Ende August 2023 veröffentlichten Spanish Love Songs ihr 4. Studioalbum No Joy. Wir durften im September auf Ihrer Europa/UK Tour Sänger Dylan Slocum dazu interviewen:
Moshed.net: Right now you‘re touring with Hot Mulligan all over Europe and the UK. How has the tour been so far?
Dylan: It‘s been great. We haven‘t been over back here since Covid. It‘s been nice to be back, playing for crowds that we haven‘t seen for a few years. The shows have been amazing and the team has been great. Top to bottom a great tour.
Moshed.net: How is the german crowd and what was your favourite show so far?
Dylan: German crowd has been good. It‘s been interesting sort of working the new songs in with some of the older songs and seeing sort of a split between those who have come for the old music and the others who have come for the new music, which is good. That‘s what you want. You want a whole different group of people to get to your shows. My favourite show… the crowd in Munster was suprisingly crazy. They were wild.
Moshed.net: You released your new record No Joy at the end of August. Which song do you play live on this tour?
Dylan: We‘re doing a few. „Lifers“, „Haunted“, „Pendulum“ and „Clean Up Crew“ on this tour. Those are the big four.
Moshed.net: Which song is your favourite on the record?
Dylan: That‘s tough! I really enjoy playing „Clean Up Crew“ live. I think it‘s a fun song.
Moshed.net: The sound of the record is kind of different compared to the old ones. How would you describe it?
Dylan: I call it doing what we wanna do *laughs*. I don‘t think the difference is that crazy but… yeah there are elements of „Synth-Pop“, there are elements of „Americano-Rock“, there are elements of „New Wave“. It‘s just an „Indie-Rock“ record. That‘s at least what I always tell people it is.
Moshed.net: Yes, I think it‘s always the best to do what you like to do.
Dylan: Yes, I mean labelling something kind of closes you off from being able to experience… Like when you say :„I only listen to „Punk music“ we would be like : „Shut up and listen to something else. There are other types of music.“
Moshed.net: Is there an artist that inspired you?
Dylan: Just kind of the scope what I grew up listening to and what I currently listen to. People‘s taste changed. The band has been growing up together and we have changed together. Just sort of what we‘ve been interested in. If we want to put a weird synth in a song, we just do it. We‘re not gonna worry about if somebody‘s gonna not like it. If we worried about every single decision whether people won‘t like it, we would never finish a record.
Moshed.net: The name of the record is No Joy. How did you come up with that name?
Dylan: I had a list of names that we were kinda going through and that one just felt right and I kind of forced it through on the band. They said : „I don‘t know“ and I answered: „No it‘s gonna be No Joy we‘re not going to change it“ *laughs*. It worked. I think it works for the record. Sort of having a little joke in the title is fun. It‘s not any deep thought. It comes from one of the lyrics and it kind of make sense.
Moshed.net: Do you have any Pre-Show rituals before you go on stage?
Dylan: It‘s not really a ritual in a superstitious way but I have to warm up my voice everyday. After that I change into my clothes and go on stage. So it‘s not anything special. It‘s just like stretching before you exercise.
Moshed.net: You played some festivals this summer. Do you prefer clubshows like today or festivalshows?
Dylan: I think it depends. I mean festivals have their advantages and disadvantages. And Clubshows have their own charme. The only thing we really care about is that the audience is into it.
Moshed.net: Last time you‘ve been to Germany was before Covid. What did you miss the most about playing live in front of an audience?
Dylan: Just the entire experience. That‘s why we do it. Just to get in front of people and share these songs that we‘ve written and create that sense of community. There‘s something really special about it. You can‘t really replicate it if you‘re not in the room and being a part of it. It‘s about building it together. So I think we missed that experience. Obviously getting to travel and seeing places is a big part of it but mostly just being in a room with people and sharing an hour together is very important.
Moshed.net: You also announced some headline shows for early 2024. How excited are you to come back playing for your fans in Europe?
Dylan: It‘s great! I mean it‘s the whole reason we do it, right? So we‘re excited to come back. And we‘ll be back in January/February which is only five months away. We didn‘t get to do it for three years and now we get to make up for some lost time and hang out with everybody. It‘s the best part of the job. It‘s the best job on earth, but we have to go and do it. We‘re excited to get back to work.
Moshed.net: I‘m excited too *both laugh*. Last question for this interview. Are we going to be losers forever?
Dylan: Well, I mean I am! I don‘t know about you guys. I mean, I play in a band *laughs*.
Moshed.net: We all are *laughs*. Thank you Dylan for the interview.
Spanish Love Songs sind derzeit zurück auf Europa/UK Tour. Doch wer noch Tickets haben möchte, sollte sich beeilen, denn die meisten Tourdaten sind schon ausverkauft.
Tourdaten:
31.01.2024 – Köln, Gebäude 9
02.02.2024 – Hamburg, Bahnhof St. Pauli
03.02.2024 – Berlin, Badehaus
04.02.2024 – München, Backstage Club
09.02.2024 – Darmstadt, Oetinger Villa
