Enter Shikari Share Australian Tour Memories: 'We Had Never Experienced Touring Like That'

Mary Varvaris

Ahead of their return to Australia, Enter Shikari reflect on their experiences playing at Aussie festivals, skydiving, local wildlife, and ending up at a Shaggy show.

Enter Shikari(Credit: Kate Hook)

Enter Shikari

British electronicore pioneers Enter Shikari return to Australia this week, bringing their furious blend of metal, dance music and socio-political themes to fans Down Under.

They arrive in Australia just a month after releasing their new, surprise album, Lose Your Self, with frontman Rou Reynolds explaining that the band wanted fans to hear the album without distractions and “as a cohesive whole.”

Enter Shikari have performed Lose Your Self songs at just three shows in the UK thus far, and this tour marks the first time that Australian fans will hear their new music alongside many classics.

To celebrate the band’s highly anticipated return to Australia, The Music caught up with Enter Shikari guitarist Rory Clewlow and bassist Chris Batten to find out about their most cherished memories of touring Down Under.

The Wildlife

Rory: Well, the thing that's always great about coming to Australia is the wildlife. Whenever you play a festival in Australia, there's always at least snakes, often other stuff as well, maybe some dingoes.

Chris: Snakes are scary.

Rory: I absolutely love snakes. Playing in Australia has really made me want to get a pet snake. They're just so cool. They're just so good. Chris hates snakes.

Chris: I don’t hate them, I think they're amazing, but they terrify me.

Chris: I like when we played the Good Things Festival, I think it's the Sydney venue where they did the last Good Things, where there's all the bats in the trees. Those are cool. I can get down with them. I like those guys.

First Australian Tour playing the Big Day Out

Chris: I remember the first time; I think it was the first time we ever played, and we did Big Day Out Festival all those years ago when that one used to run. And I remember that we had never experienced touring like that. So that was our first tour of Australia, and we came in, and we did Big Day Out Festival, and it was like a holiday. It was amazing.

So basically, we'd play one or two shows over the weekend, and then we'd just be on the beach because it was done over two or three weekends. So, we'd just have loads of time off, and they'd throw parties every night for all of the artists, regardless of if there was a show or not. So there was always something to do. And I remember Brand New were on the bill that year, and we'd just been signed to the same label in America.

And I just remember, I think we were in a bar, and we got a little overexcited. I'm pretty sure I remember Rory and Rou diving over the pool table and basically falling out all over the place after having a few too many, and the Brand New guys telling us that we needed to calm the hell down.

Rory: I remember that, because I did a forward roll over the pool table. And the reason why is because I'd just finished reading a book called The Dice Man, which is about a guy who rolls the dice to decide what he's going to do. And so, I was really into it at the time. I was really into it every time I'd get drunk, I'd be like, "Yeah, let's play Dice Man." And then we'd have to... It basically ended up doing silly things.

So, if you're reading this Brand New, I'm sorry it was a dice. And I was young and stupid.

Skydiving

Chris: Again, going back quite a few years, Rory and I went skydiving in Australia, which I don't think I could do now because in my slightly aged years, I've developed a bit of a fear of edges, shall we say, where my legs start trembling if I look over anything too steep. I went to the Grand Canyon, and I just felt sick. Anyway, we went skydiving, and I think Rory had had a few too many ... Well, I think you weren't terrible, but I think you had had a few the night before, and then as you got to the ground, you vomited everywhere.

Rory: Yes. It was actually that everyone always says, ‘Skydiving is the most amazing thing ever.’ I hated it. Honestly, when I hit the ground, I was sick immediately, and then I did not stop feeling sick for 24 hours. It was horrible.

Because obviously, once the parachute's up, they just spin you around, don't they? You go in big loops like that or whatever. So down to the ground. So, I think you probably got a bit of motion sickness.

Yeah. I have fond memories of the aeroplane and the initial jumping, but then everything after that was just like, ‘Skydiving isn't for me.’

We also got a McDonald's on the way to the skydiving, as well, so I think that didn't help.

Shaggy

Rory: What about the time you guys saw Shaggy?

Chris: Oh yeah, that was the most legendary night we've ever had.

The memory is a bit blurry; I can't remember exactly, but it was either when we were playing Soundwave or Good Things Festival, and we were playing quite early on in the festival. Early in the day, there was enough time to then go get a flight, an evening flight to get into the next city for the next show.

And it just so happened that Shaggy was playing in the next city that we got to. So, after we played our show, I think obviously we'd started drinking with all of our crew. We got on the flight, and then we ended up at a Shaggy concert, which was just hilarious. We just had the best time.

I just remember there was a fair amount of berating with Shaggy because he was asking the question. He's like, "Has everyone got a drink?" Can we be like, "Well, I've got to drink to Shaggy kind of thing." It became in our world, very memorable night. It was probably nothing to him.

Regional Shows

Chris: I mean, the last tour we did was really nice because anytime we've come as a British band, we've only ever done Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, if we're lucky, and then the normal touring pit stops, I guess.

Whereas the last one we did, because Australia's been great to us, we wanted to see a bit more and get to some places that we hadn't done before, and we managed to do that on the last trip. So that was nice.

So, we played some quite intimate venues. I remember one in particular, but I can't remember where it was. I think it was in Newcastle, but yeah, it was a tiny stage, and our equipment hardly fit on it, but it just felt really organic and great. And I think when we're coming over this time, there's some places we get to go to that we've not been to as well.

So it's becoming a part of our Australian trip to be able to come to a few more places, which is great.

Visiting a Dolphin Sanctuary

Rory: I just remembered another thing I did, actually, on an Australian tour. I went to a dolphin sanctuary and went kayaking around. It was like me and my guitar tech on a kayak together, and halfway through the tour, there was a load of mangroves, and we were just like, "Oh, dude, we got to go and explore the mangroves." So, we just left the touring party and went for a little trip into the mangroves. And honestly, it was the most magical thing.

The mangroves were like a forest, but instead of from the ground, it was just water. So, just going through this watery forest, it was just absolutely surreal, but just the most incredible thing.

Lose Your Self is out now via So Recordings/Civilians. Tickets to Enter Shikari’s upcoming tour are now available.