Australia is known the world over for its sun, surf, and sand. And so when it doesn’t deliver for our international guests, I almost feel like we’re letting them down. Alas, today it was grey and stormy when I caught up with The Fray’s guitarist David Welsh for a chat. However, we were determined not to let the gloomy weather get us down as we chatted about the band’s current Aussie tour, upcoming album, and wave of success.
I’m sorry we couldn’t have turned on better weather for you!
You know what? It’s alright. We were in Singapore the last couple of days and it was blisteringly hot and humid. This is not bad.
You’re regular visitors to this country. What keeps you coming back?
Well we can still play here, so that’s a positive. It’s a great place to play, actually. I don’t know, it’s something about some combination of our music and the fans here, and the connection that that makes. I don’t know, it’s working and it’s a lot of fun.
You played the first show of your Aussie tour last night in Sydney. How did that go?
It was great. It was really great. There was some very great synergy between the people and us on stage. I think we kind of needed it. The Singapore show was a little rough; it was the first one in a couple of weeks off and we were a little rusty.
And I believe that the Asian audiences can be a bit more reserved too. Is that right?
I think anybody is reserved compared to an Australian!
Fair enough! Will you get a chance to do any sightseeing while you’re here?
I don’t know. I went to a store just now that a friend of mine from LA recommended and I got a shirt, so that’s cool. So that’s something I did!
You’re heading to Byron Bay to play Bluesfest, which is one of our most iconic festivals. Are you looking forward to that?
Yeah, for that very reason. I’ve heard that everybody loves going there and it’s a total music lover’s festival. And the setting sounds unbelievable also.
The bill for Bluesfest is pretty incredible. Are you hoping to catch any of the other sets in particular?
Yeah, hopefully. It lined up in Singapore, because I actually think it’s the same people that are starting a festival over there as well. We missed Buddy Guy, and we missed Buena Vista Social Club, I mean all these people that I would really love to see. So hopefully something works out.
Fingers crossed! Now you’ve played several festivals, including the V Festival in the UK and Mile High in your hometown of Colorado. How do those gigs compare to your solo shows?
The challenges are totally different. You inherently have to rise to the occasion at a festival because you’re not the only band there, and people are coming together to see a wide variety of music. And maybe some people are there to see you, and some people haven’t even heard of you. I also think as festivals go on during the day, people lose attention, they get fatigued. They’ve been out, they’ve probably been drinking, whatever it ends up being. So if you’re on at any time in the evening, you really have to work for it because otherwise people will move on to another show, or pass out, or something.
I believe you’re opening for U2 for a few American shows this June. How did that come to be?
We just begged, for a really long time, and they gave it to us. It was great.
Fantastic. So you guys have been big fans of theirs for a long time I presume?
Yeah. The fact that they’re still going after 25 years is reason enough to be a fan pretty much.
Absolutely, not just going to but still right on the top of their game. You’re so busy with touring, but I hear that somewhere in there you’re also finding time to work on your third album. How is that coming along?
That’s actually been the most exciting thing that we’ve been doing lately. I think we’re pushing ourselves in a direction that we’re not afraid to go now. I don’t know what that means necessarily. I don’t know if I can verbalise that direction. But it’s exciting and it feels new, it feels different, and it feels like the right time to do something like that for us and for our fans.
I can’t wait to hear it. Your music has exploded all around the world. Did that international success take you by surprise?
Yeah, totally. I don’t even know if any of us thought we were going to be able to play any shows outside of our home state. At every moment there’s been a progression, I’m always surprised. I don’t think there’s ever been something that’s happened that we’ve completely expected to happen. I didn’t expect to play Sydney five times.
Was there a moment where you thought it had all changed, and you were really doing this?
Yeah. Ben [Wysocki] the drummer and I both had – and I use the term “had” loosely – we were fortunate enough to drop out of college for this band. And that turned into our job. So that was probably the moment, although that didn’t guarantee anything. There were still a couple of years in there where I had no idea if this was going to work. We didn’t know if this was going to be a paying gig. It turned out it was.
You’re heading back to the States after your Australian tour. What are you most looking forward to when you return to home soil?
Well, I just moved over to Los Angeles, and when I left it was the most amazing weather so I’m very excited. No offence to the weather over here! But I just recently moved, and there’s a lot of new exciting things about that. New places to eat and all that.
The Fray plays Melbourne’s Festival Hall tomorrow night and Thebarton Theatre in Adelaide on Saturday before hitting Bluesfest on April 5.