Outsiders Newsletter Interview

Thanks Stuart for answering these questions:

What is the best gig you have ever performed at, and why?

FEST 10 in Gainesville, Florida, USA last year. We’re the only New Zealand band to ever play the annual punk rock festival (twice, 2010 & 2011), which is attended by about 10,000 people. Our show reached capacity and we had people out on the street trying to get in. We played really well, got a great response, and all the while my pants were held up by a belt made out of flax fashioned only moments earlier. It was part of a 45 date U.S tour we did and I was really proud of us that day.

What is your favourite NZ venue?

I have a lot of favourites but The Crown Hotel in Dunedin will always have a special place in my boozy heart. It was the first pub I snuck into to see bands play when I was underage, its been around for generations and so many awesome shows have gone down there. I think its probably a rite of passage for New Zealand rock and roll bands to play at the Crown Hotel at least once.

How did you come up with the name Outsiders?

I can’t remember exactly but it relates for a couple of different reasons. In my eyes when we formed the band, and still to this day, we felt like we weren’t accepted into certain scenes in New Zealand and our home base in Wellington. We were and still are outsiders to what is considered cool or popular. We didn’t name the band after S.E Hinton’s novel, but we’re definitely bad arse street brawlers who live by our own rules and run away to lonely places together. We don’t eat balgoney sandwiches though, we leave them for other bands..

What is your most embarrassing on tour/gig moment?

Being on tour for 8 weeks and realising that a cute girl who I was talking to from a band I had toured with the year before couldn’t stop looking at how grubby and tattered your clothes were. Maybe more depressing than embarrassing. My shirt was filthy, I had booze stains from my neck to stomach, a tattered ‘my name is: rufio’ sticker half torn off, my shredded pants were held up by a piece of flax and I think I was wearing one shoe and holding the remains of the other in my hand.

What can we expect to see from Outsiders over the next year?

More of what we’ve been doing this year, touring New Zealand and Australia, hopefully we’ll make it down to the South Island of New Zealand and we’d love to go play in Tasmania. We have an NZ on Air funded single/video coming out over summer which is a first for us.

We’re also looking into touring Europe again. We were over there in 2009 and we’ve had a few show offers from over that way recently so we’re eyeing that up.

What advice would you like to give to other aspiring musicians?

Do what you want, practice a lot and have fun. Remember that popular trends change quickly, if you follow whats popular you’ll be out of date quicker than if you play whatever you wanted to in the first place.

Who would you most like to support live?

Ramones & Roy Orbison.

How do you keep in contact with your fans?

www.facebook.com/outsidersnz

theoutsiders.bandcamp.com – you can download most of our tunes for free here!