Another SXSW has come and gone and I was on hand to check out as many bands as my feet could handle. It was an amazing trip filled with an eclectic blend of music that only Austin, TX can deliver.
The madness started Friday with an exclusive interview with Seattle's own Hey Marseilles. This insanely talented 6 piece are currently on tour in support of their second full length release, Lines We Trace, out now.
I sat down with lead singer Matt Bishop to discuss his SXSW experience and the new record.
I sat down with lead singer Matt Bishop to discuss his SXSW experience and the new record.
Sarah:
So you guys were suppose to play 35 Denton, what happened?
Matt:
We were suppose to, but my voice went out 4 shows into our tour and we had to cancel.
Sarah:
How are feeling now?
Matt:
I'm better now, but it's really sad that I didn't get to hang out with Solange.
Sarah:
I saw Solange!
Matt:
How was it? Was it amazing?
Sarah:
She was amazing! So how's your voice?
Matt:
It's much better. I'm feeling 100%, well 95%.
Sarah:
How's SXSW been so far? How many shows have you played?
Matt:
This is our fourth show. So not as hectic as some but certainly hectic.
Sarah:
You just played, do you have any more shows tonight or are you good until tomorrow?
Matt:
We're good until tomorrow. We have two shows and then we're done. We're headed to New Orleans, Birmingham and the rest of our tour, about 4 weeks left.
Sarah:
How's the tour been so far?
Matt:
It's been good except for the three shows we had to cancel. So hopefully we'll get back to Texas again and visit other towns besides Austin, but it's been great. We've had awesome reception for the new record. Good crowds.
Sarah:
Tell me about Lines We Trace. I absolutely love it, especially Tides.
Matt:
Yea, the first track. I was worried it was too sad of a song to be a first track.
Sarah:
No I love it! Especially the lyric "I would trade 10,000 days for one more hour with you." Amazing! So tell me about the album. What was the inspiration? You guys recorded it in Seattle correct?
Matt:
Yea, over the last couple years we recorded it and I think the inspiration was really just trying to understand for ourselves how we can write songs collaboratively in a new kind of, mature and focused way. Now the first record that we have is more of a set of songs that we wrote as individuals and then put together for a record. And this was very much a collaborative effort.
Sarah:
You independently released the first record correct?
Matt:
We did and that went pretty well. We sold over 10,000 copies and got some pretty good attention from it. It set us up for this record really well and hopefully this record does just as well, hopefully it will do better then the first record.
Sarah:
So the album just came out, on March 5th. How are you feeling about it so far? It must be a relief to finally release it.
Matt:
Yeah it's definitely a relief. We're excited to see how it's received. We have a few videos and media things that go along with it and this is the first national headlining tour we've ever done so a lot of firsts. Just putting our foot in the water, in a new set of water that we've never experienced before.
Sarah:
So what has been your favorite place you've played so far on the tour? And what upcoming shows are you really looking forward to?
Matt:
Well we sold out, we had around 1200 people at our Seattle show. Which was obviously our hometown show so that was amazing. In terms of shows coming up we're really excited about Washington DC, Minneapolis, Chicago, Boston, New York. New York's almost sold out. We've never played in the south so New Orleans and Nashville we're very excited to play.
Sarah:
So who are you excited about seeing here at SXSW? If any, do you even have time to check out any other bands?
Matt:
I am the least organized member of the band so I have no idea where I'm going here. I'm one of the older members of the band too so I'm usually just all about napping. I haven't even eaten today actually.
Sarah:
Oh I believe that. I'm sure you've just been going non stop since you got here. Was this your only show of the day or did you have one this morning?
Matt:
We did an industry show this morning so this is our second round of parading ourselves.
Sarah:
If you could sum it up what does this album really mean to you?
Matt:
For us musically it's a maturation both in terms of the arrangements, the instrumentation and the lyrics. Hopefully it reflects the way we've grown as a band over the last few years. I think it has it's own kind of unique niche in terms of the pop landscape and a certain group of folks that really find it attractive. So I hope we're able to fill a pretty unique spot on the pop music spectrum. We'll see.
Sarah:
Is folkestral an accurate way to sum up your sound?
Matt:
That's a word that I made up for our Myspace page which shows you how long we've been around, back in 2007. And I guess it stuck, it works.
Sarah:
Well Matt it was great to meet you. It's crazy around here so thanks for taking the time to chat with us. Good luck with the record!
Matt:
Thank you so much and thanks for helping us spread the word!
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