Bowling for Soup Interview 2

I'm on a roll now it's post number two. Again this is more from my interview with Gary from BFS. This will hopefully be appearing in some form the new Lincoln based 'PULP' magazine at sometime in the near future. There's more intro stuff and it's written in a slightly different style to the first but please bear with me because there is some quite interesting and funny quotes here: When you hear the name bowling for soup you automatically think of the Texan pop-punk’s Grammy nominated 2002 hit ‘Girl all the bad guys want’. But you also think happy. It is nearly impossible to hear one of their catchy pop-culture laden songs without smiling, or, if the mood takes you, bouncing around in a mildly excitable manner. Recently BFS hit the UK to spread some of their joy with the second incarnation of their ‘Get happy tour’. I skirted the hordes of hyperactive teenagers waiting outside Nottingham’s rock city for the sold out third night of the tour and headed backstage to meet the band. Last minute sound checks are taking place on the stage as we are lead down some stairs into the dressing room area. We pass BFS frontman Jaret Reddick and guitarist Chris Burney both looking supremely relaxed for men preparing to go out and entertain a packed house of their adoring fans. Seconds later I meet drummer Gary Wiseman who smiles broadly as we are introduced and seems equally as at ease as his band mates. It appears the Get Happy Tour is at least having the intended effect on the bands involved as Gary begins to talk about how the tour is progressing, “The tour is going great so far. There have been some packed houses and we have been having a lot of fun with the other bands Army of Freshman, Zebrahead and the Bloodhound gang”. However the fun has already been taking it’s toll on some members of the tour as Gary explains with a grin, “So far the highlights of the tour for me have been every night with Zebrahead (who joined the tour at the start of the UK leg) getting to watch Jaret walk off the stage and vomit all over the place. Two nights in a row he’s done that. It’s a party when someone vomits”. Gary states that BFS’ main motivation behind putting together is to provide a night of release for their fans. He said “We are trying to get the crowd into the idea and let the kids show up for one night and just have a fun night and, you know, just be happy and get away from work and stress”. This has been the second time this year that Bowling for Soup have visited the UK with the Get Happy Tour (the first tour took place in February and also featured Son of Dork and Wheatus) and Gary explained why BFS think that British crowds are some of the best in the world. He said “The crowds here are so enthusiastic and loyal. We have been coming here for so many years now and we have great fans here. In the States the kids are kind of hit and miss, they’ll like you for a few months and then they’ll like this and they’ll like that. Over here kids stick with you”. Bowling for Soup have now been together as a band for 13 years (Gary joined the band in 1998) and before hitting mainstream success with ‘Girl all the bad guys want’ in 2002 spent many years in the music wilderness. Gary shared some of the things the band picked up along the way about saving money and fitting beer in to their budget. He said “We would always beg, borrow and steal and we would always buy cheap stuff. We weren’t buying like 8 dollar six packs we were buying 12 dollar cases. We slept on friends floors and did everything we could to save money”. The conversation then moved to BFS frontman Jaret Reddick and his ever changing hairstyles. Gary commented “He’s got some pretty darn good hair. He doesn’t spend that long maintaining it but I think when he goes to the chair he probably sits in the chair for a while”. Following the tour Bowling for Soup will head home for a well earned rest with their families and to begin work on a new album. But Gary reveals that BFS will probably return to the UK sometime next year. He said “It will be festivals next year at the earliest but we don’t have anything booked right now”.