La DisputeThe last couple of years we've toured pretty hard, so we're doing some life stuff, you know? But very much looking forward to coming back to Australia,” comments Vander Lugt on the band's current level of activity.
Apart from a US tour earlier in the year with Hot Water Music, it's definitely been quiet in the La Dispute camp. Real life stuff?
“Chad [Sterenberg – guitar] got married last year. I'm getting married next month actually,” he reveals. In fact, he was set to get married on the Sunshine Coast to a special local lady, with the ceremony having taken place the week before their latest tour kicks off in Brisbane.
In regards to how married life might affect the band, Vander Lugt thinks that, “it's hard to tell at this point. I don't think it will have a huge effect on the band and what we do. We'll still enjoy touring and doing all those sorts of things, so I think just finding a healthy balance will be a good way to go. A tonne of other bands do those same things.”
Formed in 2004 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, despite their recent downtime the second half of the band's decade-long existence has definitely been their busiest. After visiting for a tour with the now-defunct Brisbane group To The North, Australia became the band's first international destination. Back then they had a handful of splits and EPs to their name, but more importantly, their debut album for No Sleep Records, Somewhere At The Bottom Of The River Between Vega And Altair. High profile tours all across Europe and the USA have followed, as well as splits with the likes of Touche Amore and Koji. 2011's Wildlife marked the band's second album and highest level of success to date.
With the band coming up on ten years, have they considered if they'll do anything to celebrate such an achievement?
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“You know, dude, I hadn't even thought about that,” Vander Lugt ponders. “It's pretty wild to think. I don't know. I really haven't thought about it at all. That's very cool that people have cared about it enough for that long to let us still be a band for some reason. I guess we'd have to talk about it and work it out, but it's certainly not outside the realm of possibility. That's a pretty crazy milestone.”
Their position in their current touring cycle begs the age old question – how far off is the next record? Vander Lugt confirms that the band is writing, and says, “we're hoping to do another record sometime soon. We're just in the planning stages at this point, so we don't have a whole lot of information. We're super excited about it, and getting back into that process is a whole thing in itself, so we're trying to sort that all out at the moment.
“Every release we do we've made a point to approach it in a different way. At this point we're just in the earliest stages, so it's hard to really give you an idea of that, but for sure we'll switch up the process, and challenge ourselves somehow like we've done in the past. It's a really good way to keep pushing yourself as a musician, and bands never want to write the same record twice. So you need to challenge yourself and challenge the process.”
A quick look at the band's Facebook wall reveals an influx of mail to their PO box – something encouraged wholeheartedly by having given out the address online, and asking their fans to send in whatever they desired. What prompted this move?
“Well we got that PO box a couple of years ago actually, and started printing it on our releases,” Vander Lugt explains. “We've gotten things here and there, but we just decided, 'Let's put it out there and see what people send'. It's really cool. We've actually got a bunch of stuff from Australia which was pretty surprising. But yeah, it's really fun to go through all the stuff, and a very humbling process. Honestly I don't know exactly why we did it, but I'm very thankful that we did, for all the great things people have sent our way.
“We've gotten letters, we've gotten some really cool artwork, and people have sent books, records, all kinds of stuff. It's really cool. Some of the coolest stuff we've gotten is some of the artwork, which has been incredible. It's fun to see how unique people get with it, and like I said, very humbling.”
Surely at least one person out there has sent in something weird or creepy by now? The polite, relaxed drummer chuckles slightly, and responds in the negative.
“Some of the things we have gotten are pretty... pretty real stories from people who've had things happen in their life that are pretty touching, and I think it takes a lot for someone to send that to complete strangers, and share those kind of stories, so it's very, very humbling. We're thankful and appreciate everyone doing that. Having something physical is pretty cool, especially in this day and age when people are more inclined to send an email than a postcard or something. It's kind of cool to see that stuff and be able to hold it.”
Although La Dispute haven't spent a great deal of time on the road this year, they've taken advantage of the time at home to re-immerse themselves in their local scene – something which Vander Lugt feels will be quite beneficial when the writing really kicks in.
“We're finding ways to keep busy, and I think that's a super important thing and a really good subject to touch on – being involved in the local music scene, whatever scene you may be in. Listening to as much music as you can, taking inspiration from everything around you, I think the only way you grow as a musician or artist is to constantly challenge yourself, but also take inspiration from what's around you. I think it's important for when we do have time off, for us to recharge our batteries so to speak as individuals, but also as a band. Collect as much new insight and new ideas as you can, so when we do come together to work on a project together, we're doing something new, and evolving in a new way. So we're definitely taking advantage of the time off of tour to grow as individuals and as a band, too.
“After Australia, we don't have anything planned as far as touring goes. I think we're going to try to keep writing and figure out what's next for us as far as the release goes. We're just kind of taking it one step at a time, but we're super excited to get back into it.”
