Ten Things I Learnt On Tour

Ten Things I Learned On Tour, by Funeral Party

If Ragged Words were all a bunch of 17-year-olds, East LA three-piece Funeral Party would probably be the coolest thing we'd ever heard. And while we may (mostly) be well on the road to 30, the Walkmen-kinda-meets-early-Killers thing they've got going has still managed to get these aging pulses racing. Shit, we may even leave the pipe and slippers at home next time they're in town. So having just finished some super quick UK dates with Surfer Blood, the band tell us about ten things they've learned on tour.

The band's we're-going-to-be-fucking-huge single 'Just Because' is out this week. Watch the video here. Listen to the b-side there.

1

To avoid your pants from smelling you seal them in a plastic bag and put them in the freezer.

We learned it from some crazy ninja show you guys have. They were DIY ninja’s and they had a different ninja for different jobs. We haven’t tried it yet because we don’t have a freezer... Anyways, I thought it was cool.

2

Try to fit as much as you can on to your rider.

The worst riders we had were NOTHING on our recent tour with New Politics. Water was all. Warm water. They didn’t even have the decency to throw it in the fridge before we showed up. When we toured with The Drums we stole their rider. We didn’t think they would drink it all so we took it...

3

Bring a pillow

Can be used as a laundry bag, a pillow of course, something to draw on when you’re bored and a table for games of Ludo in the van.

4

Bring Ludo!

 .....

5

Bring an iPod FM transmitter

We haven’t actually got one but touring some places in America all you get is country stations or just static. I always bring my iPod but I don’t know how the other two (James & Kimo) do it without one.

 

6

Try to eat healthy

Fast food is all there is out there and definitely get your fill of Mexican food before you leave California because there is shit across the country. Sometimes all there is in the middle of the country is Wal-Mart which is horrible.

7

Bring lots of marijuana

Helps to pass the time.

 

8

Try to stretch out your rider

Sometimes they don’t give us nearly enough, I don’t think you can survive off $10 a day.

 

9

Don’t go to Salt Lake City

There’s different laws out there. You can’t get like a keg of beer, you have to go to Wyoming which is about a 3/4 hour drive. They make it really difficult for you to drink - you can’t buy a bottle of whisky and a bottle of coke for a chaser at the same time. And you can only buy liquer in certain stores at certain times. It’s really ridiculous. They don’t let you drink but they let you have multiple wives.

10

Seattle is really nice

Where the city is placed, the downtown area, is just so beautiful and pristine. You come up on the freeway and you can see everything. Even the cemetery is in such a beautiful area - we went and saw Bruce Lee’s grave.

In your words