Words OLIVER ACKERMANN
1. Write songs about Boko Haram
There is so much fucked-up stuff going on. It is hard to justify writing some pop piece of bullshit unless you are focusing on making money. And if that is the case, you are a self-centered piece of shit and people shouldn’t support your art.
2. Turn out the lights
Everything is scarier when you can’t see it. Music is meant to be heard. Figure out a way to keep the focus on that and not the reality of where you are unless you happen to be playing a place which is naturally fucked up and evil.
3. Keep it human
Stop playing along to pre-recorded material. Once you put your shaky hand on something it breathes so much more life into it than some lazily programmed adat of your band.
4. Get dangerous
There isn’t much chance at many shows for something to happen to you that you might feel uncomfortable with but that is life. If you don’t go out your door, you can’t get hit by a car. This is real. Let’s throw that guitar into the crowd. Let’s let there be the possibility that something is going to happen.
5. Play someplace
It isn’t too evil to be playing at a pool bar. It is sometimes the only option and so you have to bring it but when you can set up in the woods or a graveyard or a Walmart. These are all very evil places. With a cape and some ox blood you can make this totally evil. Go out and get motherfucking evil.
The previous piece is taken from self-titled’s spring issue. Download it for free through our iPad app or read our online archive for more exclusive features. A Place to Bury Strangers’ latest album, ‘Transfixiation’, is available now through Dead Oceans. Stream a couple of its singles below, along with the band’s upcoming tour dates…
A Place to Bury Strangers tour dates:
3/4 Oklahoma City, OK – The Conservatory *
3/6 Albuquerque, NM – Sister Bar *
3/7 El Paso, TX – Lowbrow Palace *
3/9 Tuscon, AZ – Club Congress *
3/10 Phoenix, AZ – Valley Bar *
3/11 San Diego, CA – Casbah *
3/12 Las Vegas, NV – Beauty Bar *
3/13 Santa Cruz, CA – The Catalyst Atrium *
3/14 San Francisco, CA – The Chapel *
3/15 Los Angeles, CA – The Echoplex *
3/17 Portland, OR – Star Theater %
3/18 Seattle, WA – Crocodile !
3/31 Dublin, IE – The Workmans Club ^
4/1 Belfast, IE – Voodoo
4/2 Glasgow, UK – King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut
4/3 Leeds, UK – Belgrave Music Hall ^
4/5 Manchester, UK – Sound Control Basement ^
4/6 Nottingham, UK – The Bodega Social Club ^
4/7 Birmingham, UK – The Rainbow ^
4/8 Cardiff, UK – Clwb lfor Bach ^
4/9 London, UK – Oslo ^
4/11 Lille, FR – La Peniche #
4/12 Ris-Orangis, FR – Le Plan #
4/13 Paris, FR – Le Divan du Monde #
4/14 Lyon, FR – Le Marche Gare #
4/16 Zurich, CH – Viadukt – Bogen F) #
4/17 Bologna, IT – Locomotiv
4/18 Düdingen, CH – Cafe Bad Bonn
4/19 Munich, DE – Strom #
4/21 Berlin, DE – Lido #
4/22 Cologne, DE – Underground #
4/23 Courtrai, BE – De Kreun #
4/24 Amsterdam, NL – Melkweg #
4/25 Groningen, NL – Vera
4/27 Hamburg, DE – Hafenklang #
4/28 Copenhagen DK – BETA #
4/29 Malmo, SE – Babel #
4/30 Gothenburg, SE – Pustervik #
5/1 Stockholm, SE – Debaser Strand #
5/2 Oslo, NO – John Dee #
5/8-5/10 Austin, TX – Austin Psych Fest
* with Creepoid
% with Daydream Machine, Miracle Falls
! with Nightmare Fortress, Grave Babies
^ with September Girls
# with zZz’s
