California psychedelic heavyweights Earthless will return to Australia and New Zealand next February and March in support of their acclaimed 2018 studio album Black Heaven and their new live album From the West. After having previously chatted to drummer Mario Rubalcaba earlier in the year to discuss the latest album, we caught up with Mario again to talk touring plus get an insight into how he got into drums in the first place.
Andrew: I guess we spoke previously back in January when the new album was about to be released so how has things been since then?
Mario: Yeah man the record came out in March and we’ve just been touring a lot, it’s probably been the most that the band has ever taken on in it’s existence. So yeah just been really busy touring and just playing as much as possible, it’s been a lot of fun though.
Andrew: How has the new material been going over with the crowds?
Mario: Really good! We’ve been able to incorporate it into the set very naturally without having to change the dynamic of what we’ve already been doing so much. We didn’t have to abandon our formula that we’ve been doing, we can still flow it together really well so it works really well and it works really well for us too so that’s important.
Andrew: Yeah obviously there was some different elements in there like the vocals and stuff but I think musically it was still pretty much in line with what you guys do as well.
Mario: Yeah I agree as well. I think all of us felt that it kept it’s original vibe somewhat without compromising what we’ve always been about and still taking on some newer territory as well that we hadn’t really checked out, a little bit of the unknown.
Andrew: Yeah and recently you had a live album come out as well so was that the reason for releasing the live recording, that you wanted live versions of these songs to come out?
Mario: Well that was recorded on the first tour after the record came out and I think once we heard the recording that we just felt that, Oh this would be a perfect way to introduce some of those newer songs how in the live incarnations giving a little bit of an offering of a rawer approach to how we really do it. I think once we heard the recording, it translated really well and we were just like, ‘Oh man it sounds pretty bad ass’. We like live recordings, I think there’s certain bands that can kind of get away with doing the live tape trading sort of vibe like the Grateful Dead and bands like that who have fans that seem to buy the live records. If something sounds good, we’ll probably always keep putting out live records in some context [laughs]
Andrew: I think Earthless are known for being a live band really, it kind of captures what you guys are all about so it makes sense. This live recording you put out, and I’ve seen other bands do it for some time now, I noticed there was a cassette version of it. Is that a thing now?
Mario: I know the tape thing has been popular the last couple of years, more so in the kind of punk type of crowds or whatever. But I still oddly enough have a tape player but I use it because I have old recordings or old demos from when I was really young, I don’t buy tapes or anything. But Ethan the guy that put out the live record, his label is pretty small and he does some tapes and stuff so he asked about doing a small run of tapes and we thought it would be cool to have something like that so it’s kind of more for fun.
Andrew: Yeah I like it as I grew up with cassette tapes back when it was a thing when I was a kid so I get it, it’s kind of a cool idea. Now it’s exciting to see you back in Australia, I can’t remember when the last time you were here, maybe 2 or 3 years ago?
Mario: Yeah I think it was 3 years now.
Andrew: I think I’ve seen you maybe 3 times over the years and I’ve always enjoyed the experience. I guess this time you have a lot of the new stuff that you want to play, will the setlist be pretty much what you’ve been playing so far?
Mario: Yeah I mean it changes here and there, we mix things up but for the most part we have a little bit of everything in there blended in. We don’t ever write out a setlist, I don’t think we’ve ever really done that in the existence of the band, we just kind of blend a couple of the records together and they sort of just morph over time. Obviously the new songs with vocals have their own thing going but we are able to mix it in with the other jams but it works out.
Andrew: You guys do a bit of improvisation as well with some of the changes and tweaks that happen to new songs over time. Have the new songs changed a lot since the release?
Mario: A little bit yeah, there’s little things here and there. The more we play them, they definitely get a little bit of their own character going as we go. The songs with vocals we’re not tweaking them out too much, if it’s a 5 minute long song, it doesn’t turn into a 10 minute long song or anything but there’s still little things that are different compared to the recording on the record. But if anything they are just a little bit more raw and to the point.
Andrew: I noticed looking at the tour dates here that it’s quite an extensive tour considering that Australia is usually a short run for most bands. You guys are doing a lot more smaller shows this time around in between some of the bigger cities which is cool to see and I guess it gives you the chance to see a bit more of the country as well.
Mario: Yeah I think on maybe the first or second tour we did, maybe both of them, we went to a couple of those cities but it’s been a while. It’s always fun to at least try it out and see what is there and if anything changes, not all the time people come out to some of the smaller cities but sometimes it ends up being some of the funner ones that we just didn’t expect.
Andrew: Obviously you’ve been to Australia a few times now, is there any highlights or memories that you want to share at all that stand out for you?
Mario: Yeah in general I just like going over there but over the years we’ve been able to establish some close friends out there. We have really good friends in Brisbane, our buddy Tym at Tym Guitars, it’s always good to have a hang with him and have some time in the shop. Melbourne as well, we have a lot of good friends there so it’s just fun to hang out with people and get food and play music!
Andrew: I hear that Melbourne is quite similar to say, San Francisco in some respect or even a place like Vancouver. Do you find any of the cities in Australia to be similar to other places that you are familiar with?
Mario: Yeah little things, like you say with Melbourne that it does kind of have a San Francsico vibe in a way. Just sometimes the weather and just the way it’s laid out, the long streets of shops and stuff like that but also just how a lot of the musicians seem to move there. San Francisco has changed a lot over the years but for a long time it kind of had that feel. With the other cities that I’ve been to, maybe not so much comparisons but in a way I kind of find that really comfortable in close to where I come from in San Diego, just the weather and a lot of the beaches and the kind of laid back California vibe.
Andrew: Do you have any plans at all during off days to do anything that you maybe haven’t done before?
Mario: Not so much, I’m not the best tourist as far as doing touristy stuff. I usually try to find the better places to eat or go to a record shop or go look at guitars and stuff like that.
Andrew: I’ve been to Melbourne many times so I would imagine that’s the kind of place that has a lot of the stuff you might be into like the cool places to hang out and eat and stuff like that.
Mario: Yeah definitely there’s all sorts of stuff there. Really going to Brisbane is one of the highlights just because we get to hang out with Tym at his guitar shop, he has so much amazing gear and stuff that we just never really see. I think his shop is really special, it’s a record store, it’s an amazing guitar store with amps and pedals. You can rehearse there if you need to, or record. We literally spend hours there just hanging out drinking coffee and get some food and trying out gear and stuff, we kinda like doing that stuff.
Andrew: One thing I never asked you last time we spoke was some of your influences and how you got into drumming. Was there a defining moment or was it a gradual thing in how you got into playing music?
Mario: Well I think I was born to play drums in some type of respect from what my parents say. The definite kickstart into wanting to get a drum set for real was, I come from the age group of when Kiss was big when they started so Kiss was the first record I ever bought as a kid. So Peter Kriss and then from there it was Van Halen and then all the classic rock stuff like Sabbath and Zeppelin and that all started from a pretty young age and I’m happy that I had those guys as influences.
Andrew: And on the live recording you put out you did a cover of a Zeppelin song right?
Mario: Yeah we did “Communication Breakdown”.
Andrew: Are you playing that one live as well?
Mario: Yeah we do, I’m not sure if we do it every single night but it’s been pretty consistent. It’s really fun to play.
Andrew: I can hear the Zeppelin influences obviously so was that one of the bigger bands for you, aside from Kiss? Was there stuff later on as you started getting more into the music that became a huge influence on your style of drumming at all?
Mario: Yeah definitely Zeppelin is at the top, I mean Bonham is top 5 drummers of all time in my book. That’s why I play Ludwigs and everything, just the sound, the feel, I just always identified with it a lot growing up. Zeppelin and Sabbath and Deep Purple, those are all really huge drumming influences for me, there’s plenty of others but I woud say those are the most important ones in my book where I come from.
Andrew: It’s interesting that a lot of those bands are now coming near to the end of their career now with Kiss doing their farewell tour and Sabbath is sort of done. What are your thoughts on those bands that are now slowly starting to disappear?
Mario: Well we’ve been lucky to have them for so long, they probably could have retired a long time ago. I’m sure they’re making decent money and stuff, Kiss especially but I think there’s something to be said that it’s all they know and I’m sure they wouldn’t do it unless they really loved to do it. Unless you’re in a musician’s shoes, it’s something you do because you really love to do it. If you don’t have to do it, people aren’t wanting to have to go through that rigour of touring and everything that comes along with it!
Andrew: Yeah I guess that’s probably the most difficult thing about being in a band, is the touring schedules.
Mario: Yeah I mean I can’t imagine how easy a band like Kiss has it obviously but still it takes it’s toll physically on you. People only see the one side of it, it’s an interesting way that people are wired to do this I think.
Andrew: Yeah absolutely I know some people couldn’t handle it while others can. Regardless it’s good to see you coming all the way to Australia, we definitely appreciate it and definitely looking forward to seeing you live again. Thanks for your time, really appreciate it and we will see you in March next year.
Mario: Sounds good!
EARTHLESS AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND 2019
Thurs 21 Feb Melbourne – Max Watts
Fri 22 Feb Wellington – Valhalla
Sat 23 Feb Tauranga – Totara Street
Sun 24 Feb Auckland – Galatos
Tues 26 Feb Wollongong – Uni Bar
Thurs 28 Feb Canberra – Basement
Fri 1 March Sydney – Crow Bar
Sat 2 March Narrabeen – Narrabeen RSL
Sun 3 March Newcastle – Small Ballroom
Wed 6 March Gold Coast – Miami Tavern
Thurs 7 March – Brisbane – Crow Bar
Fri 8 March – Geelong – Barwon Club
Sun 10 March – Perth – Amplifier
Tickets From: http://davidroywilliams.com/tours/earthless/
