His Shows Are More Than Just A Crap PowerPoint Presentation

Concept albums, character studies – they’re an intriguing exploration for any musician to undertake.

But when your latest subject swings from your family tree they’re irresistible. So irresistible that when multi-platform artist and multi-instrumental Welshman Gruff Rhys of Super Furry Animals fame discovered the tale of John Evans, an explorer of the American continent, breathing down the neck of his family history, he took off in his footsteps and found ample material for more than just his latest album, American Interior.

“When I wrote the songs I wanted people to be able to listen to them without necessarily knowing the story,” Rhys explains. “My friend came on tour and documented it and made a film about our search for his lost grave. The book goes into a lot more detail. And the app is kind of different again; it sort of follows his journey along the map. So it kind of took over my life! But I think the story warranted it.”

"People leave with a clearer idea of who John Evans was and how crazy people’s ideas are.”

The now solo artist and sometime Neon Neon and Mogwai dabbler immersed himself in the extraordinary tragicomedy his distant relative lived between 1792 and 1799. John Evans never found truth to the myth that a Native American tribe spoke Welsh, but he was integral in mapping large areas around the Mississippi. Rhys’ past enthusiasm for the travelogue (Rhys retraced his uncle’s steps through Argentina for 2010’s Separado) hints at reasons behind this “investigative concert tour” across the US, but the continent isn’t exactly small, begging the question: wouldn’t some phone calls have done?

“I tried to convey the emotions of the travel, and there are certain rhythms you get from travel. And towards the end you’re emotionally invested and trying to convey the heavy situations John Evans got himself into. And they’re about as heavy as you can get, on a pop album at least.”

Touring for American Interior began in the US well before the album was recorded. For the past three years, the show has evolved into more than just a regular offering of new songs, with music, visuals and even a puppet John Evans emerging on stage. At the very least, the drawn-out album tours have helped Rhys tell his story and garnered him some new, if unexpected, fans.

“I didn’t quite know the story when I started. I was kind of trying to make sense of it, so the Australian tour has got an advantage in that I sort of know what I’m doing by now,” Rhys laughs. “I do like a crap PowerPoint presentation but I tell the story of John Evans in between slides, so people leave with a clearer idea of who John Evans was and how crazy people’s ideas are.”