in the middle of nowhere and it was just us. And we, you know, would start the day with meditation, do exercise, get in a cold plunge and then by midday we'd get in there and write music. It was just a really cool way to do it. And we were trying different beats for ourselves and different tempos and different instruments. I guess more like classical songwriting where we're just trying to write songs without producing them or seeing them all the way to the finish line. And then you kind of like end up with little gems and then you over the course of the next six months a year, you're trying to crack the code on them and finish them. And we always go into an album without a clear intention of what it's going to end up like. It's more like what's inspiring us at the time. What are you guys listening to? We share a bunch of music. We listen through the albums that have inspired us across our years. We'd listen to an album while we did exercise every day over the course of that two months. And that bleeds into the record, being in Joshua Tree, where it's essentially feels like you're on the moon. It's just like rock out crops. That all influences things. You sound so mentally centered. Is this a reflection of the work that you've done? Or were you guys always sort of this, you know, Buddhist? No, we weren't. We weren't always like that. You know, like we were young and silly. And we've always cared about our live shows. We've always cared about making the music. But, you know, we had a lot of fun across the years. Before we walked out on stage five, six years ago, we were having a whiskey shot, you know, before walking out. I did one just now. Good. And now we do ginger shots before we walk out. It's just like, you know, it's where we're at now. I hear you. Yeah. I mean, it is definitely more built for the long haul. So this this sound, you know, you're not talking to somebody who knows what he's talking about when it comes to this. No. So bear with me for a second. But when you were a kid and you were playing around and saying to yourself, I want to make a band, I want to I want to do this. How did you stumble upon making electronic music? How did you make how did you find that world instead of how a kid would normally just pick up a guitar and start writing songs like that? Well, honestly, that's where I started was with the guitar. I started on piano when I was like five and then kind of moved into playing in bands when I was 12. And I always just wrote music kind of from 14. I used any software I could get my hands on and just recorded more alternative kind of, I guess, like acoustic just songs, really. It was just fun for me. And the three the three of us produce and write the song. And we all have a different story as to how we ended up like, you know, making the songs we make. But for me, that was it. And I met one of the John, one of the other guys, and he was making more club music, I guess. And we kind of met in the middle and we were like, oh, you guys, you like Booker Shade. And there was a few acts that we bonded over and Chemical Brothers. Oh, cool. Yeah, we like I like that. And then we just started making some songs and, you know, we would share our production tools with each other and there was a healthy push and pull. And there has been between all three of us in terms of where we want to take a song and that, you know, for me, I'm probably more influenced originally by rock or, you know, and John probably more so like club songs. He has an appreciation for pop and everything. And James, he's kind of he loves he loves all music. He's Polka. It's Polka. Yeah, I know it. He's the glue. He's the glue. He's like he's just a yeah, he's the yellow seven. I feel like there are like in everything you need, like a yellow seven that brings all the compounds together. So there there there is a big difference, I guess, in your maybe there's not when it comes to like the live show versus the recorded product. I've always wondered this. And again, you're talking to an idiot. So I apologize up front. But when you're on stage and I know that you're doing, you know, mostly, you know, vocals and keyboards and stuff. When I'm watching an electronic artist on stage, how much freedom is actually happening in that space? Is it some of its pre mixed? I understand. But what in it is controllable and maneuvered and worked out on stage in the moment between the two or three of you rather? Well, it depends on the act. But for us in particular, like we like to build out our sets and lock it in pretty solidly in terms of, you know, we see the lights in our show as an important tool and asset. It's kind of like the fourth member of the band. But we don't want it to just be a lighting show when we play. So we like the interaction of it being a band that can jam out and kind of stay on a loop for however long we want. And we can improvise. And there are moments where there are drum solos and it's kind of it's evolved as well. When we started, we had less freedom to be able to jam on stage. And now we've built that in. For your own comfort. No, no, not so much. Well, I mean, set times, you only really get 25 minutes, 30 minutes at the start of your career. Like, go play three songs and come off. So you basically just playing them, verbatim. But now, I don't know, we've just got more tools in terms of equipment, more know how in terms of how to go about things, how to go on a loop and stay there and how that is all synced together in terms of our lights in front of house. Like the team that is, you know, from the audience's perspective, how is it staying in time? Yeah, that's a bit of like a challenge to know how to do that. I'm definitely not very tech savvy to be able to go, oh, this is how you do it. Sure. Like it's been a learning process and there are many ways to go about it. But it seems to me like if it's not coming in with like a pre-mix and you guys are just sort of like putting your vocals and some effects around it, it does feel as though sort of like a high wire act that you're pulling off if you're doing loops on the fly and you guys are all just sort of, you know, seeing where the moment takes you. Is that right? I mean, we're not like a jam band. So it's not like saying that. I know, I know. But yeah, it's more like, I guess we build it in. So it's not like, hey, you guys feeling a jam right now? It's kind of like we've allocated ourselves times and moments in the set. But it's like, here's the part where we're going to go on like a one minute. Like, and it's not necessarily a minute, but however long we preset how long it's going to be where it's like, we can jam out and we can loop something we can and there's freedom for us to do what we want. I was going to ask how much, how much of that comes from trust from having done it with each other for so long. Yeah, a lot of it. And it's like a lot of it is trust. And it's like a language, I guess, right after doing it for so long with each other. It's like we don't really need to say, okay, I'm going to take this little moment here or it's a it's more fluid. And, you know, we get time to rehearse and so it's not as like. Yeah, I would just say we're not a jam band. We're an electronic act. We make alternative electronic music and but we know how to play our instruments and we know how to jam. So the reason I the reason I bring that up is because I adore the XX. I love them. And I think, you know, they're one of my favorite, you know, bands on the planet, but that live show is almost like Jamie has hit play, and it's over when the track is done. You know, yeah, sometimes I'm just watching Jamie to stand back there and like, I don't really have much to do back here. Yeah. Well, that's exactly what I mean by like it depends on the act. Like there are so many acts that have different setups in terms of it's so many ways to go about it. And a really important thing for us was having live drums. We knew that that's that was you asked it before you're like, how did you get into electronic music. That is how I saw acts from Australia like cut copy. I love that. I love it. Yeah, great. And it's just like they they had they were doing it sounded like a band but it was electronic music and I was like, Oh, maybe I maybe I like electronic music. It's just like rock but in. Yeah. And, and it kind of opened the gateway of me being a little more open minded. I'm a little more open minded to electronic music. Believe me, nothing has screwed up old white guy, more than seeing a hip hop band with a band. What rapper perform with a band, you know he's sitting there wanting to hate they don't even play their own instruments away. They're playing instruments. If I can real quick to the to the album because I'm interested I'm fascinated by this idea of you not having a deadline and you having all that time because we've talked about this on here many many times with that this whole process of writing. You've got some bands that love that deadline they love the pressure, you know they can turn around and make it happen and do it in two or three weeks. Whereas if you have unlimited time. It seems to me like it'd be easy to just get lost. You know, yesterday was done and over now I want to do something new or what I'm feeling this week is completely different than last week or two three months ago. How do you keep that focus. And it's definitely a challenge. It's a challenge like I, that is what we experience like we're kind of like, we feel a certain way about a song and, you know, we're excited by certain things today and then in six months time that changes and the production can change on the song and your perspective on the song that you wrote six months ago can change and and some stand the test of time, and some don't. And we've got a vault of skeleton songs that haven't stood the test of time. And, you know that we haven't put out. So it's kind of been a gift in a way that it takes us so long to write music because most of the songs that end up on an album. We've been sitting with them for like six plus months. That's a different perspective and love them. So it's like, you have. Yeah, it feels good to let go of it and let it into the world. And you know where you sit with it. And sure, maybe in five years time I'd be like, Oh, I don't like that song, but I mean, it's we've given it a chance and we've given it time. But there is a process of losing yourself in the mud, and there's. Yeah, you can easily get lost and I for us what was helpful is taking a break, like we'd take a two week walk away, walk away, put it. Yeah, come back, walk away but come back to you know it's it's such a simple concept Barry but I haven't really thought about it that way if I was if I did this for a living and I was a songwriter. I would, I would walk into a studio just in a bad mood one day, and be like all right I'm writing a song about being in a bad mood. And then two days later I'm like, I don't even remember what I was talking about that. And I'm just thinking if you got a, you know, a toddler, man they change from week to week to week so you know you're talking about me again aren't you Barry. So I know what you're going through. Yeah that I mean you know a two week old is completely different human being than a two month old or a one year old so your whole world changes so that's why it's so fascinating to me. Sure, thanks, that is, it is really fascinating. We actually got Ziggy my son, like there's a little recording that I got of him before I could say any words. And I just found his voice so cute I'm sure every parent does when their kids kind of babble gookie. But, like I recorded it on on my phone and we, we managed to squeeze him into one of the songs on our album called make it happen. He's just at the end of the song and it just makes me happy like the little trinkets and what do you call it, Easter eggs that are in the album. But you know, they kind of come out of making an album for a year and a half. Yeah, that's really great. If we made an album Barry we would just have random sound effects of burtaka opening a PBR, you know just randomly for no reason. There it is, I know. No reason. Drinking beer. Alright so this is something we do on occasion. First off, thank you so much for spending so much time with us and you know dealing with, you know, at least in one particular person, mine, not knowing what the hell I'm talking about. But what I want to play a little game that we usually do with with some people predictive text what podcast predicted predictive text. So basically I put in to Google. Does Rufus to soul, and I let the Google predictive text finish the sentence for me right so I'm going to ask you a bunch of questions from the Google predictive text okay. Does Rufus to soul song. Yes, yes. Okay. They song hard is Rufus to soul EDM. Well, I don't like, I don't like the word EDM. We're electronic music, and it is dance music so. Okay. What does Rufus to soul mean in English. I don't know what it means. These are absurd things here. I like this one is Rufus to soul pregnant. There was a time period where we were just Rufus, and a lot of people thought it was just one guy. But what's a curveball with that is that Rufus to soul I'm like, a female, like, definitely not a guy if they're pregnant. And then finally the, the thing about. I think that you're so endearing to the the Bonnaroo audience is because Rufus is the, what do they call those things that's that's like the, the mascot of Bonnaroo is Rufus. But it's spelled R-O-O-F-U-S it's three circles of the smiley face so you know you, you sort of like have an automatic in with the Bonnaroovians. So good. Yeah, yeah, the figure, the animated figure Rufus. It was the long play we knew it. Yeah, you know the whole time. There is one of the things that and probably not in your department and you probably don't know anything about it because you know, I'm sure you don't spend much time, you know, worrying about booking, but you know you had. Yeah, the 2018 Bonnaroo you did Coachella two years in a row, then you're going to come back for the second version of Bonnaroo when it got rescheduled to Labor Day. That fell apart. This year this tour that you're embarking on is has two festivals on a Boston Calling and Forecastle. Was there any sort of conversation about why those two festivals and not a Bonnaroo again or a Coachella again? And if you are part of it then don't worry about it. I just I thought that was a it was an interesting set of tour dates I saw. Yeah, I mean, I can't remember the conversation but I know that we've had it. But I guess like your booking shows like a year out so those conversations were like six months ago. But I don't know why it made sense at the time. Sure, fine by me. Yeah, they're good. In terms of like, you know, playing the same festival again and again it's like, of course, like you have your favorite festivals and your personal love for festivals but there are different crowds and different people and it's a real opportunity for us to get into in front of new ears to play a new festival or a different festival, as opposed to, you know, I feel like most festivals have their loyal fans and, you know, you play one hopefully. I just think alternating between festivals is healthy for us as a band and but you know we obviously have our favorites. For somebody who's actually done this overseas and in America, can you tell a market difference between the European festivals and the festivals overseas than American festivals? What is the difference for you? We haven't done so much in Europe. I mean we've done a lot of stuff over there but we haven't played many festivals over there. In Australia, I can speak in terms of Australia. They're quite similar really. I mean, it's just that Australia's a lot smaller of a market. Not in terms of landmass but in terms of population. Who's your favorite Australian artist? Australian artist? Same Impala. Ah, okay. I was hoping to say Courtney Barnett. It's amazing how many Australian artists have exploded over the last 10 years, right? Whereas before, there weren't, I mean it just was not a fertile ground of bands coming out of Australia and then out of nowhere. It feels like every time I turn around there's another Australian band making, you know, some sort of noise. That's true. Courtney Barnett is really amazing. She's such a good storyteller. And there is just so many great acts that are coming out of Australia. I don't know. There's a nationwide radio station in Australia called Triple J and it's like an alternative radio station that you can hear, you know, hip hop to heavy metal to something more poppy to indie rock and roll. Yeah, and it's just like the full spectrum. And I'd say for the most part, that's what, if you're growing up, that's what you're listening to as a kid. And so I think a lot of the, a large portion of Australians are growing up listening to a wide variety of music and I don't know what that does for a brand or like your taste in music or how that affects your influence in terms of what you want to write. But I think that has something to do with it. Oh yeah. If I was to guess. Oh yeah. It's a kind of, did it help foster an environment where you felt like you could come from Australia and make it. You know what I mean? Sure. That's a huge part of things. I think we weren't even looking outside of Australia though. I think that it was like the opportunity that you could have your song on Triple J. Like in Australia, it's like, oh my God, if we get a song on there, then the whole country can potentially hear your song. And that means you could tour to, you know, the six biggest cities and potentially play these festivals that you know about. It's it's so small over there, like that. It's, it's doable. Like it's like you can do it. And that's what I mean. That's good. Yeah. See Barry radio still matters. Damn it. Radio still matters. Maybe not here, but it matters there. Matters somewhere. Man, Tyrone, thank you so much for the time. I'm so excited to see you guys. You know, and it's been wonderful to watch you guys explode over the last couple of years. I think the new single is terrific and new album. So much fun to listen to. I can't wait to see it live, man. Thank you so much. Thanks for having me. And yeah, it's great to chat. Enjoy your time. See you soon. There you go. Who was this old Tyrone? You better call Tyrone on the What Podcast. I really the thing about him is that what just a sweetheart. And I feel as though if, you know, I didn't constantly interrupt, he would have just talked forever. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. He was a one. He's a one question interview. How are you? Yeah. Barry loves those. Barry loves those. Those are great. Barry's go to move on something like that. If you ever notice, I pull the curtain back. His go to move is, well, with the new album, did you accomplish everything you wanted? And then just let the person go for 45 minutes and I got my story. See you later. It's actually a two parter. What did you hope to accomplish? Did you do it? That's a pro tip right there. Now you're giving journalism 101 kids. You're getting you're getting a master class here for Barry Gordon. My secrets away. Every time. By the way, if, if you ever hear Barry say that either he knows exactly where he's going with it, or he has nothing. Again, you're giving all my good stuff away. I really liked it though. I mean, mainly because look, I don't, I'm not going to pretend I know much about electronic music. I just, it's not something I ever really engaged with. But I do find it. I do find it. Ruben's is so interesting because you know, they're one of the few ones that that operates it like a band and the way that he described it, although I'm sure it was mind numbing for him to explain it to some sort of idiot like me, but it really helps me sort of understand. You know, the gist I was getting to Barry was dumb guys like me think that you walk up there with a laptop and you hit play. Right. Now they're actually playing. They remind me and I always, you know, I always hesitate to compare, but it reminds me a lot of early Alan Parsons project stuff which I love. So, yeah, I liked it. I like it a lot. Yeah, he's a. It was interesting to hear him talk about process I'm really fascinated by that whole having a year and a half to create an album that just seems to me like it would brain lock somebody. Because at the end of the day you give me a year and a half I'm still going to wait two last two weeks, and the song that I come up it's going to be. Word word word word word word wordy wordy word word words word exactly done. Exactly. Yeah, and the thing we did a year and a half ago. I'm over it. I remember what I did two weeks ago last year and a half ago. That was so did you find it interesting that and this is not a shot, but he really doesn't know one festival from the other. That's what I'm saying. A bus, a road, a stage, a bus, a road, a stage. And there's really nothing wrong with that, especially if the show is good. But you know, it makes me wonder if that's how McCartney is most days. You know, he said, where the hell am I? Knoxville? All right, I guess. Who cares? I mean, guys like that are very intentional now about what they do from what I've heard. They do the shows they want. They've done it enough. They know how to travel. But you did hear him say, as you're talking about the mental health thing before, it was road, road, road, road, road. And now they're very, again, intentional about whatever, you know, instead of three months, maybe four weeks and then come off. So, well, the other thing too is that I found to be refreshing is, and this is not a good thing, again, not a knock on the people that we've talked to before. But we have talked to plenty of artists where it feels like they are in control of everything. Almost to like a, almost, almost to a problematic place where you can't get a show past them. They know every person that's in part of the operation, they've got their hands in everything. He feels, it sounds to me like the way that he operates, like, all right, you guys just do that. I'll go be writing songs here. Yeah, well, a two year old would do that to you. Yeah, that's a good point. Yeah. In part. Good point. I'd rather be home. Yeah. It changes things. I mean, no question. It was fun to hear and talk about that. The other thing that I found interesting was how, without saying it, you know, I think that there are plenty of bands that spend a lot of time going overboard with the mental health thing, although it is very important and it should be something that's celebrated. You know, it's almost become to me, it's like, oh, I know, I get it. It's important. They're doing it in a very interesting way. It's not preachy and it's not telling you that mental health is important and saying, no, no, no, this was on us. We got our stuff figured out and we fixed whatever issues that were going on. And you know, yeah, a shot of whiskey versus a shot of ginger. I mean, it's like you said, they were heading towards something bad and so we got to fix it and they've done it. So, you know, everybody's different, but it's good for them. And I meant to ask him, you know, who led that sort of change? Did they all three come together or was it outside sources? You guys need to fix this or all of that or whatever. But yeah, you lead on to a good point because it takes all three to be a part of something like that. It must be like one person saying you got it with the wife always says, like, you got to the person's got to find yoga. You can't like force them into it. Right. So and it's almost like therapy. You can't force somebody to go to therapy. They got to find it on their own time. And it's weird that they all sort of seem to find it at the same time. Yeah. Like you and me saying taco, no more PBR. You need to do a shot of ginger. We've decided we're going to do ginger shots. I'm hanging up. Well, I'm glad you brought that up because talk. We were meaning to talk to you about it. Oh, oh, no, it's good. I drink high life now. You have changed. I have changed. I've given up. I've given up. Kids have given up. I'm moving on. Dad is back. All right. Well, I really you make a good point. It takes all three of them. It would have taken all three of them. So I really appreciate that. And there's what he gave us way too much time. And I really do think that the the other thing, too, I guess that's what I tried to dance around without. I'm just not smart enough to come out and just find a clever way of asking it. But you have this massive follow. They sold 50,000 tickets for an L.A. show. They had to add two more dates to. They've got a billion streams. They're a massive, massive operation. And they've done it all, you know, completely underground, you know, underground, meaning with no real radio support. No, you're not playing them, are you? Well, we just started. Yeah. I mean, they're their new singles actually really, really good. But you know, they did it all just sort of, you know, the twenty twenty version of doing this, you know, streaming and, you know, I find it to be an incredible story. You know, it panics me a little bit because they don't they don't need us. They don't need us. They got to take care of themselves. Nice. Well, it's pretty cool. I enjoyed a lot. Anything else before we go? Nope. OK, all right. Well, I got nothing. Oh, do we figure out do we figure out what we're going to do with the tickets? Yeah, we talked about it on the last episode, Barry. We were talking about how we were going to do it. And we already have, you know, we already have a leader in the clubhouse. We have our first entry and first in the draw. I know. Yeah. But guys, that happened two weeks ago. Remember? OK. Yeah. I don't know if you guys remember, but that happened so long ago. Never mind. Bye. Bye, guys. See you. Bye. Bye. See you.
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