New Zealand’s quartet outfit The Outsiders have been quite busy making a name for themselves all over the world. They have released a full length record, “The Words Will Write Themselves” and an “Untitled E.P.” They have supported large acts across the globe such as Against Me, CKY, NoFX and Megadeath. We sent them a few questions while they were in the middle of a US tour with fellow kiwis Freddy Fudd Pucker. Now let’s get to know the band a little better before you see them on stage near you. Read the full interview here.
Besides constantly touring New Zealand, what has the band been working on these days?
We are currently almost two weeks into a 9 week US Tour with fellow New Zealand act Freddy Fudd Pucker that involves an appearance at Fest in Florida, it has been amazing so far. We also are releasing the “Shallow Graves” album through Anchorless Records on October 11th, you can also preorder it from the site here.
On top of that Underground Communique has released our first EP remastered with some bonus and live tracks so we have been busy – check that out here. And check our tour dates out here.
Do you guys plan on releasing any past or future material on vinyl for your fans that collect vinyl records?
I would love to release some stuff on vinyl it would be like a dream come true but it is really up to the record labels if they want to press it, if people want to see stuff on vinyl just support the band by buying the CD first, if that does well it will probably come out on vinyl.
Vinyl has seen a massive rebirth in the past few years, are you guys vinyl collects and if so, what is it about vinyl that appeals to you?
I do collect vinyl although I have not done much collecting in the past couple of years due to all my money going into the band. Vinyl is cool because it gets you more in touch with the record as a whole and the artwork, an MP3 file is so disposable and is not as personal I don’t think.
Could you please explain the motivation/inspiration behind, “The Words Will Write Themselves?”
The song “The Words Will Write Themselves” is the last track on our album and is a song about a hard time in my life I think the jist of the message is that in the end the story of your life will happen if you like it or not, things will happen good and bad.
If you guys had complete creative licenses and an unlimited budget, what would your next project be? Would it be an acoustic recording, a split record with your favoritepunk band or a Rock-opera?
A Rock Opera would be the absolute worst thing I could think of haha and there is no place for it in punk rock or even music in general. We sleep on floors and play in shitholes most days of our life, unless someone wants to hear a rock opera about someone drinking PBR and never getting to shower I doubt it would work. Basically to go into a proper studio and record a really, really great record that sounded great that would be my goal if we had an unlimited budget. A lot of recordings are affected by time and money constraints and it would be awesome to do something that you knew had the best possible chance of sounding good.
Where did the idea of the dinosaur costume come from in your music video that was made for, “Thanks for the memories?”
We played a show in Gisborne New Zealand and the next day there was a dinosaur suit laying around, it had been a big party the night before so Stu our bassist jus tput it on and started hanging out, in fact maybe he passed out in it I am not sure, either way it was filmed and edited into a vid for Thanks for the Memories.It is a pretty cool vid.
Any new cities that you want to play where you guys didn’t get a chance to play the last time you toured the U.S.?
Yeah man heaps. We just played Chicago the other night at Red Scare Fest and it was insane it was such a great show I think it was sold out and we have never been there before. We are playing in a heap of places we have never played, Texas, California I look forward to meeting heaps of cool people.
Hailing from Wellington, New Zealand, but having spent the last few years touring the world, do any of the band members of The Outsiders miss or crave certain foods or places that other countries cannot replace?
The Pizza in the US is really great man and I miss that when we go back home there is a lot of great junk food in the US, I miss the easy access to healthy stuff back home though so it’s a catch 22 ya gotta find a good balance life is not all 89cent burritos at T Bell, heh.
Is Wellington airport possibly the worst international airport in the world or have you come across worse? Tell us about the worst airport you’ve come across.
Yeah man Wellington is really bad. Once coming back from Australia we were dipping and falling and I went white with fear, all of us were gripping our seats and just closing our eyes, Wellington is horrible to fly into and out of. It is probably the worst I have experienced for sure.
Staying on topic about touring across the globe, travelling together for months at a time must certainly make for great stories. Do you guys have a funny story that happened on tour that you would like to share with your fans? Or any crazy fan stories?
Ok there are a few because we like to party. The other night in Chicago after the Red Scare Fest we had been partying heavily with Brendan Kelly (a dream come true by the way) the mans drunken demeanour cannot be rivalled. Anyway the night was all but over and Stu and I were pretty much beyond intoxicated and didn’t really know where we were. We got a taxi to where we thought the house we were staying was but Chicago is a big place I was knocking on doors for a while and about to pass out in the cold when I noticed a note directed to The Outsiders I actually have no idea how we made it back but I think our drunken navigation skills are pretty good, very touch and go though.
The Outsiders are a great group of punk musicians that love to play music for their fans. However, what types of jobs do The Outsiders have back home when they are not touring the music scene that may surprise their fans.
Yeah for sure, Dave works for an architectural firm and Stu works at a children’s day care centre, I used to work for a media company but I quit my job to do the band. I don’t think there are many bands who make a living off punk rock when I was younger I thought everyone did but even big bands don’t really in 2011, even bands on big independents, so support the local bands you love and lessen the gap no one is making any money here haha.
Are there any questions that you wish we would have asked or parting words for our readers?
We would love to see you at the shows and meet you guys, support your scene or it won’t exist and only you can make it something great, thanks to all the awesome people who have put shows on for us and helped us out in anyway. Add us on Facebook and listen to us here.