I had a chat with Joe Langridge-Brown, guitarist of English alternative rock band Nothing But Thieves. We chatted about their upcoming Australian tour, with their first ever show in Adelaide, as well as their recent EP What Did You Think When You Made Me This Way? and what they’re getting up to in the near future.
Jonathan Matthews: You guys are coming to Australia for a tour very soon, how are you feeling about that?
Joe Langridge-Brown: Yeah, we’ve been in Australia a couple of times for this album, and we’re at the tail end of our album campaign now. We got asked to do a couple of festivals, so we thought we do an Adelaide show as well since we’ve never played there before. We’re really looking forward to it.
Are you planning on checking anything else out while you’re in Adelaide?
I’m not really sure to be honest, but I’m sure we will if we have time. I’ve heard that people call it RADelaide, so it must be pretty cool *laughs*.
You guys have just released an EP, which I’m hearing a lot of on the radio right now.
Yeah, Australia seems very receptive to rock and indie music. That’s great for us, it helps our live shows, everyone knows the songs and they sing along.
Have you noticed much of a difference between the audience in Australia and the audience in the UK?
It can be really different. In Australia everyone has a drink in their hand and they’re ready to get into it. In Japan, in between songs they cheer and clap, but if, for example, Connor is talking or making a point, they’re completely silent, it’s strange. It can be a little off-putting, but it’s their way of showing respect and listening. We did a headline show in Brisbane in a tiny venue, and it was one of the craziest shows we’ve ever had, I’ll always remember it.
You’re a guitarist in the band, what type of equipment are you using?
I use a little bit of Fender gear, but I’ve been using Gretsch lately, and a bit of Gibson. The other guitarist mainly uses Fenders. I’ve got some amazing guitars, but they’re mostly Les Paul’s and Gretsch’s.
Do you know who your support acts are going to be in Australia?
I don’t actually know yet, I’m not sure if we’ve picked yet. We usually get given a list of local acts from each area and we listen to all of them and pick one or two. We’ve had some awesome supports in Australia before, we had Psychedelic Porn Crumpets last time we were there, and they were wicked.
How was touring with Muse?
It was an amazing experience, we’ve done quite a few shows with them now. A few in the UK, a few in Europe, and some in Australia. They’re a band I looked up to as a kid, Absolution was the first album I remember listening to and showing my Dad. Normally it was the other way around, he’d always be showing me bands, and he’s the one who got me into rock music from a young age. To actually play with them was incredible, they’re great guys too.
When do you think you’ll be doing another album?
We think it will be out next year. We’re writing at the moment and having some down time. These Australian shows are the first ones for the year, and then we haven’t got any more shows until about May, so we’ll be writing pretty hard in that time. We write all the time, on the tour bus and what not, but it’ll be nice to have a set time to really work it all out. This will be the first time having that prolonged period of time for writing, so hopefully it’ll show in the next record.
Will we be seeing any new music videos or anything like that any time soon?
Not in the immediate future, no, but there will be eventually. We released the EP late last year, so that’s it for a little while. I don’t think Australia has heard any of the EP live, so we’ll be playing them at our shows for a little while.
Do you see yourselves doing a world tour when the next album drops?
I’m not sure, but I hope so. With the last album run for Broken Machines, we actually travelled 92% of the way to the moon when we added it all up. Hopefully after the next album we can make it all the way to the moon *laughs*.Are you going to be doing anything else while you’re in Australia, will you have any time for a bit of a holiday?
We are, we’ve got about five days off in Sydney which will be great. It can be hard to get to enjoy and experience every city when you’re on tour sometimes, it can be a bit rushed. It’ll be a luxury, I want to go to the beaches and do some sightseeing, I have some family down there too that I want to visit. It’ll be great.
Do you have any final messages for your fans in Adelaide, who you’ll be seeing for the first time?
Come check out the show, let us know if there’s any particular songs you want us to play. It’s always great when our fans help us with the set list. I’m hoping it’ll be pretty wild, and I’m sure it’ll be an awesome show.
Northing But Thieves are playing at HQ on February 10. Tickets available here.
