Earlier this year, the Strange Boys released their debut album, …And Girls Club, through In the Red and blew us away with the effort! The album had been anticipated for several years and went through a number of false starts, but for a group known for their slacker sound, …And Girls Club was an infectious and tight riffing shock of skanky R&B and grooving rock & roll howls slinking behind Ryan Sambol’s distinctive bleary-eyed fronting. The group has recently expanded out with a few new players and is currently preparing their sophomore release, called Be Brave for release early next year. We spoke to Sambol, as much as the typically laconic singer would allow, about the band’s recent tours, handling the enthusiastic responses to their debut, and what they have in store for this weekend’s Fun Fun Fun Fest at Waterloo Park. The Strange Boys are scheduled to go on Sunday, November 8, at 5:20pm on the Yellow Stage.
Interview: The Strange Boys
Austin Sound: How is everything going for the Strange Boys?
Ryan Sambol: Things are going good.
AS: Let me ask you this, and I want you to answer honestly: Will the Strange Boys ever be “normal”?
RS: Will we ever be “normal”?
AS: Yeah.
RS: I don’t know what you mean.
AS: I read on your website a conspicuous quote by Rene Descartes that says, “When one spends too much time traveling, one is at last a stranger in his own home”. And I was wondering if there was some of that feeling floating around about Austin considering all of the touring you guys have been doing as of late?
RS: Yeah, it’s kind of like that. Some days it feels like that.
AS: Not a feeling of “home sweet home”?
RS: Well that’s what I mean, sometimes it is and sometimes it isn’t.
AS: Either way, does it feel good to be home playing Fun Fun Fun Fest?
RS: Yeah it does.
AS: Have you guys ever played the festival before?
RS: No, this is our first year.
AS: I know you just played a festival up in Portland. Do you have any tricks up your sleeves for FFFFest, being that it’s a hometown festival?
RS: No, not really. It’s going to be pretty much the same approach we take with every show.
AS: The Strange Boys were out touring Europe earlier this year, right?
RS: Yeah.
AS: How was Europe’s reaction to you guys? Do the Strange Boys have devoted fans abroad?
RS: It was pretty surprising. We didn’t really have many expectations, you know, and a lot of the places we went surprised us. It was great to meet all the people over there that live in a different way.
AS: An enlightening experience?
RS: Yeah, for sure.
AS: Were you able to conjure up any Lone Star while you were there?
RS: I didn’t have any.
AS: Were you guys looking for it at all?
RS: I wasn’t really. I don’t know about the other guys.
AS: I was reading a write up about you guys in the Guardian that said, “the Strange Boys are the most seismic and generally incredible thing to happen to Texas since de Vaca.” That’s pretty big talk considering the wealth of musicians from Austin alone.
RS: Yeah [chuckles], I’ve never read that. I’ve never heard any body else—I’ve never read that in the Guardian, at least. Basically, with those kinds of things we just don’t read it.
AS: Worried about it going to your heads?
RS: Maybe, yeah. I don’t know where it’ll go. But you shouldn’t have told me that.
AS: Sorry, I take it back. Ryan, I’ve heard talk that there’s a follow-up to your debut …And Girls Club.
RS: Yeah it’s going to be called Be Brave and we’re going to have a single out in January, album out in February. We’ve got some new people playing on it and it’s pretty good..
AS: Pretty good, huh? Can I quote you on that?
RS: What, that it’s pretty good?
AS: Yeah.
RS: Well, I like it.
Mp3 from …And Girls Club:
Heard You Wanna Beat Me Up
Website:
Myspace
