Off the back of releasing their sophomore album Do What Ya Wanna last week, Queensland rockers Beddy Rays are heading on tour - but according to them, it’s a bit of a gamble. Despite being a self-described live band, the boys from Redland Bay are saying what they really think about the “unpredictable” state of the Australian touring industry.

“It's really difficult at the moment, because everyone buys tickets at the last minute,” frontman Jackson Van Issum tells The Music. “So, you really don't know what's happening, like, you don't know if it's going to go well or not, until the last day. And usually it pulls through - we're lucky enough that it pulls through - in the end. But it's just this weird time we're in, I guess. It just doesn't sell out till, like, right at the end. That's just something a lot of artists are dealing with at the moment.

“It's really hard to think that we're gonna spend all this money, all these flights and go all around the country or overseas or whatever, and you don't know how it's gonna go. It's all a punt, really. Like, going over to Europe, you’ll lose so much money, but you’ve got to have a crack, you know?”

Guitarist Lewis McKenna echoed that sentiment. “It's a very unpredictable landscape at the moment, especially in Australia, with all the festival cancellations and all that sort of stuff, and it's definitely become a little bit harder - it's harder to predict.”

Despite the struggles, though, nothing will stand in the way of Beddy Rays putting on a good gig. 

“You’ve sort of always got that in the back of your mind, but once you show up to the show, and you play the show, like, nothing really matters. Like you can be playing in front of 20 people, it still just feels amazing just to play that live show,” McKenna says.

“We’re so lucky that we can do what we get to do,” Van Issum continues. “Like, we still love rock and roll. I don't think there's anything that's going to stop us from touring. We just love it too much.

“The good thing about being a player in this band is, even if you're gonna have the shittest day, you're gonna have not the best set you think you've ever had, or whatever, but like, those moments where you connect with the people in the crowd and they're singing along, and you can see in their eyes how much it means to them… everything else doesn't matter.

“Fuck everything else, that moment right there is all that matters. We're really lucky to be able to do this, and to have fans you know that appreciate the music.”

• ‘F*ck Everything Else, That Moment Is All That Matters’: Beddy Rays On Connecting With Fans Through Their New ‘Really Honest’ LP

Setting out to capture that feeling once again, the band are about to embark on their most ambitious tour yet - hitting Europe, the UK, and, of course, Australia. And, in the face of that ever-present unpredictability, McKenna feels ready to hit the road again.

“We've only ever done an overseas tour once, but we know all the little tricks now. I'm just keen to get over there and have a pump and see where we're at. You know, it's our first-ever overseas headline tour, so that's a really exciting part about it. It's like, we're on our own here.

“We're doing it ourselves. And ticket sales are going really well already. I'm just keen just to get over there and experience the people and the culture again, because it's completely different to Australia. And touring over there, it's just a different beast. I'm just keen to get amongst it.”

“Plenty of pints will be had,” Van Issum adds. “We're a live band. That's us. It's Beddy Rays’ bread and butter playing live gigs. Always has been, always will be.”

Beddy Rays’ sophomore album, ‘Do What Ya Wanna’, is out on all streaming platforms now. And, to celebrate, the band is going on tour. Find details here.

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