Melbourne urban roots band Blue King Brown kick off their first national tour in two years in Canberra next week to promote new album ‘Worldwize’. OutInCanberra caught up with lead singer Natalie Pa’apa’a before they hit the road…

You’re not long back in the country after playing some amazing gigs around the world (SxSW – USA, CMW – Canada and Babel Med – France) – what was your highlight?
I guess on this recent tour one of the highlights would be SxSW, which is kind of like the biggest industry event that happens anywhere in the world. The world descends on Austin, Texas and there’s a week-long party and bands and the streets shut down. There’s an incredible vibe there and it was great for us to get there and be able to put our foot in the door in international territory and play for industry people. Because we’re a band that really wants to tour internationally as well as in Australia.

You’re about to hit the road for a string of shows – do you prefer recording or touring?
I guess I prefer touring, if I had to choose one. Being in the studio is the polar opposite of touring; you’re in a small room, usually by yourself or with only a few people working with a screen. Touring is like on big stages with lots of people and the energy and direction is live. I definitely like both of them but I think I would lean towards live performances. We’re so excited to bring the live show of our new album ‘Worldwize’ and tour it and give it the full spectrum of a live show because it’s our first live show in Australia in nearly two years.

There are a lot of you in the band – how does that go when you’re touring?
I really like having a big band. We’ve been doing it for a little while now so everyone’s down with the program. We’re a pretty efficient team – everyone moves in and out of venues as efficiently as we can. Everyone’s very ‘all hands on deck’. Because we’re such a big band we don’t have a lot of crew with us, we can’t afford all the extra people to bring around so you have musicians instead! But we all band together. When you’re touring on the road with the band, you’re in the van with these people for long hours at a time but it’s worth it.

Catch Blue King Brown at ANU Bar on Thursday 12th May. Tickets $25+bf from www.ticketek.com.au.

Win tickets!
We have 1 double pass to see Blue King Brown at ANU Bar on Thursday 12th May to give away. For your chance to WIN simply answer the following question:

Q: What’s the title of Blue King Brown’s latest album?

Email your answer to [email protected] with your full name and postal address, and ‘Blue King Brown’ in the subject field. Only winners will be notified by email. Competition closes 12.00pm, Wednesday 11 May 2011.