Vancouver’s New Pornographers are fast becoming regular visitors to these shores as their tour this November will mark the third time they’ve ventured down under in the past four years.
Vancouver’s New Pornographers are fast becoming regular visitors to these shores as their tour this November will mark the third time they’ve ventured down under in the past four years. Their first visit – as part of Meredith’s 2006 line-up – prompted another round of shows less than two years later. However, the 2008 gigs had to go ahead without vocalist Neko Case in tow.
“Last time she cancelled at the last minute because she had to work on her record,” Carl Newman, the band’s lead vocalist and core songwriter, explains from his home in Woodstock. “She also wasn’t able to come with us to Europe recently, but she’s planning on coming to Australia this time.” Over The New Pornographers’ 13 years together, there have been many times that Neko has been unable to tour with the collective for a short amount of time. As anyone who has seen the band minus her presence would attest, she isn’t a completely be-all-end-all-essential ingredient to a solid performance from the outfit… but having her onboard is something fans certainly prefer to see and hear. The set-lists are also affected by her absence.
“There are some songs we’ll only do when Neko is there, but only a few,” Newman clarifies. “We always like to change songs anyway though and each tour the setlist always has a different vibe.” The setlists this tour will certainly have a different vibe when compared to previous Australian trips, due to the release of the group’s fifth long-player earlier this year, aptly titled Together. “We’ve been playing at least half of the new record every night,” Carl says of recent shows. “There are a few songs like (album closer) We All End Up Together we’ve only played a few times though. We’ve been trying to bring a cello player with us to play parts of the songs from this record, but we can’t always afford to bring one.”
With seven people in the band (and sometimes there’s even an extra person tagging along), costs obviously stack up when traveling all the way to our side of the world. With instruments and other equipment also taken into account, it’s a wonder that such a sizeable band on an indie label (Matador) can continue to keep returning. “I know, but somehow it gets done,” Carl concurs with a chuckle. “We like going to Australia and it’s been a good place for us. It’s what we do, you know? Our job is to be a rock ‘n’ roll band and go out and play for people. You can’t really turn your back on your job.”
Followers of The New Pornographers would no doubt already be aware of Newman’s other job as a musician. The songwriter has also released a few solo albums under the moniker ‘A.C. Newman’, the last one being 2009’s superb power pop effort Get Guilty. When quizzed whether another A.C. disc is in the works, Newman is purposefully vague. “I don’t think it’ll be an A.C. Newman record, but it’s conceivable that I will do something that’s not a New Pornographers record,” he says, cryptically.” I don’t know what it’ll be exactly; we’ll see. Only now have I really been thinking about working on new music like that.”
The 42-year-old confesses that although he doesn’t always think about writing new material while on the road, it’s not something he ever puts out of his mind either. “You never know when you’re going to be inspired by something,” he figures. “These days it’s so easy as well; you just sing something into your iPhone or use GarageBand on your computer. Whenever people ask me (about writing while on the road) I’m never sure what the answer is. I’m either writing all the time, or I’m never writing anything,” he deadpans. “I’d always like to think that I’m (in the process) of writing,” he continues. “If anything, I’m always getting really annoyed when so much of the business part gets in the way of writing. Like, I hate it when my mind is taken up by worrying about touring or all the bureaucracy of putting out a record.
“Ideally, I’d like to just be writing all the time because for me that’s the best part of making music. I feel that’s logical: if I’m a musician I should be making music.” When asked whether he learned anything new while making Together this past year, Newman takes a moment to ponder before he answers. “I think that with a record like this it’s the phenomenon of settling into being a band that has now been around for (over) ten years,” he replies.
“It’s trying to figure out ‘what should we be?’ Should we constantly be re-inventing ourselves or should we just be happy to settle into who we are? I’ve never been in a band that’s put out five records and been around so long, so it’s completely uncharted territory.
“And,” he grins, “I’m so shocked that we’re still here. When you look back at rock history there aren’t many bands that get past 10 years.” Are these historical comparisons something the whole band talks about then? “At 4am when we’re all drunk we might talk about it briefly,” Newman laughs. “We’re all big music fans and we all think of it in terms of rock history. Sometimes you can’t help but think ‘what did all the great bands do?’ And you realise that a lot of amazing bands weren’t even around 10 years. Then again, a lot of amazing bands have been around 30-40 years, but there aren’t many of them. Love – a band I’ve always admired – were only around for five years and in that time they released five albums!”
THE NEW PORNOGRAPHERS play The Hi-Fi on Saturday November 13 with supports Little Scout. Limited tickets are still available from thehifi.com.au, handsometours.com or from Greville and Polyester Records. Their excellent new album Together is out now locally through Remote Control.
