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After touring for so many years, do you find that you have tactics to make each performance unique or feel fresh after playing so many of the same songs?
You know, the whole goal of it all is to, although it is a job to make the environment feel like it’s not work, but it’s a part of your life. So when it gets repetitive, when art becomes repetitive, it tends to play with the psychic a little bit and it makes things difficult.
I wouldn’t say we have tactics, nothing really intentional, but I would say that one thing that helps us a lot is how we approach the stage, meaning we do not use tracks or click tracks. We plug in and play, which means we make mistakes all the time. Sometimes Highway Tune is this fast and sometimes it’s this fast. Kind of depends on how much tea we drank that day or the jet lag or wherever we’re at. So every show is kind of like a thumbprint in a way. It’s unique to what’s happening. And we often feed off of the audience as well.
If we feel very welcomed and there’s that incredible symbiotic relationship, then we are going to put out the equal, the same sort of thing, same amount of energy. So I would say, you know, and guitars, amps break, things break. And if that happens, there’s nothing to fill the sound. So that’ll change a show and make it unique.

When you started the process of creating Starcatcher, was there an impact on your approach to crafting the songs, being that you were playing them track by track for the recording?
Yeah, I think that was a common goal we all shared when going into pre -production for the album was the fact that we wanted to capture it live. We often write live and on stage is where I think we feel the most like ourselves.
It was actually during the last album that we did, we started recording some of the things live because our producer, Dave Cobb, basically said, well, you do this on stage all the time. Why couldn’t you do it here in this room? And we went, yeah, there’s no real argument against that.
So we had the goal of going into this next album, writing things live and performing them live so that when they were basically they were ready for the stage as soon as they were recorded, which is a wonderful thing. And I think it’s great for artists to experience that because you capture magic.

Is there any album or track specifically that you guys have written that really resonates with you after all this time?
Our music is very close and dear to us. The songs are almost life forms that we’ve created, kind of like a child, but we spend so much time and emotional effort on each and every track. So there’s definitely a story to go with each of them or they all hold a certain meaning.
Flower Power was one of the first songs written in a matter of hours by us. It was written back in 2013 or 2014, but it was that first moment where everyone came together and just, sparks, you know. That was the kind of one of the first songs that really showed us who we were and what we can do, which is an incredible feeling. And ever since then, it’s just been trying to harness that same sort of feeling.

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A little birdie told me that a certain band has enough material to fill two whole albums. If this is true, does that idea include songs from the vault?
This is why little birdies shouldn’t talk. No, I’m kidding. Yes, we are. One of our superpowers is that we’re always writing. We always have songs and songs, which is awesome. We write on tour. We write when we’re home from a tour. And it’s funny. Oftentimes we write songs and then we’ll flesh them out. But perhaps we don’t agree collectively that it is time yet for some of them.
So we have already, this little bird will provide some, started writing and fleshing out ideas for another album and we’re pretty well underway. There are some older ideas that date back to probably 2015 or 16, and then there are then completely brand new ones. I think we’ve all been very excited for this next album for a while. We even started talking about this next album before we finished Starcatcher. We’re always looking ahead.

You’re touring “Starcatcher” at the moment, on a scale of one to ten, how excited are you to perform at Royal Albert Hall alongside other legends like Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Eric Clapton, Rolling Stones? That must mean a lot to your band.
It’s one of those that I haven’t fully processed yet. The Royal Albert Hall. It happened very quickly. You typically have to book it years in advance because of the high demand and something crazy happened where they had this opening and availability that happened to fit perfectly in our already planned out European tour.
It’s the pinnacle of performance. And we did Madison Square Garden this year and we did our hometown arena and those things are feats in themselves, yet I think Royal Albert Hall takes the cake on that. The history, the royalty, what it is, what it is to us, what it is to everyone else. I am very excited, but I would be lying if I said I wasn’t also a bit nervous about it too. You only get one.

How excited are you to come back down to Australia for the first time since 2019?
Very excited because A, we have new music. B, the world has changed since then and a lot. We’ve had two new albums since we’ve been to Australia last. I remember the people are just so receptive and so in love. They love rock and roll. It’s weaved throughout their history too. The weather is always fantastic, the beaches are amazing, though the wildlife is questionable. Overall, I think we’re all extremely excited.

I have a few rapid fire questions before we wrap up. The first one is if you could perform with any musician that are alive, of course, who would it be?
Oh man, that’s such a good question. I think I have to go with someone like Freddie Mercury. I think that would be a lot of fun. Yeah, no explanation needed.

One of your favorite venues you’ve ever played?
Two answers there. One, Red Rocks. Yes, it might not have been the best sounding, but it was very spiritual and something that lives inside of me. And then also Madison Square Garden. I gotta put that on there too, because we haven’t done the Royal Albert Hall yet. So the answers are subject to change.

How do you keep your curls so nice?
Well, the first secret I’ll give out is that anything that’s not natural. I actually didn’t know I had curly hair until a couple of years ago. And then I stumbled across a natural wash called hair story. And I swear by it, most of us use it now, it kind of changed the game.

So you’ll be in Australia in August from the 21st to the 30th. What are you looking forward to with the fans and what can they expect?
Oh man, I am very excited to be back with the fans, and to enjoy the beautiful country. But I’m most excited to bring the newer music to Australia. I think there’s so much depth to it now and it’ll be fun to showcase the live side of us that has evolved over the years. I think the new show that Greta has to offer is going to work some wonders for the Australian crowd.

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GRETA VAN FLEET
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND 2024

FORTITUDE MUSIC HALL, BRISBANE
WEDNESDAY AUGUST 21

HORDERN PAVILION, SYDNEY
SATURDAY AUGUST 24

MARGARET COURT ARENA, MELBOURNE
TUESDAY AUGUST 27

SPARK ARENA, AUCKLAND
FRIDAY AUGUST 30

For complete tour and ticket information, visit: gretavanfleet.com & livenation.com.au & livenation.co.nz 

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Follow GRETA VAN FLEET
Official – Instagram – YouTube
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Photo credit: Neil Krug

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Press Release 16th April 2024 (below) HERE

GRETA VAN FLEET
announce Australian and New Zealand
tour dates as part of their
STARCATCHER WORLD TOUR

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AMNPLIFY – DB