Alvvays are coming to Asia.
The GRAMMY-nominated act will be embarking on a full Asia tour for the first time this month, holding solo concerts in Singapore, Taipei, Tokyo, Nagoya, and Osaka, as well as making festival appearances at Jakarta's Joyland Festival and Bangkok's Maho Rasop Festival.
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The band has spent the past year bringing their critically acclaimed record, Blue Rev, on tour across North America, the UK, and Europe. In an interview with Bandwagon, vocalist Molly Rankin shares about their steady growth as a band, mentally preparing themselves for life on the road, and what they're looking forward to when they visit Asia this November.
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It's been a little over a year since you dropped 'Blue Rev,' one of the best albums of 2022. You went through a lot working on the record. How do you feel about the kind of reception the album has received so far?
I'm pretty blown away that people still wanted to listen to us or still took an interest in what we were putting out in the world. I was really surprised that the album resonated with so many people, and that we are able to just grow at a pace that we can reasonably keep up with. Since we started, the band has been on this gradual, fulfilling journey.
You dropped a music video for 'Many Mirrors,' which was created by Stardew Valley developer Eric Baronne. How did that collaboration come about?
Kerri and I played a lot of [Stardew Valley] when we were mixing the album at Shawn's studio and that would just stabilise our mood. One day, I just decided to email Eric. I had no idea what email address I was writing to or who was on the other side of it. But he ended up responding that night. I really had no idea what he was gonna do, like make a T-shirt or a poster. I think he's like an artist, and he has a bunch of illustrations that he does. He ended up liking the album, and before I knew it, he was making a whole music video. In the course of 6 months, he would send me [updates]. I was on tour and I would go into my bunk, check my email and see a whole new frame of the video, just little updates here and there. It was so exciting like an Easter egg hunt.
The band started touring late last year, kicking off with North America, followed by a European tour earlier this year. How did you prepare for getting back on the road, being back on stage after such a long time?
We're really intense about rehearsal and about recording too. Even before we went into the studio, we played the songs for so long. We're all hard on each other and hard on ourselves, and I think that's such a crucial part of being comfortable enough to do everything onstage. By the time we had to play shows again, we were completely ready to go. [We did a lot of] practising!
Aside from the technical preparations, is there anything else you did to prepare emotionally and mentally for the tour?
There are a ton of things that everyone does to keep each other in good spirits and enjoy the travelling because it's actually... That's one of the hardest parts of touring, staying positive. It's sort of like a marathon when you're on these big, long tours. You just really have to stay positive or else things can spiral into a weird pit of despair. We call it P.O.D. We try to organise a lot of things when we have time. Whether that's going swimming or going for a hike, just finding something wherever we're travelling. Like setting up a party with a karaoke machine wearing wigs and hats and hanging out in a summer camp way.
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Over the years, I've learned how to talk myself down out of these intense moments where there were stressful things going on, like a big show with all of the pressure. That takes a lot of practice to try to slow your breathing down and not let that affect you physically.
You've shared some of your challenges while on tour. Can you tell us about your favourite tour memories so far?
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We have a lot of fun with the bands we tour with. We just did a big tour with the Alex G guys. That was such a fun trip, we'd just all hang out. Because we were also travelling on a bus, we would spend the whole day in the city or at the venue. Some people would go swimming or throw a ball around. We've had a lot of exciting shows like playing at the Kings' Theatre in New York City. Really big shows and you'd never imagine that you'd walk out onstage and there's so many people. It's not something I'd dreamt of happening. Anytime that we get to play the songs well, that's a good memory for us.
You’re embarking on your first Asia tour this year, and making new memories, visiting places like Singapore, Tokyo, Jakarta, Taipei, and more. What are you looking forward to the most for this leg of the tour?
We've never been to Taipei or Singapore, and I actually have family that live in Singapore. So it would be great to see them. They've been out there for a long time. It's been years and years since I've seen them. I'm so excited to see what that part of the world is like, and [to] see my family in that environment.
We had so many fond memories of being in Japan too. Maybe we'll see some people we know from there. We haven't been to New Zealand and that's such a formative place to a lot of the music we grew up listening to in our 20s. It will be gratifying to get over there.
You'll be playing a couple of festivals - like Joyland Festival in Jakarta - for the Asia leg of this tour as well. Who else are you looking forward to seeing at the festival?
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I haven't seen Squid play before, and I'm excited to see The Beths. We've done a little bit of South America [together]... we played the same festivals, the same circuits. It was nice to meet them and set up our gear beside theirs every day.
You mentioned that when you tour in Europe or the States, you're always on a bus. But in Asia, you need to fly to your next destination. The experience will be a little different. How do you prepare for that?
There are so many funny things like trying to decide which jacket to bring, which pair of shoes. We're gonna have a book club on this trip! I just emailed everyone to see if they wanted to read the same book. It's like you never really know what you need until you don't have it in your hand. It's a little bit like camping.
Any music recommendations? What do you think your fans should be listening to?
I've mainly been listening to a lot of old music, but I really like the Sweeping Promises album that came out [Good Living Is Coming For You]. It's just a really cool album, it almost reminds me of the B52s. We've been listening to this band called Salad Boys from New Zealand.
Alvvays are performing at Joyland Jakarta on 24 - 26 November 2023 at GBK Baseball Stadium Senayan. Find out more here.
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