The Sit Down with The Washboard Union
Back home in Canada, The Washboard Union have become a household name over the last ten years, amassing over 85 million global streams, more than 525,000 radio spins, nine Top 10 hits, and over 35 major awards. For fans in the UK, the long wait for their UK debut is almost over as they are set to take over the Main Stage at this year's Buckle and Boots Festival on the Saturday night before heading across the country for a headline tour, which will include a stop at London’s iconic Half Moon in Putney. With new music out, we caught up with Chris Duncombe to find out how the band are feeling ahead of their first trip to us.
Thank you for taking the time, really appreciate it.
Oh, man, it's my thrill, this is great. We're so excited about coming over.
I understand you actually got this trio together in Gastown, Vancouver, is that right?
We kind of did, man, yeah. Aaron and I met when we were 13 years old when my dad started dating Aaron's mum, and then when we moved to Vancouver, playing in punk bands and rock bands. We walked into a bar in Gastown, a tiny little punk rock bar called The Hungry Eye, and this guy was on stage, long hair, and he had a power grinder against the back of the mic stand, spraying sparks across the crowd, and singing in this really high pitch. It was like, we gotta know this guy. It was David, and we met him that night, and we've been together ever since.
Bizarrely, I know that bar. My summer job in 2007 was at the Old Spaghetti Factory!
Down in Gastown with the train car! No way! Right around the corner.
Yeah. We would end at 10:00, 10:30 and head straight down there for beers.
Right across from Blood Alley, and then you're in the Hungry Eye. That's hilarious. I haven't thought about that place in a long time.
Thank you for taking the time, really appreciate it.
Oh, man, it's my thrill, this is great. We're so excited about coming over.
I understand you actually got this trio together in Gastown, Vancouver, is that right?
We kind of did, man, yeah. Aaron and I met when we were 13 years old when my dad started dating Aaron's mum, and then when we moved to Vancouver, playing in punk bands and rock bands. We walked into a bar in Gastown, a tiny little punk rock bar called The Hungry Eye, and this guy was on stage, long hair, and he had a power grinder against the back of the mic stand, spraying sparks across the crowd, and singing in this really high pitch. It was like, we gotta know this guy. It was David, and we met him that night, and we've been together ever since.
Bizarrely, I know that bar. My summer job in 2007 was at the Old Spaghetti Factory!
Down in Gastown with the train car! No way! Right around the corner.
Yeah. We would end at 10:00, 10:30 and head straight down there for beers.
Right across from Blood Alley, and then you're in the Hungry Eye. That's hilarious. I haven't thought about that place in a long time.
You're on your way to the UK in just a few weeks now and we are so excited for this tour.
We literally had a luggage meeting this morning! That's how close and real it's getting. We're so excited to be coming over. I have been over several times before. My family's all in Dublin, David's family's from Manchester, and Aaron's never been!
Does it feel crazy that it has taken 10 years to get to this point?
We are, man, and I'm surprised that it took that long. We've played in France and Spain a few times, and Ireland, but we've never been to the UK. We have a new team in the UK out of London, and they are booking the band like crazy, so we will probably spend more time in Europe this year than we do at home in Canada, which is great with me.
You're opening the tour at Buckle and Boots. It's one that is quite known to Canadians; Tebey, Matt Lang, Dan Davidson, and Brett Kissel have all played it in recent years. How good is it to be added to that list?
I'm really excited about it. We just came home from Australia, playing down there for the first time as well, and it's fun because we're playing to people who are discovering the band for the first time, which is brand new for us. It's all brand new and we just love that feeling. We feel really energized, and we're in the middle of recording a new album as we speak.
For your London show, you’re playing the Half Moon in Putney, which is one of our iconic venues.
Someone told me this.
Are you ready for the list of who's played there?
Yes, please.
You've got the Rolling Stones.
Wow.
U2 had their first-ever sold-out UK show there, k.d. lang’s UK debut was there too, and bands like The Who too.
Really? That I did not know. That's incredible. It looks like a cool place.
We literally had a luggage meeting this morning! That's how close and real it's getting. We're so excited to be coming over. I have been over several times before. My family's all in Dublin, David's family's from Manchester, and Aaron's never been!
Does it feel crazy that it has taken 10 years to get to this point?
We are, man, and I'm surprised that it took that long. We've played in France and Spain a few times, and Ireland, but we've never been to the UK. We have a new team in the UK out of London, and they are booking the band like crazy, so we will probably spend more time in Europe this year than we do at home in Canada, which is great with me.
You're opening the tour at Buckle and Boots. It's one that is quite known to Canadians; Tebey, Matt Lang, Dan Davidson, and Brett Kissel have all played it in recent years. How good is it to be added to that list?
I'm really excited about it. We just came home from Australia, playing down there for the first time as well, and it's fun because we're playing to people who are discovering the band for the first time, which is brand new for us. It's all brand new and we just love that feeling. We feel really energized, and we're in the middle of recording a new album as we speak.
For your London show, you’re playing the Half Moon in Putney, which is one of our iconic venues.
Someone told me this.
Are you ready for the list of who's played there?
Yes, please.
You've got the Rolling Stones.
Wow.
U2 had their first-ever sold-out UK show there, k.d. lang’s UK debut was there too, and bands like The Who too.
Really? That I did not know. That's incredible. It looks like a cool place.
You're an award-winning band at home in Canada, but now to come to Australia and Europe, is it a strange feeling of going back in time as you build a fan base again?
Yeah, it does a little bit, but I love it. We hadn't played a small venue in Canada—like a bar or something like that—in years. For us, it was theatres, then festivals that get bigger and bigger, and then you're on tour with a big American band. To get back and play this stuff in Australia was a taste of that, because we did both festivals and smaller venues. I love it, because that's where this band started. The whole thing was conceived in a bar room, and it thrived there and still does, so it's so invigorating to actually go back and do that. I love that you can see people and stare them in the eye, whereas sometimes with festivals and as the venues get bigger, that becomes harder and harder to do.
I guess you're also going to be at that tricky point that you might have had in Australia as well, of picking a setlist. You're going to have people who have known you for several years now, and you're going to have people who may have just picked up the new release. Then you'll have people who have just been dragged along and might know one song! How hard is it to prepare a set for this?
It's tough because it even goes much further back than that, as you go back to In My Bones—the very beginnings of The Washboard Union. It's always a battle to try and figure out what we can play, and then you look at times too; festivals are 45 minutes, and we're used to playing 90 or longer over here. You really have to distil it down. I remember arriving in Paris the first time we came to France and the promoter saying, "Well, of course you're gonna play this song." I'm like, "No, no, we haven't played that song in years." He's like, "It's a big song on YouTube here, you have to play it." We had a couple of vans, and I was teaching the band on speakerphone in the second minivan from the front minivan how to play the song, so that when we arrived, everybody knew what they were doing! It changes all the time, and I think that's really exciting that people are going to discover the band midstream.
Is that when there’s a quick check of lyrics sometimes when you're told these things?
You know, a friend in an older Canadian rock band—when I asked, because I do a lot of singing in the band, I just said, "You know, when you have those nights, how do you do it?" And he's like, "Don't think. Do not think, because the second you think, you will forget the words." And it's worked! I try not to think.
You recently got signed with ABC over in Australia and now you've got a team over here; are these the kind of calls that you almost think are prank phone calls, even now, when they first kind of come through?
Yeah, it's always a little bit strange at first. We were glad that some bands that we respect and some friends are working with the team that we're on with in the UK. But yeah, it's always really cool when those things happen, and we've been blessed to be a band that's had a bunch of those moments happen. I still remember getting the call when our manager was like, "Old Dominion's gonna take you on tour," and just being so thrilled, or "You're gonna open for the Zac Brown Band." The night the band actually got signed, we were opening for Zac Brown at a stadium in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Those moments are always just real pinch-me moments, following in the footsteps of what a lot of our favourite Canadian bands did. All our favourite Canadian bands were Juno Award winners, which is sort of the Canadian Grammy, and we're blessed to be able to have that as part of our history now too. It's been really cool to have those really exciting moments happen again and again, and you pinch yourself, and you kind of look over and I still see Aaron as the 13-year-old kid I met on a camping trip. It's just now in front of thousands of people!
Yeah, it does a little bit, but I love it. We hadn't played a small venue in Canada—like a bar or something like that—in years. For us, it was theatres, then festivals that get bigger and bigger, and then you're on tour with a big American band. To get back and play this stuff in Australia was a taste of that, because we did both festivals and smaller venues. I love it, because that's where this band started. The whole thing was conceived in a bar room, and it thrived there and still does, so it's so invigorating to actually go back and do that. I love that you can see people and stare them in the eye, whereas sometimes with festivals and as the venues get bigger, that becomes harder and harder to do.
I guess you're also going to be at that tricky point that you might have had in Australia as well, of picking a setlist. You're going to have people who have known you for several years now, and you're going to have people who may have just picked up the new release. Then you'll have people who have just been dragged along and might know one song! How hard is it to prepare a set for this?
It's tough because it even goes much further back than that, as you go back to In My Bones—the very beginnings of The Washboard Union. It's always a battle to try and figure out what we can play, and then you look at times too; festivals are 45 minutes, and we're used to playing 90 or longer over here. You really have to distil it down. I remember arriving in Paris the first time we came to France and the promoter saying, "Well, of course you're gonna play this song." I'm like, "No, no, we haven't played that song in years." He's like, "It's a big song on YouTube here, you have to play it." We had a couple of vans, and I was teaching the band on speakerphone in the second minivan from the front minivan how to play the song, so that when we arrived, everybody knew what they were doing! It changes all the time, and I think that's really exciting that people are going to discover the band midstream.
Is that when there’s a quick check of lyrics sometimes when you're told these things?
You know, a friend in an older Canadian rock band—when I asked, because I do a lot of singing in the band, I just said, "You know, when you have those nights, how do you do it?" And he's like, "Don't think. Do not think, because the second you think, you will forget the words." And it's worked! I try not to think.
You recently got signed with ABC over in Australia and now you've got a team over here; are these the kind of calls that you almost think are prank phone calls, even now, when they first kind of come through?
Yeah, it's always a little bit strange at first. We were glad that some bands that we respect and some friends are working with the team that we're on with in the UK. But yeah, it's always really cool when those things happen, and we've been blessed to be a band that's had a bunch of those moments happen. I still remember getting the call when our manager was like, "Old Dominion's gonna take you on tour," and just being so thrilled, or "You're gonna open for the Zac Brown Band." The night the band actually got signed, we were opening for Zac Brown at a stadium in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Those moments are always just real pinch-me moments, following in the footsteps of what a lot of our favourite Canadian bands did. All our favourite Canadian bands were Juno Award winners, which is sort of the Canadian Grammy, and we're blessed to be able to have that as part of our history now too. It's been really cool to have those really exciting moments happen again and again, and you pinch yourself, and you kind of look over and I still see Aaron as the 13-year-old kid I met on a camping trip. It's just now in front of thousands of people!
As you said, new music is on its way and you’re recording at the minute. It's been 2 years since Westerly came out, but there was a 4-year gap obviously between that and Everbound. Were you all keen to make sure there wasn't another long release gap?
Yeah, I mean, the strange thing with that was there were songs coming out in between. Radio was still playing and getting new songs in that whole cycle. I'm really excited about that. We've written a ton of new music for this album, which doesn't have a name. We're really excited because now we know music's just gonna keep coming out from us as much as we possibly can. Westerly kind of came out right at the start of COVID, which was a weird time for everybody. We were sort of given that choice, like, "Do you want to hold this record and wait till this thing blows over a bit?" And we said no, because people are going to need it, as that was a pretty hopeful record. There was a sort of unlimited hope in a bottle on that record—in a lot of the lyrics, in the feel. We knew that whenever things have been terrible for us in life, music's been the first place we turn, and we didn't want to hold anything back, so that's why that record came out then, when a lot of people sort of decided not to do anything. The second we could be back on the road, we were.
You've now released two singles off this new project. You've just released "This Old House" to follow "Somebody to Love"; how good does it feel to be back in that cycle now?
Yeah, it feels great. "Somebody to Love" was all over Canadian radio too and it was a lot of fun. I loved writing that song, and "This Old House" has just come out, and then there'll be more right on its heels. We played everything that we intended to record for the record company, and they were like, "Great, get in there and do it." We wrote up until the last minute, right before we went into the studio. The last song, which actually shows up on this record, was written probably no more than three days before we jumped in the studio!
Is it good to know that this far down the line in your collection, the heads are still finding that first cut perfect?
Yeah, it is. I mean, we write more, and differently, than we ever did before. It's different when you have three songwriters in a band. There's a lot more music being written, but it can go in more different directions based on who's inspired by what at that particular moment. When we're not together, we're all in three different cities and writing at the same time!
Yeah, I mean, the strange thing with that was there were songs coming out in between. Radio was still playing and getting new songs in that whole cycle. I'm really excited about that. We've written a ton of new music for this album, which doesn't have a name. We're really excited because now we know music's just gonna keep coming out from us as much as we possibly can. Westerly kind of came out right at the start of COVID, which was a weird time for everybody. We were sort of given that choice, like, "Do you want to hold this record and wait till this thing blows over a bit?" And we said no, because people are going to need it, as that was a pretty hopeful record. There was a sort of unlimited hope in a bottle on that record—in a lot of the lyrics, in the feel. We knew that whenever things have been terrible for us in life, music's been the first place we turn, and we didn't want to hold anything back, so that's why that record came out then, when a lot of people sort of decided not to do anything. The second we could be back on the road, we were.
You've now released two singles off this new project. You've just released "This Old House" to follow "Somebody to Love"; how good does it feel to be back in that cycle now?
Yeah, it feels great. "Somebody to Love" was all over Canadian radio too and it was a lot of fun. I loved writing that song, and "This Old House" has just come out, and then there'll be more right on its heels. We played everything that we intended to record for the record company, and they were like, "Great, get in there and do it." We wrote up until the last minute, right before we went into the studio. The last song, which actually shows up on this record, was written probably no more than three days before we jumped in the studio!
Is it good to know that this far down the line in your collection, the heads are still finding that first cut perfect?
Yeah, it is. I mean, we write more, and differently, than we ever did before. It's different when you have three songwriters in a band. There's a lot more music being written, but it can go in more different directions based on who's inspired by what at that particular moment. When we're not together, we're all in three different cities and writing at the same time!
In a few weeks' time over here, the sun will be up later, you have festival and bar shows lined up; are you ready to soak it all in and meet people here who have been reaching out to you for so long?
Absolutely, yeah. And you know what? I've had so many friends in the UK that I've promised we'd come over, and then it never really happened until now, so I'm really excited that that's finally happening. I will have never spent this much time in England, which I'm really excited about. I've never seen Edinburgh, and that has been on the top of my list forever, so I'm really excited about being there.
Have you started a kind of a wish list of where you want to see?
Yeah, in fact, I was gonna stay behind after the tour and go hiking in Scotland, but we have another show in Canada we have to be back for. I'm gonna have to come back for that! There's a lot I'm really looking for. I'm looking forward to seeing Newcastle. I'm a bit of a history buff too and there’s so much to see. Obviously, playing a historic place like the Half Moon in London is a huge standout for us. I just am excited to drink it all in.
And drink as well!
Yeah. And that!
Heading to the end of the year, you've already announced you'll be back in Europe with dates in Barcelona and Germany. Is it great to know you've got those dates already in the calendar?
Yeah, well, we'll spend the summer touring festivals in Canada—we're gonna play FIFA, we're gonna play a bunch of different shows in Canada, and headline a few festivals—and then, yeah, like you say, we head over to Spain, then Germany. In the last 48 hours, they added Switzerland too, so we're gonna kind of keep going.
Certainly topping up the air miles this year!
That's right, yeah, exactly. We'll be living out of a suitcase!
Never a bad thing, especially now the album's recorded you can soak it up and make the most of it.
That's right, I can't wait.
Thank you so much, Chris, and I will see you over here in a few weeks for some beers.
Oh, man, I can't wait. Thank you, thanks for taking the time. Looking forward to seeing you in person.
I'll see you in London.
Absolutely, brother.
Tickets and full tour details are available at www.thewashboardunion.com.
Absolutely, yeah. And you know what? I've had so many friends in the UK that I've promised we'd come over, and then it never really happened until now, so I'm really excited that that's finally happening. I will have never spent this much time in England, which I'm really excited about. I've never seen Edinburgh, and that has been on the top of my list forever, so I'm really excited about being there.
Have you started a kind of a wish list of where you want to see?
Yeah, in fact, I was gonna stay behind after the tour and go hiking in Scotland, but we have another show in Canada we have to be back for. I'm gonna have to come back for that! There's a lot I'm really looking for. I'm looking forward to seeing Newcastle. I'm a bit of a history buff too and there’s so much to see. Obviously, playing a historic place like the Half Moon in London is a huge standout for us. I just am excited to drink it all in.
And drink as well!
Yeah. And that!
Heading to the end of the year, you've already announced you'll be back in Europe with dates in Barcelona and Germany. Is it great to know you've got those dates already in the calendar?
Yeah, well, we'll spend the summer touring festivals in Canada—we're gonna play FIFA, we're gonna play a bunch of different shows in Canada, and headline a few festivals—and then, yeah, like you say, we head over to Spain, then Germany. In the last 48 hours, they added Switzerland too, so we're gonna kind of keep going.
Certainly topping up the air miles this year!
That's right, yeah, exactly. We'll be living out of a suitcase!
Never a bad thing, especially now the album's recorded you can soak it up and make the most of it.
That's right, I can't wait.
Thank you so much, Chris, and I will see you over here in a few weeks for some beers.
Oh, man, I can't wait. Thank you, thanks for taking the time. Looking forward to seeing you in person.
I'll see you in London.
Absolutely, brother.
Tickets and full tour details are available at www.thewashboardunion.com.
- May 23 - Buckle & Boots Festival, Stockport, UK
- May 24 - The Voodoo Rooms, Edinburgh, Scotland
- May 25 - The Cluny 2, Newcastle, UK
- May 26 - The Half Moon, London, UK
- May 27 - The Greystones, Sheffield, UK
- May 28 - The Queen’s Hall, Nuneaton, UK
- Oct 30 - Festival International de Country Music de Santa Susanna, Barcelona, Spain
- Nov 3 - Backstage Halle, Munich, Germany
- Nov 4 - Helios37, Cologne, Germany
