You Am I are preparing for a string of shows to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Hourly, Daily. The band will be joined by a string quartet on their “Strung Up” tour that kicks off in Castlemaine.
Tell me about the Strung Up tour that’s starting next month.
Russell “Rusty” Hopkinson: Well, we have engaged four excellent string players to join us on tour and play some select songs, some of the stuff from our bigger records, Hourly, Daily, and some other stuff as well. It’ll be a mix of songs but you know, stuff people will know and love just re-cast a little bit. We’re not going to approach every song exactly the same as we would in a normal situation. There’ll be some familiar stuff and some surprises, I guess!
Are you finding that as a drummer that you need to change how you play with the extra instruments in some of those songs?
Russell “Rusty” Hopkinson: No, not really, there’s some pretty good examples of rock music with strings like Jeff Lynne before ELO, with his band The Idle Race… there’s quite a few examples of that rock and roll style playing accompanied by orchestral instruments. I guess I’m just taking my cues from things I really like in that vein and if there’s something that we haven’t done before in that style, then I’ll go to the record collection and have a listen. A lot of the times I do what I would normally do but just make sure I’m not speeding up too much for everybody.
How are the rehearsals going?
Russell “Rusty” Hopkinson: We had a couple of rehearsals last week with the string players and it went really well. They’re excellent players and they really get what we’re trying to do so it was impressive. It was the first time I’d had a chance to sit down and play with everybody – including the string players – so I was really impressed. I wouldn’t say I was surprised, I knew they’d be really good, cos Mel our arranger hand-picked them or… hand-asked them for us and they’re all great.
It’s going to be fun. That’s the thing with these kinds of things you can either over-burden yourself with stuff or you can make it fun. I think our thing is to make it fun for everybody, including the extra people playing with us. It’s a different thing for them as well, so we’ll all enjoy it together.
This is a celebration of 30 years since Hourly, Daily was released. What do you remember about recording it and touring back then?
Russell “Rusty” Hopkinson: Recording it was a social club we had in a studio in Sydney with a bunch of friends, including Wayne Connolly and Paul McKercher, who documented the whole thing and recorded it and helped us produce it. It was just very laidback, and I think maybe some people thought it was too laidback. When the American record company first heard it, they said, “Oh these demos are great, when are you going to make a record?” and we were kind of like… “This is it…” But it was a very fun time, we just felt like we knew what we wanted to do, so we just did it and people seemed to really like it, and we toured around and it became the start of hearing a lot of those songs sung back at you. It’s kind of gratifying 30 years later to still have people roaring songs like “Soldiers” back at you when you’re playing. So it’s nice to have a legacy of any kind and I’m really proud of what we did and how we stuck to our guns with that record.
Aside from the length of tours you did at that time, how has touring changed for you since then?
Russell “Rusty” Hopkinson: We don’t do as much of it which is probably good for everybody. We just try to make it fun, and we try to make it worthwhile for everybody to want to do, to want to come to, to want to work on, and I think the whole idea is just keep it fun and keep it interesting for us as well so we don’t get sick of it. And beyond that, we’re friends, we’re all busy, we all do other stuff, we have other things that we all do so it’s a chance for us all to catch up and hang out which is another incentive.
Is there anything you can share about new You Am I music or another tour after the Strung Up shows are done?
Russell “Rusty” Hopkinson: I know we’re doing some festival-y stuff next year and some other shows. We’re always talking about making another record and when the time’s right we’ll jump in somewhere and do it. Both me and Davey (Lane) have studios that we have set up now, so we can record a lot of stuff. We’re enjoying being able to do things one step at a time and not have to rush to make the next decision to do whatever. It’s hard to justify releasing a record sometimes, it’s a hard time to do that for any artist. You’ve got to want to do it.
Any final words on the Strung Up tour before we wrap up?
Russell “Rusty” Hopskinson: They’re going to be interesting shows, we still don’t know 100% what it is yet, but it will be fun and the stuff we’ve played already has been heaps of fun. I’ll suggest if you like our band, you’ll enjoy what we do with the string arrangements. It’s not going to be dialed back the way people think it will be, but it’ll be heaps of fun. Ultimately, we’re a rock and roll band, there are going to be moments where I’ll be playing the glockenspiel and other percussion instruments which I’ve done on other tours before, so it’s a chance to mix it up a little bit. It will be You Am I through and through.
You Am I – Strung Up Tour Dates:
SAT 10 OCT – Theatre Royal, Castlemaine, VIC
SUN 18 OCT – Sydney Opera House, Sydney, NSW
THU 22 OCT – The Tivoli Theatre, Brisbane, QLD
FRI 23 OCT – The Tivoli Theatre, Brisbane, QLD
THU 5 NOV – Melbourne Recital Centre, Melbourne, VIC
FRI 6 NOV – Melbourne Recital Centre, Melbourne, VIC
Tickets are available HERE.
To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Hourly Daily, You Am I are selling:
A Deluxe Box Set, 2LP Vinyl HERE
A collection of B-Sides and Demos, 1LP Vinyl HERE
An olive green Hourly, Daily 1LP Vinyl HERE
Image Credit: Deb Pelser
