All right, we’re here with Lowrider, backstage at Byron Bay blues festival, how you guys going?

Very well, thank you very much, just finished having a massage, feeling great, very nimble and flexible.

You had a surprise I believe, you weren’t told you were being interviewed during the massage.

No I wasn’t expecting that but yeah.

It’s not a very shielded table, that would be a little, either awkward or exciting depending on what your into.

Well, the table I was on was convenient because it had an open front to it so wherever we had gone we wouldn’t face any obstructions. You could just take off all your clothes and just go for it. That’s not our style… well, well it is now.

Do you know who I am?

Yeah (laughs) don’t care, touch my body.

Put yourself in and around me. (laughs) Well that’s just the fun that happens backstage in Byron Bay. So how many times have you performed before?

We played here a couple of years ago, two or three years ago, which was awesome. Same stage but a lot earlier – band mate disputes him and says it was in the night. Around 8 o’clock at night. … So this time around closing out that stage was pretty cool.

Two nights in a row?

Yeah yeah good fun.

That’s not a bad way to do it.

Last night was pretty incredible, we weren’t expecting that many people there and it was bloody hot as well, whereas last time we were here it was raining and the weather was terrible. This time around it’s beautiful.

Well so far let’s hope it stays that way, the grounds are muddy as it is. So are you guys staying for the whole five/six days? Or are you heading off tomorrow?

We’re heading off to Sydney tomorrow, and then we’ve got two shows with John Legend in Sydney, and one in Melbourne, so we’re going to head off tomorrow morning. So we have tomorrow to just chill in Sydney and then head down to Melbourne.

That doesn’t sound too bad at all. The last time we spoke to you guys, almost a year ago, before you had released round the world. I guess, the last year since the album was released, you haven’t really stopped touring have you?

No, we haven’t actually. I think we started after our album was released We did Lupe Fiasco’s tour then our own tour leading onto The Big Day Out Tour, then supporting Lionel Richie and now John Legend and we start our own Headlining tour in two to three weeks time. It will be the biggest tour we’ve ever done. It continues through til June, in every state, places we haven’t been before. We’re going to Perth, Canberra, Tasmania, a lot of places we’ve never been before.

Have you done many of the kind of regional shows like as a support act before? Or you’ve just actually never performed there at all.

No we have done them as supports, but never gone there for our own tour. Doing a few more regional shows this time around as well, Ballarat and Coolangatta and a few places in Western Australia that I’ve never heard of.

That should be a great fun tour, I mean people really know the new material, it’s been out for a while.

Yeah very much so, We had a lighting guy last night that we used a couple of years ago, and he was commenting on the new songs and how they sound live, and what that brings to the show, and just so much more energy, and now that people know the songs like it’s just incredible.

Do you feel like the songs have evolved at all?

Yeah possibly, I guess sort of like a winding rope, changing all the time, we change it a little bit depending on what show we’re doing. Maybe drift towards the style of the show, but yeah they are constantly changing.
I mean in practice we’re always changing things up and saying that we should take this somewhere else or whatever.

On your website recently there is footage of you performing with Hilltop Hoods. There is new material of you guys, how did that all come about?

Well Adelaide is a fairly tight knit music community. The first time we met them we were actually playing a birthday party for one of the Funkoars.

It’s alright, too much plum or chocolate Gelattos.

We met them in a few different ways, one through our sound guy and also through friends of friends. One thing led to another and we ended up doing those performances on their last DVD, and we also ended up doing the BDO tour with them in 08, so we did a bit of touring with them also in Tasmania.

So you guys go way back, basically.

We do, we do. Like I was saying it’s a pretty tight knit community. We get along with each other and we always have a good time, so umm, to make music and to collaborate with people like that, especially when they are your friends is good fun.

It doesn’t hurt. And speaking of which have you had a chance to catch many of the artists while you’ve been here, or you not really had the time?

We haven’t really had the time as of yet. But today we’re here quite a bit early, so we’re going to check out a few people. Last night I saw the Funky Meters. I’m a huge fan of theirs, they were on just before we started so only caught a couple of songs.

Incredible musicians.

Awesome band. Last night caught a bit of Los Lobos for five minutes, today we saw Xavier Rudd, and he was great. I also caught a little bit of Ben Harper, saw him on our way out. It’s such a wicked line-up this year. I’m just waiting for BB King this year, I wish I could say I was waiting for some other obscure band, but I’m waiting for BB King.

He’ll never get back down here I don’t think, so it’s going to be a pretty special performance tonight.

Very much so, I’m hoping he plays thrill is gone, that’s my favourite.

Well, there’s the request, hopefully he fulfils it.

I’ll go and find him and tell him he better fucking play it actually. If you don’t play this song, I swear to god. See that massage chair over there? (laughs)