Grinspoon are currently still out on the road, touring their latest LP Black Rabbit. When I last caught up with Kris Hopes, the band was kicking about backstage at the Big Day Out and gearing up for one of their biggest national tours to date. Hopes chats with me today about how the tour has been so far, supporting Aerosmith, and where they'll be headed once the Black Rabbits tour winds up.
Cheers for the chat today Kris, how’s your morning been?
Yeah good! We’re just travelling up to the Entrance to do a show today.
The last time I spoke with you was at the Big Day Out in Adelaide and we briefly touched on the national tour; now you guys are heading towards the end of it, how has it been?
It’s been really good; we’ve just done all the capital city shows and now we’re getting into the regionals and that kind of thing. We got through the first week of it last week and now we’ve got a couple of weeks to go, we’re just working our way up to Queensland and then off to Victoria to do a week as well next week.
Awesome. I know that you guys were able to sell out a few shows in the capital cities on this tour, which is great to see, considering how big the tour is; can you describe how different the sets have been for you guys to perform? I read somewhere that these have been the longest ones Grinspoon have played. How long did it take to find a rhythm and momentum on tour?
We’ve changed the set up a fair bit, there’s a bit of acoustic stuff in there and we’re doing a fair few songs off Black Rabbits too. You know, it took us a few shows to get comfortable with the new kind of thing, but it’s flowing really well now.
Great stuff! I know that Phil had shredded his arm up the last time we spoke, hindering his playing abilities…how’s he bounced back from that injury?
Nah, he’s bounced back good, he’s back playing guitar and all that now. We had our guitar tech Adam Cole playing with us at the Big Day Out, but Phil’s back onboard now and his arm is all good again!
Good to hear. As we just touched on, the sets have been pretty diverse in terms of the material you’ve played; at this point of the tour, what’s been your favourite track off “Black Rabbits” that you’ve been able to play live?
We’ve been doing “Emergency”, which has been pretty good, that’s a quicker one and the crowd has been getting into it. I think we’re playing about four or five off Black Rabbits and yeah, the punters are learning them like we are.
It must be a good feeling to know your fan base is as strong as it is, so that you don’t have to worry about losing the attention of a crowd when you are rolling out this new material live.
Yeah I think so; most of our fans have been around for a while, so we can play a bit of everything. We don’t necessarily have to play the whole new album or whatever. They still turn up, which is good!
Considering the fact that Grinspoon has always been regarded as one of the country’s hardest touring bands, how memorable would you say the 'Black Rabbits' national tour has become in terms of some of the other Australian tours you’ve played?
It’s good, I mean, every tour is different, you know? Every tour is a new one for us and it is a learning experience, getting back out on the road. We’re always evolving and changing, so every day is a new day.
Because you will have been playing a lot of the same material night after night, how do you manage to keep yourselves fresh onstage without becoming slack?
[Laughs] We make mistakes in a lot of our songs, that’s how we stay fresh! We play the same shit every day so we just make different mistakes every day so it keeps us going!
I have to obviously touch on the upcoming show with Aerosmith, which are set to be amazing. I mean, it’s Aerosmith.
Yeah it’s going to be good, but we’re just not sure where it’s on at, because they keep moving at! It’s on in Melbourne now because it was on in Sydney, but yeah, it’s going to be a pretty good one I think! They’re a massive band and I’ve never seen them before, so it’ll be interesting to check them out, it should be good. We might win over a few Aerosmith fans or something; that’s the last show of the tour as well, so we’ll be having a good one, I’d say.
You’re performing alongside the likes of Wolfmother and Spiderbait; with Grinspoon added, it’s like a trinity of classic Australian rock bands. How are you anticipating sharing the stage with those guys?
Well we haven’t played with Wolfmother before; we know a couple of the guys from up our way, Byron Bay sort of area, but they’re all great bands. Obviously, we’ve played with Spiderbait a fair bit over the years, so it’s a pretty good deal! It’s an interesting bill anyway, you’ve got a bit of old and a bit of new in there. I think also that the band that’s on tour with us at the moment, Kingswood, are doing it too. They’re a great band.
They’re awesome live.
Yeah totally! The two bands we’ve hand on the road with us have been pretty cool; Emperors have been opening and Kingswood have been playing in the middle and by the time we hit the stage, everyone is pretty warmed up and ready to go! They’re all good people to hang out with too, which is pretty important when you’re spending time on the road.
Definitely, especially considering the amount of time you’re on the road for on this tour.
Yeah, exactly! You spend a lot of your day travelling or whatever and the time you’re hanging out, you hope you’re hanging out with cool people.
Bonus. I know that you guys are going to be heading up to Darwin for Bass in the Grass in May; in between the end of this tour and that date, are you getting any time off?
I think we’re a few weeks off, we’ve got another few tours getting booked in at the moment and so yeah, we’ll have a couple more weeks off after this. We’ve put in a good six week stint and the after the Bass in the Grass thing, we’re doing a Queensland run as well. We’re going to be pretty busy up until the end of the year.
At least you know with heading up to the NT and Queensland, there’s such a relaxed vibe up there, so you’ll probably have some time to chill.
Yeah, exactly; Darwin’s a great place and it’s always been good for us to go touring up there. I think we’ve been going there for over ten years now. It’s a nice vibe.
Definitely. So I’m gathering that the tour cycle for Black Rabbits is basically done? Are you already into writing and composing new material?
That kind of happens for all the guys over this time anyway; we’re writing and there are a few ideas there, that sort of thing. Once we get to the end of the cycle, we’ll kind of be ready to start looking at new things, it’s all possible. The Black Rabbits thing will probably go on for another 12 to 18 months at least; it’s usually a two year kind of cycle for us with each album. We’ve got a little bit to go yet!
Well from the reviews I’ve read, it sounds like you’re doing all the good things! That’s basically all I had for you today man, I hope your show goes well tonight! Thanks for chatting.
Yeah man, it feels good for us and we’re all pretty happy in the band at the moment! Any time, you have a good day!
