Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on October 2013
In tandem with our interview with WWS impresario Gilles Peterson, we spoke to headliners The Stepkids, whose new disc Troubadour is just out on the respected Stones Throw imprint.
Tell us how you met Gilles and came to be part of WWS.
Gilles Peterson is the first international DJ to ever play our music. Our friend Scotty Coats got our song “Shadows On Behalf” into his hands very soon after we finished our first album in 2010 and he played it on air right away. And that album wasn’t officially out until the following year. Also we felt a stylistic kinship with Gilles before he knew about our music, so it is a very gratifying experience to know he believes in what we are doing.
Tell us about your expectations for the gig.
We have played in Japan once before—strangely enough, exactly two years before our upcoming performance at WWS. We were thrilled with how engaged the audience was at our Tokyo show last time. And our show has developed a lot since then so we are quite eager to expose people to it. We are now “stepping out” (pardon the pun) into the world as three frontmen in a way we have never done before.
Your new album Troubadour is blowing up. What has that meant for you?
We are thankful it is being received well. These days, an album is one part of the whole picture for an artist. But when it sinks in the way it is supposed to in people’s consciousness—that is a real opportunity to make the other elements of your band grow with it. Which is why we are even more so inspired about our live show. One hand washes the other!
Tell us about the making of one song on the album.
The story of us making the song “Moving Pictures” is, in a way, the story of our band. This song was written five years ago by us, but before The Stepkids existed. It was originally put together in a country-rock style for another group that Tim, Jeff, and I had. But that group ended up falling apart. The group was we three, plus a married couple. We felt like outsiders because this couple always agreed with each other… like “step” kids in that band’s family. So we broke off on our own as three artists working together, and called it The Stepkids. We chose to redo “Moving Pictures” for this album because we felt it was a song where the writing is so strong that it would be powerful in any style.
And once we took the time to constantly edit and rework every performance and writing element over the course of three years in recording this version, we knew we had something we couldn’t turn away from.
Tell us one thing fans in Japan should know about you before your gig here.
Three things, in fact:
- All three of us love donuts. Fresh donuts. Approximately 15-30 minutes out of the fryer. But we aren’t necessarily expecting fans to bring us donuts there.
- Jeff and I are sushi fanatics, so Japan shall be expecting a hefty cash sum from us in total while we are there just for that.
- But, Tim Jeff and I ALL do ramen. We hope Japan has enough for us.
