ATH & ACL Interview: The Wans

You can almost smell it in the air can’t you?  That’s right folks, ACL is just a mere week away and ATH is once again pumped for the fun and debauchery.  Today I’m excited to share with you an interview I did recently with Nashville based rock band The Wans.  They’re playing ACL, and we’re pumped to welcome them to town.  Follow the jump for full interview.

All questions are answered by leading man Simon Kerr. Thanks again!

ATH: So you guys are coming to Austin soon. Ever been before? What do you look forward to doing during your time here?
Mark & I have never been to Austin, but Thomas has been a few times for SXSW with the band he was playing in before The Wans. I think we’re all looking forward to have some Mexican food & tequila. I hear the Mexican food is ridiculous. We’re all big foodies so we do our research when we’re on tour & traveling through cities.

ATH: As a part of the festival, you are likely to watch some other bands on the bill. Anyone you are particularly excited about seeing or possibly hang with?
Pearl Jam, Outkast, Beck & Temples. There are so many great bands on the bill. We played a few festivals already with Outkast & Beck. When we were playing Forecastle Festival in Louisville we were actually staying in the room next to Andre 3000 & the whole Outkast crew. We rode up the elevator with Andre & ended up partying with them, which was surreal. Temples are one band we’re really looking forward to. Their new record is pretty fantastic if you haven’t heard it before.

ATH: Speaking of, is your band more of a festival type or an indoors, intimate type?
I’d probably say more of a club band. We like it to get rowdy. It’s definitely a whole other beast playing a festival as you’ll be playing to people who have never heard of you, but that makes it excited as you’ve got to win over the crowd. We’ll definitely get the crowd to go a little crazy.

ATH: I’ve always thought a festival crowd could be difficult to engage with. What do you do differently to interact with the crowd and get them “into it”?
The past few times we’ve played I’ve jumped off the stage & into the crowd. Usually that works. Haha.

ATH: I actually just did another interview with a Nashville band and asked them a similar question… What’s the music scene currently like over there? Is it still the mecca that it once was? Can it compete with Austin!?!?!
The music scene in Nashville is absolutely inspiring. There are so many fantastic bands & songwriters living in Nashville. It makes you want to write better songs & become a better musician living in the city. I’m not to familiar with the current scene in Austin so I couldn’t really say, but there are a ton of songwriters that I admire from Texas. Guy Clark, Townes Van Zandt, Kris Kristofferson.

ATH: You released new album He Said, She Said just this month. For people looking to get into your music, what can they expect from the album?
They can expect catchy, pop songs with heavy riffs. Think of it as the love of child of Black Sabbath & Nirvana/Soundgarden.

ATH: The end of the world is almost here and your band is going on one more tour of the world. Where would you most like to play?
We’d most likely play the UK/Ireland as it’s where I’m from & play Glastonbury Festival.

ATH: Since it’s the end of the world, food is running low…. Which band member do you eat first?
Haha. Most likely Thomas because he is the shortest in the band. Mark & I are both 6’4 & Thomas claims to be 6 foot although we tease him that he’s 5’11.

You can catch the Wans on Saturday of weekend one over on the BMI stage @ 6:30. Here’s a taste of their music as well.