Long Read: It's tour time again for We Are Scientists
It’s tour time for We Are Scientists yet again, and their joy for taking to the stage is as unbridled as ever.
Keith Murray and Chris Cain are the front prongs of the triangle that is the WAS live experience, and they seem more prepared than ever to showcase their album ‘Lobes’, which came out in January.
“We’re damn ready for it,” front man and lead lyricist Keith exclaimed.
“We rehearsed, probably more than we’ve ever rehearsed for a tour,” bassist Chris said.
Keith added: “We’re gonna be tighter than ever, but we’ll feel like we’ve over-rehearsed. We’re going to get cocky and confident and make rookie errors. We’ll start out super tight, and then it will collapse.”
For those who have experienced the Scientists before, it feels like business as usual. Newbies to the show will get their own taste filled with cuts across their eight albums so far, including six new songs.
One of the biggest tracks from ‘Lobes’, ‘Human Resources’, threatens to have a life of its own. Even Keith is not sure how it escalated from its opening synth to become the album’s third track. “I saw it running by and I just tackled it to the ground.”
He explained further, claiming it always had that title, but was originally about puppies. “It is its own fella. Our songs don’t begin with a mission statement, they often appear in one chunk.
“With the way I write, there is a sense of not knowing what I’m doing until it’s already down. There definitely wasn’t a lot of forethought to ‘Human Resources’ – nor apparently much afterthought!”
Another of the top new tunes, ‘Turn It Up’, also started with keyboards, as Keith wanted a “house dance vibe” for one of the last songs to be finished for ‘Lobes’. It morphed into one of his favourites.
He said: “I got really excited about it being a big dumb pop banger. That became the mission statement for that song, make it as fun and sugary as possible.”
Not everything makes the cut for the live shows – fans of complicated album track ‘Parachute’ will be left wanting, as it’s not possible for this trio, including drummer Keith Carle, to pull it off convincingly. “Green Day could do it,” Chris jokes. “We’re scared of it.”
Their last record ‘Huffy’ – the records started out from the same sessions – was promoted with a book of cocktails. They recommend ‘Plum Damage’, or adding alcohol to their non-alcoholic ‘Sea Foam Spritz’ so it “gets good”.
This time, they worked with their record label guy Ed and Arundel Brewery to create a Czech Pilsner, promotionally called ‘Lobes Pils’. It was a hands-off experience compared to the cocktails, but they’retrusting Ed to have nailed their request. “He’s got pretty good taste in beer, he takes it very seriously,” Keith said. “We just grab it and drink it as quickly as possible. He savours it.”
“We would have fucked it up,” Chris added.
With years of touring under their belt, particularly in the UK, they’ve done almost everything, but they’re keen to stress this isn’t a typical jaunt across the country by stopping in the usual cities.
“We make it not standard by being the best damn band in the world,” Keith said. “Nothing standard about that.”
On stage, they’re also making up for the time lost during the pandemic, and how their previous dates for their last album were hit, leading to cancellations in Europe and Texas. Advanced sales have been better this time around, and they’re eager to welcome people back.
“It feels like the ‘Huffy’ tour was a little bit inhibited by Covid precautions and fear. It feels like people are ready to ‘ave it,” Chris said.
“And we’re ready to give it to them,” Keith chimed in.
Chris said: “Maybe they’ll stand there quietly, afraid for their lives. Hopefully not, hopefully their passion will match their willingness to leave their home.”
After that comes the summer of festivals, including Truck and Kendal Calling in England, and Indiependence Festival in Cork, Ireland. There’s no new announcements, because it’s not in their control, however much people ask about Glastonbury, or other festivals. “We’re not allowed to say because we’re not on the bills!” Keith said.
Chris added: “It’s funny people think we’re simply allowed to choose which festivals we want to do.”
The only thing really left on their bucket list in the UK is the southern tip of England. “Cornwall. They never let us go to Cornwall,” Chris said.
Keith added: “They’re always trying to stop us as we get down to the little peninsula. They re-route us and we see ourselves back in London.”
Chris has fond memories of going to some of the more offbeat places, away from the regular tour stops. “Don’t skip Bute. That’s my advice to young bands,” he joked. “Bute was quirky.”
They’re proud to distance themselves from being a wedding band – even when a promoter asked them, Chris revealed. “We’ve never played a wedding, we’ve been asked many times”. The bassist added: “We do play gigs, and we’re happy to have folks come out to those. You can even come out on your wedding day. We’ve had that happen.”
They fondly remembered the night a wedding party of around 50 people bought tickets to their D.C. show on the ‘Huffy’ tour, getting hitched earlier in the day before bringing a bunch of people to the We AreScientists show. Chris said: “It was cool, that was the way to do it.”
Otherwise, they demand a million dollars from Russian oligarchs to do a big wedding show. Buying tickets to regular tour shows is the way to go – unless you’re desperate to hear their take on Ed Sheeran’s ‘Thinking Out Loud’, or ‘Marry You’ by Bruno Mars.
Chris said: “If they put on a regular show and book us, we won’t play any Bruno Mars. We play only We Are Scientists. If you give us a million dollars to play your wedding, you can tell us what to play.”
“We’ll play all the Silk Sonic songs you like,” Keith added – referencing Bruno’s superduo with Anderson .Paak.
Until then, you’ll have to enjoy all the old-school We Are Scientists favourites, and – in ‘Human Resources’ – a future crowdpleaser.
Feature by Samuel Draper
