Latest / HEAVY Music Interviews / BEN KWELLER Brings COVER THE MIRRORS Down Under

Transcript

BEN KWELLER Brings COVER THE MIRRORS Down Under · HEAVY Music Interviews

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: What's up everybody. I'm Ben Coueler and you're watching Heavy Mag.
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Oh I'm here. You will say, my internet is a
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: little slow. I might I might need to run because
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: I'm in my studio, which looks cool, but I might
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: have to go to the uh.
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: I might need to go to my house. Okay, let's
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: just let's start it. If I need to move to
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: be part of the thing.
• 0:28
  Speaker 3: At a buttonfull, exactly No, sorry, Welcome to Heavy Mag.
• 0:34
  Speaker 3: Will like having a shout with so many different artists
• 0:37
  Speaker 3: that we get and tell us a little bit about yourself.
• 0:40
  Speaker 3: You coming down if you'll cover the mirrors to in
• 0:43
  Speaker 3: July late. So how's that being for you?
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: I'm so excited. I love Australia.
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: I haven't toured in Australia since I haven't been there
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: since the pandemic. Oh wow, so this is like my
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: big return since the world shutdown. And yeah, well I'm
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: I'm really excited and my fans seem to be really excited,
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: and I'm just coming with all these new songs and
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: this new album which has a lot of heart and
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: emotion and yeah, I'm so stoked.
• 1:17
  Speaker 4: Yeah you like to get us right in the fields?
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: Dry I do. I can't help it. That's just how
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: I am.
• 1:23
  Speaker 4: Kind of an honest we don't know it exactly. Oh
• 1:27
  Speaker 4: that's wonderful.
• 1:28
  Speaker 3: And so you being in new music as well, and
• 1:30
  Speaker 3: I believe that you'd be doing some fan favorites will
• 1:33
  Speaker 3: be on the set list too.
• 1:35
  Speaker 4: Keep happy.
• 1:37
  Speaker 3: Yeah, sorry, how long you been doing this for now?
• 1:39
  Speaker 3: It's been a little while.
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: Yeah, God, it's been a while.
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: I mean I started writing songs when I was eight
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: years old.
• 1:47
  Speaker 4: Wow.
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: And I started my first band when I was like
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: twelve or thirteen, and then eventually my first real band,
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: I was still a teenager.
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: We were called Rat.
• 2:00
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: So, like I have kind of a very similar trajectory
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: to my friend Ben Lee. Yes, been so.
• 2:08
  Speaker 3: We both started locally here. I think in about ten
• 2:12
  Speaker 3: days time. I'm like, so, I'm looking forward to catching him.
• 2:15
  Speaker 3: He's absolute legend, he's susage is and he.
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: Yes, totally totally.
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: And so yeah, I started, you know, kind of with
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: playing in bands, and then I guess I was maybe
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: nineteen or twenty when I went solo. I moved up
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: to New York City and that was the early two thousands,
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: and a bunch of other bands were sort of starting
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: out like the Strokes and the MOLDI Peaches and Yeah
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: not a Surf and Mooney Suzuki. It was like a
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: real scene, you know, that early two thousands of New
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: York thing and yeah.
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly.
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: And I was just kind of came up in that
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: and eventually I moved back to Texas where I grew
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: up and I So I came to Austin in two
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: thousand and eight and I've been in Central Texas ever
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: since and.
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: I love it. I live on some acreage I'm on
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: like a little ye like I'm like, yes, I never leave.
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: I really, I stay here.
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: I'm such a homebody, you know, And I just stay
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: and write music and leave when they make me. And
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: so now I'm excited because Australia is part of me leaving,
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: which will be Yeah.
• 3:31
  Speaker 4: So you've been here before. I loved it. So you
• 3:34
  Speaker 4: are any plans to do anything extra while you're here?
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: Well, I hope to see some friends, you know.
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: That's the best part of touring is is you know,
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: having a meal with an old friend or something. I
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: was speaking with Brad the other day from the Vines
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: and Dope limits friend. I hope to Yeah, I hope
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: to run ended to him and Craig and.
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: So where are you what part of what part.
• 4:02
  Speaker 3: Of I'm on the border of gold, like Gold Queensland,
• 4:07
  Speaker 3: Northern Rivers, southern Gold Coast, So right on the beach.
• 4:10
  Speaker 4: It's the best, it's the right we've had. It's been
• 4:14
  Speaker 4: localize flooding at the moment.
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: But yeah, my my friend Tom Busby actually is kind
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: of He's a Gold Coast guy, I believe, and he
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: was actually here in the studio last year I produced
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: his solo debut album. Yeah, not because everyone everyone knows
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: Busby Maru, but Tom has a lot of great songs
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: in him and such a wonderful voice, and so I
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: produced his album. And so everybody listening or watching should
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: give that a listening because it's album.
• 4:47
  Speaker 3: Yeah, excellent, excellent. So cashing out with some friends and
• 4:50
  Speaker 3: seeing the tour, so you start off is a prison
• 4:53
  Speaker 3: that you're starting off your yeah, and then all the
• 4:57
  Speaker 3: capitals and we much look forward to. So yeah, so
• 5:01
  Speaker 3: you're in Texas, in Austin, Texas, did you say yes?
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: Yeah, Well, technically I'm at forty five minutes. I'm like
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: in the country outside of Austin. I'm in the woodstock
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: of Austin. Oh No, it's a little town called Dripping Springs.
• 5:17
  Speaker 4: Oh wow, sounds lovely.
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: But I'm twenty minutes from anything really like any gas
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: station or restaurant.
• 5:24
  Speaker 3: No, it's the home of Alone as well, I believe. Yeah,
• 5:28
  Speaker 3: it's in Austin, Texas, which is he's coming down under too,
• 5:31
  Speaker 3: I believe with Jack Johnson.
• 5:33
  Speaker 4: So that that's kind of exciting.
• 5:35
  Speaker 3: Yeah, for a bit of a festival, which was last
• 5:38
  Speaker 3: minute I think, which yeah, well, well hope when you
• 5:41
  Speaker 3: guys come down on give us the goods.
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: I love you guys.
• 5:45
  Speaker 3: Absolutely, So do you have anyone joining you on tour?
• 5:48
  Speaker 3: Any let's just support you.
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: Have so, you know, I don't.
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: I don't think we've sorted out support yet, right, So
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: I don't know if it'll be an evening with Ben
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: Coeler and I just play really long and just pick
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: the quests and do that, which is always But I
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: love having support acts too, and I love supporting local
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: music and up and coming artists. So I'm sure, Yeah,
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: we'll come up with something between now and then, you know, off.
• 6:15
  Speaker 3: Sure, And so it's the tour is after you finished
• 6:18
  Speaker 3: in Australia, what's the rest of the year.
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: So it's actually I have a few festivals at the end,
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: like towards the end of summer, well my summer. Yeah,
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: and that's really it for my touring, and I'm going
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: to be finishing my new album.
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: So I'm already working on the next One's to keep
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: it going, y'all. So yeah, exactly.
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: So this is really like it's a special time because
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: Cover the Mirrors, which is my latest album, came out
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: in twenty twenty three in May, so it's now almost
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: been a year and well, no, not twenty twenty three,
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: what am I talking about? I guess, yeah, so it
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: came out in twenty five, so it's almost been one
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: year and we've been touring on that and so this
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: is like the international part of the album cycle. Yeah,
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: so we thought we'd finish it down Under.
• 7:14
  Speaker 3: You know. That's awesome because a lot of Australia gets,
• 7:16
  Speaker 3: you know, missed from by a lot of us on
• 7:18
  Speaker 3: the international tours just because we're so far away, but
• 7:22
  Speaker 3: so worth coming too.
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: You're so worth coming to you.
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: And I'll never not come there anymore, you know, because
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: I took like ten years off really from touring. I mean, wow,
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: COVID really kind of messaged. I was already sort of
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: taking a break, and then COVID happened, and then yeah,
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: you know, I just sort of.
• 7:38
  Speaker 4: It was a weird time for a lot of people.
• 7:41
  Speaker 2: It was weird.
• 7:42
  Speaker 3: I talked to a lot of us and like, there's
• 7:44
  Speaker 3: so much that came from it as well, like so
• 7:46
  Speaker 3: many projects and music, and it was really quite nice
• 7:50
  Speaker 3: to see that, you know, that the negative has been
• 7:53
  Speaker 3: turned into something that's been fruitful and we could all
• 7:56
  Speaker 3: look back and see the nice side of it. It's
• 7:59
  Speaker 3: it couldn't force just into this position of like what
• 8:01
  Speaker 3: do we doing? What are we doing?
• 8:02
  Speaker 4: Are they going to go mad?
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: Exactly exact?
• 8:05
  Speaker 3: Yeah, so that's that's really nice to hear. So yeah, So,
• 8:10
  Speaker 3: I mean, do you know how many shows you're doing?
• 8:12
  Speaker 3: It's just the capitals that you've got.
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: I think we're doing.
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's like four. I think it's very quick. It's
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: like just a one week run Melbourne, Sydney. I think
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: there there's a festival in Adelaide, like the Adelaide Barbecue
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: and beer Fest or something sounds about very Australian, you know.
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: I love that. I love both those things well, and
• 8:36
  Speaker 2: that's the other thing, you know, I've always really.
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: Felt so at home coming to Australia because I'm Texas boy,
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: and I swear there's like a real connection between Texas
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: and Australia.
• 8:46
  Speaker 4: You're right there.
• 8:48
  Speaker 3: Both my girls were raised on the beach and the cars,
• 8:50
  Speaker 3: but they're just little rodeo mad cowgirls.
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: And I'm like, I love it. I love it.
• 8:57
  Speaker 4: It's right, you know.
• 8:57
  Speaker 3: We we have a very deep love forout Kings country,
• 9:02
  Speaker 3: I think, and those are say that they don't, they're just.
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: Lying exactly exactly.
• 9:08
  Speaker 4: I love it. So yeah, so I've been doing it
• 9:10
  Speaker 4: for a little while. Now. Do you remember the first
• 9:12
  Speaker 4: time that you heard your song on the radio?
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: The last time that was? That was really cool?
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: So that was my band Radish. I must have been
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: fourteen years old, wow, and we were. I grew up
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: near Dallas, Texas, so North Texas, and there was still
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: I think it's going on today. It's a famous radio
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: station Q one O two, which was like a total
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: rock station and very famous DJ who isn't working anymore
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: long retired, must be probably in his seventies now, but
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: he was.
• 9:48
  Speaker 4: Wow.
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: His name's Redbeard. You know a DJ name.
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: Red red Beard got a Radish song that's called it
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: Dear Antarctica, which is one of our singles, and he
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: spun it, and me and the other two guys in
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: the band we hopped in the car because only one
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: of us could drive. He happened to be sixteen, and
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: we drove around the block a bunch of times until
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: it came on.
• 10:13
  Speaker 2: And yeah, that wow, a cool moment.
• 10:16
  Speaker 4: That's so cool. I love that. I love hearing that.
• 10:18
  Speaker 3: And yeah, so obviously that was your fourteen which is
• 10:23
  Speaker 3: sorry'll so fresh and.
• 10:25
  Speaker 4: Now you just when do you he stuff on the radio?
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: Now what you just?
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: I still love it.
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: It never gets old, man, No, it never gets old.
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: I mean my favorite is when I'm like in the
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: grocery store or like at home depot, you know, or
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: like just some bed bath and beyond and the.
• 10:44
  Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly see. And so I mean I love it.
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: I I still and even you know, when people recognize
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: me out like it's not annoying, you know, because.
• 10:54
  Speaker 2: It doesn't happen all the time. I don't get mobbed,
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: you know, I'm not like, yeah's so famous.
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: So when it does happen, yeah, I love it, Like
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: it just feels so good just to you to know
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: that that's something you made. To know that something you
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: created touched someone else. I mean that's like the best.
• 11:11
  Speaker 4: Absolutely, well, we don't.
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: It's a gift for me and a gift for them,
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: and like it all comes from somewhere.
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: Up above, you know. Yeah, it's music is so amazing,
• 11:23
  Speaker 2: as you know.
• 11:23
  Speaker 3: Isn't that. It's it's all of that and and and
• 11:27
  Speaker 3: the rest. You know. It's that exchange between an artist
• 11:29
  Speaker 3: and an audience and that need to receive and that
• 11:32
  Speaker 3: need that create, and technology will ever replace that.
• 11:35
  Speaker 4: I love that.
• 11:37
  Speaker 2: That's right. The robots will not. They cannot have our emotions.
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: They can't take the heart away from us.
• 11:44
  Speaker 4: Other people interviewed, I'm like, it can't. And I think
• 11:48
  Speaker 4: the more I.
• 11:48
  Speaker 3: Get such a sense of comfort out of that, you know,
• 11:50
  Speaker 3: as an artist myself, and it's just like, you know,
• 11:53
  Speaker 3: that's that's what we need to hold onto. Is like
• 11:55
  Speaker 3: keep playing live music, you know, just wherever it is.
• 11:59
  Speaker 3: It's so important to would to us as humans, you know,
• 12:01
  Speaker 3: since Cavemen's Lab.
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: Yes, yes, exactly,