Laura-Mary Carter - Blood Red Shoes (09/12/2012)
Laura-Mary Carter is exhausted. One half of Brighton, England’s Blood Red Shoes calls in for a chat despite her fatigue and raging flu. “We go on tour in a day so I have a day to get better” she admits, almost willing her cold to up and leave her alone. Along with drummer and co-vocalist Steve Ansell, Blood Red Shoes have spent most of this year on a mind-bendingly long tour in support of their new album In Time To Voices. Despite feeling slightly rough, Carter chats away happily about tour life, trouble with the law and the enduring friendship between Blood Red Shoes and Australian band of the moment DZ Deathrays.
“We just did our US and Canada tour and now we go on tour with The Gaslight Anthem through the UK and Europe, then we do our own European tour which brings us up to Christmas in Australia. I only have a day at home” Carter laments. “I hate living out of suitcases but, you know.”
The short term inconvenience of travelling with essentially a couple of changes of clothes and not much else seems to be paying off as the band make their highly anticipated Australian debut at Phillip Island’s Pyramid Rock Festival as well as playing a string of national headline shows.
“It is our first Australian tour and it has taken us a long time to get to Australia so we are really excited. This is the first time we have been asked over, we had been wondering if we were going to get over so we are very excited and happy that we finally are.”
Carter adds cheerfully “It is going to be New Years Eve so we leave the day after Christmas. It is going to be my birthday as well; we are going to be playing in Sydney on my birthday. Because my birthday is so near New Years Eve I never do anything for it so it is going to be the first year that I am going to be somewhere else and maybe have some fun.”
Having fun is something Blood Red Shoes have never struggled to do. Their press release reads like a rap sheet in parts, but the guitarist laughs off the suggestion that perhaps they are troublemakers. “I don’t know why but we have got so many stories, we are not these mental rock n roll kids but stuff just happens to us. We have always been known for doing insane long tours and I guess you are going to encounter some stuff when you spend most of the time on the road. Trouble does seem to follow us a little bit.”
After some gentle cajoling, Carter reveals a war story about drummer Ansell’s arrest. After first clarifying “which one was that?” She elaborates “Oh yeah, that was Steve that got arrested not me. He was getting followed by undercover police because he was just causing havoc and he might have damaged a car or something. It was his birthday actually, he was mega power drinking.”
Getting back on track, Carter discusses the struggle of writing albums while touring. Instead of taking time out between tours, the band is far more likely to be found in the studio. “We definitely get straight back into it because otherwise time will go and the record won’t be out. When you finish writing it and recording it and then the process of getting it made and all that stuff can take months so we really have to be on time otherwise the record could go back a year. I don’t think we’re a big enough band to be having that amount of time away. They won’t remember us so we have to get back on it.”
Once in the studio, the decision on which would be the lead single for In Time To Voices was a much simpler affair. “I think with ‘Cold’ we were like “that’s the single!” When we were writing it we weren’t that sure, but once it was recorded you just know whether it is going to be the single or not. I liked the song but I didn’t think it was a proper song but once it was recorded and actually now looking at it now I think it was the best song” says Carter.
It is impossible not to ask about their tour with DZ Deathrays, both bands sharing not only a two piece line-up but also a penchant for good times. “They were really awesome” gushes the singer. “They are really good live and they work hard. They were so much fun. It was really good because Steve, you wouldn’t believe it, but he is a complete drink monster and no-one can keep up with him. We have been on tour all over the world and all the bands have not been able to keep up with him. Well, we met someone who can keep up with him and that is, Simon, the drummer from DZ Deathrays. Literally, it has taken eight years before I have found anyone who can do it and they were sort of like kindred spirits. They are coming to Europe to play with us so that is going to be really fun.”
With touring taking them away from home for most of the year, does the pair ever throw their hands up and threaten to do a Simon and Garfunkel? Not so says Carter. “I think if that happened then the band wouldn’t happen. I just couldn’t do that, I think we get on more than the average band do. We argue a lot but we manage to cope and we manage to be able to talk to each other every day and be with each other every day. There are times where I feel “fuck this, you’re a fucking idiot” and he feels the same about me. It can get really tense but deep down it is almost like he is my brother. We piss each other off but we know that we love each other.”
For now, the only concern for the band is dealing with the Australian summer. “We are going to Russia just before we come to Australia and Russia is going to be I don’t know how cold and we’re going straight from there pretty much, to Australia where it is the hottest time of the year” laughs Carter. If that us their biggest problem, it looks like Blood Red Shoes will be on the radar for a long time to come.
Maddy Thomas
Melbourne
Thursday 3 January
The Hi Fi
Sydney
Friday 4 January
The Hi Fi
“We just did our US and Canada tour and now we go on tour with The Gaslight Anthem through the UK and Europe, then we do our own European tour which brings us up to Christmas in Australia. I only have a day at home” Carter laments. “I hate living out of suitcases but, you know.”
The short term inconvenience of travelling with essentially a couple of changes of clothes and not much else seems to be paying off as the band make their highly anticipated Australian debut at Phillip Island’s Pyramid Rock Festival as well as playing a string of national headline shows.
“It is our first Australian tour and it has taken us a long time to get to Australia so we are really excited. This is the first time we have been asked over, we had been wondering if we were going to get over so we are very excited and happy that we finally are.”
Carter adds cheerfully “It is going to be New Years Eve so we leave the day after Christmas. It is going to be my birthday as well; we are going to be playing in Sydney on my birthday. Because my birthday is so near New Years Eve I never do anything for it so it is going to be the first year that I am going to be somewhere else and maybe have some fun.”
Having fun is something Blood Red Shoes have never struggled to do. Their press release reads like a rap sheet in parts, but the guitarist laughs off the suggestion that perhaps they are troublemakers. “I don’t know why but we have got so many stories, we are not these mental rock n roll kids but stuff just happens to us. We have always been known for doing insane long tours and I guess you are going to encounter some stuff when you spend most of the time on the road. Trouble does seem to follow us a little bit.”
After some gentle cajoling, Carter reveals a war story about drummer Ansell’s arrest. After first clarifying “which one was that?” She elaborates “Oh yeah, that was Steve that got arrested not me. He was getting followed by undercover police because he was just causing havoc and he might have damaged a car or something. It was his birthday actually, he was mega power drinking.”
Getting back on track, Carter discusses the struggle of writing albums while touring. Instead of taking time out between tours, the band is far more likely to be found in the studio. “We definitely get straight back into it because otherwise time will go and the record won’t be out. When you finish writing it and recording it and then the process of getting it made and all that stuff can take months so we really have to be on time otherwise the record could go back a year. I don’t think we’re a big enough band to be having that amount of time away. They won’t remember us so we have to get back on it.”
Once in the studio, the decision on which would be the lead single for In Time To Voices was a much simpler affair. “I think with ‘Cold’ we were like “that’s the single!” When we were writing it we weren’t that sure, but once it was recorded you just know whether it is going to be the single or not. I liked the song but I didn’t think it was a proper song but once it was recorded and actually now looking at it now I think it was the best song” says Carter.
It is impossible not to ask about their tour with DZ Deathrays, both bands sharing not only a two piece line-up but also a penchant for good times. “They were really awesome” gushes the singer. “They are really good live and they work hard. They were so much fun. It was really good because Steve, you wouldn’t believe it, but he is a complete drink monster and no-one can keep up with him. We have been on tour all over the world and all the bands have not been able to keep up with him. Well, we met someone who can keep up with him and that is, Simon, the drummer from DZ Deathrays. Literally, it has taken eight years before I have found anyone who can do it and they were sort of like kindred spirits. They are coming to Europe to play with us so that is going to be really fun.”
With touring taking them away from home for most of the year, does the pair ever throw their hands up and threaten to do a Simon and Garfunkel? Not so says Carter. “I think if that happened then the band wouldn’t happen. I just couldn’t do that, I think we get on more than the average band do. We argue a lot but we manage to cope and we manage to be able to talk to each other every day and be with each other every day. There are times where I feel “fuck this, you’re a fucking idiot” and he feels the same about me. It can get really tense but deep down it is almost like he is my brother. We piss each other off but we know that we love each other.”
For now, the only concern for the band is dealing with the Australian summer. “We are going to Russia just before we come to Australia and Russia is going to be I don’t know how cold and we’re going straight from there pretty much, to Australia where it is the hottest time of the year” laughs Carter. If that us their biggest problem, it looks like Blood Red Shoes will be on the radar for a long time to come.
Maddy Thomas
Melbourne
Thursday 3 January
The Hi Fi
Sydney
Friday 4 January
The Hi Fi