The Struts talk Firefly, Dewey Beach show
After whipping a Sunday afternoon Firefly Music Festival crowd into a frenzy on the fest's second biggest stage earlier this summer, British glam rockers The Struts have a new Delaware target: the Bottle & Cork.
Fresh from playing Lollapalooza last weekend, the up-and-coming band returns Thursday night to the First State for an intimate show at the Cork (1807 Del. 1, Dewey Beach). And they'll be looking to build on the band's success, which has landed their single "Could Have Been Me" in the top five of Billboard's Alternative Songs chart.
In January, the New York Times profiled lead singer Luke Spiller, 27, in an article titled "Meet the Glam Rock Frontman Channeling Freddie Mercury."
The comparisons to Queen and more modern acts such as The Darkness are everywhere for good reason.
The Struts thump that retro sweet spot hard, mixing ultra-catchy, uptempo songs with a stage show that finds Spiller flamboyantly prowling the stage like Mick Jagger. (They have already opened for the Rolling Stones in front of an 80,000-person Paris crowd.)
Spillers' influences range from Michael Jackson to Led Zeppelin and it shows. The over-the-top act translates perfectly at large rock festivals, drawing people in with big hooks and an even bigger stage presence. And if you happen to see them in a small club like the Bottle & Cork, the show can leave even skeptics wide-eyed.
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After a morning of hat shopping and radio interviews in Boston before the band's Tuesday night show, Spiller spoke to The News Journal to preview his Dewey Beach concert at 9 p.m. Thursday. (Tickets $20 in advance; $25 day of show.)
As he was being chauffeured around in a limousine, the Bristol, England, native spoke about his time at Firefly, lashed out at British radio and talked about why he wants pet tigers on leashes.
Q: What do you remember about your festival experience at Firefly?
A: Did we do an acoustic set on a wooden stage? I was wearing a flowery shirt with sunglasses, right? Yes, that was a good festival. We had fun. To be honest, that was just a preview of what the weather was going to be like up to now – you know, really hot. Sometimes uncomfortably hot when you're on stage. Firefly was definitely a highlight of the year, as of yet.
Q: The Struts just played Lollapalooza and I was curious how large-scale American festivals compare to the big ones over in England like Glastonbury, Isle of Wight or the Reading & Leeds festivals?
A: There are two main differences. One is that in the U.K. festivals are caked in mud. No matter what the weather report says. It always just rains, rains, rains at every single English festival. I also think the U.S. ones are a lot better organized.
Q: Your life-long dream of playing two shows in two months in the state of Delaware is about to come true.
A: I know. I can finally die happy.
Q: So you've played 90,000-person festival here in Delaware and now you're about to play a 900-person beachside rock club where the only thing between you and the fans are your monitors. Do you prefer one over the other?
A: Not really, but I do like having the biggest audience possible. I think playing the big festivals is a great inspiration. I look at those crowds and think about how 900 people has turned into that number. Bigger is always better in music.
Q: Do you remember whether there was a moment when you first realized that you really have something here?
A: From the word go it has always been about world domination.
Q: Really?
A: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. Of course. Why else would you want to get into music? I wasn't going to get into music just so I could play 1,000-capacity clubs for the rest of my life. You know, tour around in a crappy old van. I want a private jet. I want stadiums. I want gold limousines. I want tigers on leashes. But I think one of the pivotal moments for us as a group was when we opened for the Stones. That was two years ago now, and it is still brought up in every interview I do. It was from that show that we started to gain interest in the States and later acquired a fantastic management team. And then after that, the best record label in the world. [It was announced in July 2015 that the band signed with Interscope Records.]
Q: Speaking of living large, what's it like living the American dream as a budding rock star in Los Angeles with a model girlfriend? [Spiller dates LauraCartier Millon, who appears topless on the cover of the reissued album.] Is it what a 21-year-old Luke would have dreamedabout it being?
A: Well, I'm not really based anywhere. I'm from a place now called suitcase. But I think a 21-year-old Luke would be happy with where I am. I don't think he'd be too thrilled with how long it would have taken to get here, though.
Q: Your rise in America is interesting. "Everybody Wants" was first released in U.K. two years ago and was reissued here in America back in March. What's it been like to see the album grow in popularity a second time in a different market? It's like you're double-dipping the chip.
A: Actually, it didn't do well at all the first time around. We haven't even double-dipped, so to speak. We are basically very, very, very lucky. The label we were on at the time of the first release was only really doing what it had to contractually. Our CD just kind of fell out of the building to the public. In regards to the interest in America, Interscope really believes in what we have and in us as a group. It's great to see the music resonating with everyone. It really inspires us.
Q: Rock 'n' roll seems to have taken a backseat to pop, hip-hop and EDM with younger music fans after dominating for decades. How does rock come back? Is it by including elements of pop like you do? Or is it bringing back showmanship like you are doing, hearkening back to shows and bands in the '60s, '70s and even '80s?
A: I'm only doing what I do the only way I know how to do it. It's never been a case of let's bring back rock 'n' roll or whatnot. I can't tell you how that can be done. It's quite interesting that you mentioned that we add pop elements into our music. We do that purely to make the best song possible. We aren't on some sort of mission. It's just the music that we like. We have our influences and we want to sound a certain way and if no one else wants to do that, well then it's more for us really.
Q: Yesterday was the one-year anniversary of the band leaving England for the U.S. What do your mates back home think of your success?
A: Our family and friends are really thrilled. In terms of the music business side, it's quite funny that there were quite a lot of people who heard this same album before the U.S. and said no to it in U.K. radio. They're convinced that we remixed, remastered or re-recorded it, but they're really just listening to it with new ears; i.e., it is actually getting played a [lot] in the U.S. So there are people kicking themselves for not doing more in the first place.
Q: How is it doing now back home? Are they playing it a lot more because of your success here?
A: No. They still won't play it. To represent this band or to play this music, you have to have a large set of testicles, whether that's finding this group, managing it or slapping the music on the air. It's a statement. It's not the status quo of everything else around us. It's quite sad and slightly embarrassing that our own home turf hasn't done it yet.
Q: Well, thank you and your testicles for talking with me today.
A: [Laughs.] Well, thank you and your balls, too.
Contact Ryan Cormier at rcormier@delawareonline.com or (302) 324-2863. Follow him on Facebook (@ryancormier), Twitter (@ryancormier) and Instagram (@ryancormier).
IF YOU GO
Who: The Struts with DOROTHY opening
When: Thursday, 9 p.m.
Where: Bottle & Cork, 1807 Del. 1, Dewey Beach
Cost: $20 in advance; $25 day of show
Tickets: deweybeachlife.com