Interview: Clap Clap Riot

The band's last full album was 2017. How does it feel to be back in full swing?
‍Life gets busier the older you get, and the responsibilities everyone has to deal with get greater. For us, it's about making sure we've got the time to do everything properly, as opposed to half-arsing it. We want the recordings done to the level we want them done to, and same goes with touring. We want to be able to throw ourselves into it 120%, make sure everyone's got the space to put on the best show and actually enjoy the shows while we're doing it. That's what's driven our timeline.

And you've got some new material ready to go. How's it been sitting on that for a while?
‍It's one of the real benefits of the new material. We've had a record's worth of stuff that we've been able to sit on for a few years, and we're still as into it and as proud of it as when it first came together. That's a really special thing, because generally the longer you sit on something, the more you start second-guessing it. But this one feels like it's captured the full spread of who we are - the energy, the live energy, and the top level of our songwriting all mashed into one thing.

When can we actually hear it?
‍End of the year for the new record. No official date yet, but the plan is to tour it properly once it's out. And yeah, between now and then there'll be a couple more tracks dropping.

So who's actually going to be on stage for this run?
‍Clap Clap Riot's core is Steve, Tristan and myself. And then we've got our full live band - Elijah White on drums and James McDonald on keys and extra guitars. So it's a five-piece that you'll see live.

Does going back to older songs feel weird, or is it like a comfy sofa?
‍It clicks right back in. That's the great thing about it. The difference between playing your own songs versus playing someone else's parts is massive - the intuition of how you'd go about playing something just snaps back. There are songs we're doing on this tour that we're busting out for the first time in like 15 years. You pick up a guitar and straight away it's just bam, right there. And it means you can relax into the songs and actually enjoy them, rather than spending the whole time thinking "what bit's coming up, how does this work?"

Being a live band has always been central to what Clap Clap Riot is. How has that shaped the recorded side of things?
‍That's the big misnomer with Clap Clap Riot - our main focus has always been being a live band, and that's critically important to our identity. In terms of recording, we never really wanted to be bigger or crazier or different from what you got to see on stage. And I think the reality of that is people often refer back to our first record and think we went smaller on the ones that followed.

But if you look at the full trajectory, the EP we released before that first record actually shows that Counting Spins was the outlier - it was a not-quite-accurate version of our sonic sound. The songs were great, we love those songs. But Nobody, Everybody, Dull Life, TV Knows Better - those all live in the place where we actually want to be. So we didn't change after Counting Spins. We just got back to where we'd always been heading.

Any regrets about how the band's trajectory played out?
‍No. We've always done what we wanted to do as opposed to what everyone else wanted us to do. Some people might think that's been to our detriment, but for us it's always been about putting out the purest, realest version of who we are. And now, given the gift of time, being able to reflect on that is a really good feeling. We haven't bent with our live show or how our recordings are made. We've always done it how we want to do it.

The promo side has changed a bit since your first album. How are you finding that?
‍The approach has certainly involved considerably more work than promoting a tour would have 20 years ago. It's a learning curve, but it keeps us on our toes - we've got to figure out some good content to post so people aren't bored with us by the time we actually get on stage. I can safely say we won't ever touch TikTok, which is a good thing. No one wants to see us flossing on the interwebs. But I can't promise anything given the lead-up to the tour.

Any advice for people who are on the fence about getting out on a weeknight?
‍I always recommend getting out a bit earlier, particularly around K Road in Auckland - there are such good food spots. Pop out, get a cocktail before the show, get some food. It gets you in the right mood for the gig, and it makes it feel like you're not just sitting on the couch until 9pm waiting for showtime. And trust me, we won't be playing late. It's not going to be an 11 o'clock start.

Clap Clap Riot's new single "Like A Lover" is out now on Spotify. They're hitting the road late May and early June - Wellington tickets from meow.nz, Auckland and Christchurch tickets from undertheradar.co.nz. Find all show details and updates on their socials.

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