Portugal. The Man is not from the contiguous U.S. (the band's from Alaska), its music is thousands of miles away from anything you've probably heard before and lead singer John Gourley is homeless. That's not a joke -- he actually lives in his van.
Q: What is your musical background?
A: I grew up around a lot of instruments, but I was always too shy to be in the music classes at school, so I'm pretty much self-taught. Listening to the Beatles made me really want to play music. There are a lot of others, but we'll go with them.
Q: You guys just came back from a tour in Europe. How did that go?
A: It was really good. Everybody was really nice, and the shows were really good.
Q: What is Portugal. The Man? How did it come to be?
A: What it is now is completely different than what it was when it started out. It started as a solo project where I could just dump my songs, but then Zach [Carothers, bassist] joined up, and he was a big part right away. That dude is a bass player. Then, we slowly picked up members. Since then, we've really become a band and turned it into more of a group project.
Q: When can we expect to hear some new material?
A: We started demoing already, actually. We've been working on it for three months now and plan on starting to record in January.
Q: What is your goal as a musician? What do you want to accomplish?
A: I just want to release music as it's written. Too many bands worry about record cycles and stuff. Like, you'd never want to put out an album you've put everything into and then just come out with a new one, but we don't mind just putting out a few EPs and stuff here and there as the music is made. If a couple songs don't really fit on the record, it's better to do that then to just not use them anywhere.
Q: As the primary songwriter for the band, where would you say your music comes from?
A: Lately, we've been jamming quite a bit. We had an hour and a half long set when we were in Germany, and our record is only like, 45 minutes long, so we had a lot of room to just play. When we started out, I'd just sit down and write or play a song, and everybody else could kind of listen and put their thoughts in. This new record is going to be a little bit different. There won't really be any jamming on the interview, but it'll be an influence. The album will be more focused, especially in the rhythm section. We just jumped into it when we did the first one; Jason [Sechrist, drummer] wasn't in the band yet. The songs will be fuller.
Q: I've seen you guys live a couple of times, and noticed you have your own lighting equipment that you use for your performances. What can you tell me about that?
A: Whether it's said or not -- and there are bands that don't like to talk about it -- there's a visual aspect to everything, and even more so with us. We're very visual.
Q: Are you the best band to have ever come from Alaska?
A: I don't know. I guess that's a matter of opinion. Maybe Jewel? But when she came out, she said she was from California, so that doesn't count. You can't reclaim a state after you do that. Alaska is real conservative, so art isn't that big there.
You get your standard punk rock stuff, but there's not a lot of art going on there. There's maybe two or three venues to hear music, and I think that holds a lot of bands back. We didn't see much growing up, and we probably wouldn't be where we are now if we hadn't gotten out [and moved to Portland, Ore.].
Q: A few places on your album feature guest vocals from Nic Newsham [of Gatsbys American Dream]. What was that about?
A: We had been friends with the guys from that band for a long time and there were a couple parts we just wanted a more gravelly voice, which I don't have at all. I wish I did, but I don't. We didn't even think to use Nic until Casey [Bates, producer] showed us a cover they did of a Bob Dylan song.
Q: What is the most unique thing about Portugal. The Man?
A: I'd say the rhythm section. Jason and Zach playing together is a huge thing; bass is a huge thing for me. It's not often where you go to a show and you're like, "That drummer is awesome" or "That bass player is a bass player!"
Q: I read that you lived in your van. What is your living situation like?
A: I can't see the point of getting an apartment. We've just kind of been touring a lot. It's not really the way to go; I wouldn't recommend it.
Q: So what do you do? Where do you keep all your stuff? Where do you eat? Where do you bathe and stuff?
A: Well, Zach has a place, and I have other friends, too. That's one thing I do have. I just hate working, so I do it for the sake of money. Being in a band is the worst profession to choose if you want to make money. It can be done, but it takes a long time.
Q: Where is Portugal. The Man going? Where do you see yourselves headed?
A: I just write whatever is happening. I definitely think it's going to be a long-term project. We have a lot of stuff we want to do. In the end, we're just looking to release music.
