I had the incredible opportunity to watch and meet Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin a month ago at Bootleg Theater where I witnessed something I’d never seen before in a live show: they swapped instruments in the middle of their set. Phil traded his drum set for a guitar as Jonathan took over. John, on the other hand, took the bass while Will remained in lead. SSLYBY veterans might not have found that unusual, but as a first-timer, I was quite stunned!
They recently did a West Coast tour for their latest release, Tape Club, which is a solid collection of b-sides and demos recorded throughout their career. There’s a variety of styles present in these 26 songs which reflects both the band’s changing influences throughout the years and their wide spectrum of material. But there’s also that unmistakable SSLYBY sound that’s fun, charming, and just impossible to get tired of. Personal picks: Coming Through, The Clod and the Pebble (a poem written by William Blake adapted into song!), and Yellow Missing Signs. Follow the band’s Tumblr and purchase Tape Club here.
It’s hard to say. In the United States it’s probably Beloit, Wisconsin. It’s a really small town that most people have never heard of. We always play in a small basement there and the crowd is out of control. Everywhere in Italy, Belgium, Germany, Russia, and Austria is really great. Honestly, I can’t think of a place we don’t like or that’s treated us bad. I did a really bad job answering this question.
What has been your must memorable touring experience so far?
Hard to say. One time we were camping out in Oregon and we saw a porcupine and then Will almost fell off a cliff because he couldn’t see the edge of it in the dark. Even the bad things about touring are eventually funny. I got beat up by some teenagers in Asbury Park before a show. Then after the show we went swimming in the ocean. It was the weirdest night.
I always like talking to new people at our shows and seeing different architecture. We’ve never been to Asia, so it would be like a crazy dream. I have some friends and family that I rarely see, so I’d love to visit them.
If you could play out your dream tour in which everything goes according to plan regardless of cost, what would it be like?
I’m not just saying this because you’re from Manila, but I’d love to play in the Philippines. We’ve had a lot of people contact us and I’d love to play a show for them. My dream tour is that we could travel with mobile stage, room, or tent. Kind of like a circus. And all our friends could come with us and we would travel from town to down on little scooters powered by the sun. We would donate all the money to strangers and charities. It would cheer everyone up.
Almost always a smaller venue if it’s packed and you can tell everyone is ready to have a good time. Bigger venues usually make me a little more nervous and I usually do something stupid. Like in Russia, I dropped my guitar and everyone got mad at me. Another time, in New York, I tried to jump really high during my guitar solo. But I tripped on something and fell off the stage.
How do you guys spend your breaks when you’re all in an unfamiliar city?
We usually ask the people at the club if there are any interesting places nearby. We like to find good local places to eat. Sometimes we’ll just do the touristy stuff and sometimes there’s not enough time to do anything because we drove all day and we’ll get there right before the show starts. That’s always kind of sad.
Watch them play for the young bucks in Los Angeles outside of Bootleg Theater:
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