PREACHING FROM REBELLION’S BAR STOOLS
“They went out on Friday night and finished their set on Saturday morning.”
Headlining any stage at Rebellion is an achievement that’s not be sniffed at and THE BAR STOOL PREACHERS have been given the honour of closing the new and improved Casbah stage on a sweltering Friday night. Originalrock.net caught up with lead singer Tom McFaul and guitarist Bungle (who are both taking a break from manning the bands extremely busy merch stand) in the backstage area for a chinwag. The new album, headline slots and the band’s ongoing rise are all up for discussion.
Originalrock.net. The new album is out today?
Tom McFaul. Right this minute! Like a drunken bumbling baby into the world, it’s gone stumbling around the stalls of Rebellion.
OR. To anyone who hasn’t heard it describe it for them.
TM. It’s called ‘Grazie Governo’ and it is a message in solidarity for people who feel underrepresented and misheard in the world. It’s a mixture between socially charged political commentary, love songs and getting pissed. They are the three things in the world we know the most.
OR. And you’ve done three videos already?
TM. We’ve done four for it, we did a trilogy and we did ‘Broken Hearts which was first.
OR. And which record label?
TM. Pirates Press in America and it was self-done in England and Europe.
OR. Are there any dates for a full UK tour’
TM. We just got back from a three-month tour of the UK and America. So we are just waiting to get our ducks in a line for November, December time. Plus we’re working on a couple things (taps table for luck) that we can’t actually mention at the minute. So it is on the cards we will be touring the UK again this year but it won’t be as extensive as the last couple. So if we’re playing within an hour of you, come out and watch us!
OR. So Rebellion, it’s been good to the band?
TM. Always, always, this our home.
OR. The band have a really impressive work ethic You’re (Bungle) never off the Merch stand. Is that what bands need to do in this day and age?
BUNGLE. You have to put in the hard work, you don’t get anywhere unless you put the work in yourself.
OR. Also, we don’t get see many of our (musical) family throughout the year so at Rebellion it’s a chance to catch up with everyone. For us, it’s a great social.
OR. A couple of years ago you were on the outside stage.
TM. The very first time we opened up the Arena, then the Pavillion, then the outside Tower/Casbah stage and this time it’s the big boy Casbah.
OR. I have to ask you’re going at 1250 am, Friday night Rebellion, How are you going to get people who have been here twelve hours and possibly had a drink or ten out of their early morning coma’s?
TM. These motherfuckers don’t know what peaking is until they’ve seen our set this evening.
OR. Has the start time affected the way you two have behaved today?
TM. I’d normally be pissed by now! No everyone’s been high fiving in between power naps.
BUNGLE. That’s it, put a shift in, have a little kip put another shift in and go again.
OR. And you must be looking forward to it, I mean this is a headline slot?
TM. When we were first given the slot we looked at it and thought, oh, it’s an after party. Then you look across the lineup and days and it’s not you know. We were told categorically by the organisers that this is a headline slot not an after party. We picked you to headline this stage.
OR. The night after you (with the same stage time) is The Wildhearts, that tells you it’s not an after party.
BUNGLE. Last night we went and saw The Vandals and then straight after Lagwagon and it’s like, shit we’re doing that slot tonight.
OR. And what were the crowds like?
BUNGLE. Brilliant, absolutely brilliant.
TM. I think there will be more inside tonight! Everyone we’ve spoken to has said that after this (the band’s show) the hangover starts. Today is the day that everyone going to go really hard, push together and then tomorrow we can start licking our wounds.
OR. Bungle, you’ll be back on the Merch stand come 12 ‘0’ Clock?
BUNGLE. Of course! That’s the place to sit there and go “How are you feeling this morning?”
TM. We always start at a cafe down the road, sit outside and have a fry-up every morning and come to terms with the day. (Pausing) We have to peddle the merch so we will be working on it after (the show). We didn’t expect it but on the last tour dates and weeks just kept getting added on and on and on to the point that when we returned none of us had jobs.
OR. The merch (sales) helps keep you out on the road?
TM. That’s it.
OR. Not meant in a negative way but your merch is not expensive, in comparison to a lot of bands? Ten pounds for a T-shirt and loads of designs.
BUNGLE. I’ve been going to shows for years and when you go to a big big show and it’s twenty, twenty-five pounds for a T-shirt. I can’t justify that. Plus (for us) it makes thing accessible and affordable for everyone. If someone comes up to Merch stand then they’ll get a free sticker or there are badges for a pound.
TM. We ain’t greedy and we are not the sort of people to take cash out of working people’s pockets. Everything we earn goes back into the band and it has done for the last four or five years. We can make it affordable and we want people to be wearing the T-shirts, we want more people to join the Preacher family and representing.
OR. Where do you see the band this time next year?
BUNGLE. (Laughing) Probably sat in this bar doing an interview.
OR. Ok, where would you like to be in twelve months?
TM. We want to out to Japan, South America plus The Flogging Molly seadog cruise is coming up. We have a childlike bucket list to tick, we’ve been lucky enough to make amazing headway in the last couple of years. I would like to say this time next year we will have another album out at least be working on another album. I’d like to on the Empress Ballroom (The Rebellion Mainstage) and look up at that ceiling. People singing the words of ‘Bar Stool Preacher’ back to us, oh and a couple more American tours. It sounds bad but we’d like some management, I mean we’ve turned down so many management companies agencies and record labels we’ve turned them all down over the last three to four years.
OR. Can I ask why?
TM. Yeah, we want to maintain all the rights. Also unless it’s Pirates Press or a label that is prepared to be the Twenty-First century in the way they operate. Labels don’t have the same remit they had back in the day. You don’t need a label do to anything for you apart from fund it. Some will do the bare minimum or just release two hundred and fifty copies. They don’t try and actively engage people. The industry has changed unequivocally in the last ten to fifteen years especially the way we engage with music.
OR. How has social media helped or hindered the way you promote?
BUNGLE. It has its negative side.
TM. Definitely a double-edged sword. The thing we try to keep in mind is not to put too much stock in it. It’s a fantastic tool to engage with people across the world and it’s great to let people know you’re releasing a new album
BUNGLE. You only used to hear of a band when they were touring and you read about it a month later. Now you play a gig and it’s live streamed or available the next day.
TM. It does mean that you’re under great scrutiny as everyone has a camera in their pocket.
OR. There’s no hiding place if you fall off the stage.
BUNGLE. We’ve both had issues with that! It depends on how you look at it. Some people fall off the stage and get really arsey about it. If I fall over on stage I’ll lay there and laugh my head off. You’ve gotta laugh, it’s live and anything can happen, something could cut out, you could fall over.
TM. The live scrutiny works for us what is negative for some bands is positive for us. For us, the live show is about creating an energy in the room, not about playing every note perfectly.
BUNGLE. It takes two to Tango, one to play the and one to dance to it.
The band play between 150-200 shows a year and the monumental effort they’ve collectively put in is starting to really pay off. The Casbah was packed that night and watching from the rear of the stage gave me a wonderful view of the smiling, singing and dancing throng. The band left it all out there and yes, come 12 pm the following day they are back on the Merch stand, smiling, chatting, signing and selling. The Bar Stool Preachers are the modern blueprint for how it should be done, more power to them.