Indie favourites Two Door Cinema Club are returning to Australia for Grapevine Gathering after releasing their fourth studio album False Alarm in June. It is their first trip back to Australia since 2017, which saw them sell out Metro City. Known for their upbeat indie pop-rock tracks, the band are set to once again deliver a set full of good times and dancing when they headline the huge Grapevine Gathering bill alongside Flight Facilities, Crooked Colours, Mallrat and more on Sunday, December 1. KIERRA POLLOCK spoke to bassist Kevin Baird about False Alarm, returning to Australia, and their favourite wines ahead of their visit.
False Alarm is quite different sound-wise to your previous albums, although each Two Door Cinema Club album does tend to have a different sound. How did you go about making this album and who or what did you draw from for inspiration?
We were inspired by Talking Heads, Mukumba, Kraftwerk, Kendrick Lamar and so many others. I can’t tell you why it’s different other than to say it’s a snapshot of what was inspiring us at the time.
You have a lot of hits and fan favourites, is it harder writing set lists now, and how do you decide what tracks to include and what tracks to leave out?
It’s so hard! We generally like to keep the fan favourites in the set and have a good mix across all four albums. We’re lucky that a lot of our early songs are very short so we can squeeze a lot in.
Have you had to change your live shows much to help with playing the new songs?
No not really, we generally only play the songs that we feel work well live. Some of the new songs feel like they could never be done justice out of the studio.
What is your favourite track from False Alarm and can you tell me the story behind how it came about?
Nice To See You is a big favourite of mine. I love the feature from Open Mike Eagle. It absolutely kills it. That was very much a case of us being fans of his and just asking him would he be up for it! Don’t ask you don’t get! Luckily he said yes.
Ultimately you have always made songs to dance to, is this something you do intentionally?
Absolutely. In our teenage rock band years we learned very quickly it was no fun playing gigs to people who stood around arms crossed scratching their chins. Make people dance. Have a party. Have a good time.
It’s been a much shorter amount of time between Australian tours this time around, how are you feeling about coming back?
Really excited! We love it out there and we’ve been lucky to get out to Oz to play shows so many times over the years.
Last tour was some of your first live shows after that long hiatus, are you feeling more prepared this time having not had that gap?
Yeah for sure. I think we’re a lot more comfortable in our own skins and in the band these days. That allows us to focus on putting on a great party for everyone and enjoying the time we’ll get in beautiful Australia.
Are you wine lovers? Since you’ll be appearing at Grapevine Gathering, what are your favourite wines?
Yeah, we love wine! Firm dressing room favourites at the moment are Albariño, Grüner Veltliner, Oaked Chardonnay, Muscadet Sur Lie, most of the wine from Saint-Émilion.
