A highlight of Lollapalooza 2019, the quartet reveals which superpowers they would choose if they were transformed into comic book heroes
Even in a corridor full of artists and members of the music industry, it's impossible not to notice Luke Spiller as a star. Last Sunday, the 7th, hours before taking the main stage at Lollapalooza Brazil for the first time, the lead singer of The Struts was walking backstage at the festival wearing a floral jumpsuit, gold boots, and sunglasses similar to those worn by Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka in the second version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005). A detail—the outfit wasn't for the Budweiser stage performance, but it served its purpose during the exclusive interview he gave to Wikimetal.
According to the Briton, the bold clothing choices have a very simple explanation. “I don’t care about fashion. It’s fashion that cares about me,” he said, striking the same 1980s rockstar pose that would have caught the audience’s attention while he delivered a fervent performance of hits from the band’s two albums — Everybody Wants (2016) and YOUNG&DANGEROUS (2018).
On stage, the quartet from the British city of Derby exuded confidence, but in conversation, they confessed that the performance felt like a "blind date." "I don't know if people here are familiar with our music. I saw some comments on social media, but nothing beyond that," said the vocalist, just before asking the manager if they had any songs on Brazilian radio.
This was the first time Spiller, Adam Slack (guitar), Jed Elliott (bass), and Gethin Davies (drums) had played in Latin America – and the musicians came with high expectations. “ Dave Grohl told us he thought Brazil was the best place in the whole world to perform,” he recalled. “And we’re ready to share that opinion.”
Based on social media, it seems the musicians left São Paulo agreeing with the Foo Fighters – who has already declared that he considers The Struts the best opening band Foo Fighters has ever had. And the feeling of at least a large part of those present was reciprocal, since the group's charisma is undeniable, whether singing covers, such as Bruce Springsteen or their own compositions, such as the hit "Body Talk," originally recorded as a duet with pop singer Kesha .
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bv_wxHegukB/
“We met her in the United States a few years ago while playing at a college party, and we ended up staying in touch,” the bassist said. “When we had ‘Body Talk’ ready for the album, we thought it would be fun to turn it into a duet, we called Kesha and she loved the idea. In the end, it was so easy to record that we left everything as it was in the first version, including the laughter and screams. You can tell how much fun we had.”
Unlike “Body Talk,” “Who Am I” was a YOUNG&DANGEROUS that wasn’t included in The Struts’ 11-track setlist at Lollapalooza, but it certainly makes for a better story than the collaboration with Kesha. One of the song’s verses mentions the characters Harley Quinn and Doctor Strange, a fact that opened up questions about the group’s relationship with comic books.
“We already have our own cereal box, we want our own comic book too,” said Slack, referring to the unique product made by Funko , which came with an exclusive vinyl record of the single “21st Century Dandy ,” and had a commercial as fun as the concept itself. Watch it below.
“The story [of the comic book] would be about the band on tour, and each of us would have our own superpower,” Spiller added. “Adam would be The Seducer, and I would be The Womanizer. Jed would be Mr. Polite and Gethin could be Mr. Cute. The first episode would take place during fashion week, and we would be trying to get into a party with Naomi Campbell and Kendall Jenner. But of course we would be turned away and Mr. Cute would have to act a bit like 'Puss in Boots' from Shrek and use the weapons hidden in his hat to save us.” A story that shows that the British quartet has plenty of creativity left over — and that they don't care about your opinion on rock, as long as they still do world tours, have cereal boxes and comic books with The Struts' name.
