Portugal. The Man Tour With Live Nation

Inspired by the writing styles of the Beatles and the sounds of Wu-Tang, John Gourley and Zach Carothers started something bigger than any beginning artist could imagine.

After a fall through with their project band Anatomy of a Ghost, Gourley and Carothers left Wasilla, Alaska and relocated to Portland, Oregon in 2005 where they formed the band we know today, Portugal. The Man. The Indie band will be performing at the House of Blues Anaheim on July 11.

Completing items on their wish list they thought would never be possible, Portugal. The Man has performed with artists Daft Punk, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and The Rolling Stones at music festivals Bonaroo, Outside Lands and Coachella.

Since the formation of the band in 2005, Gourley, Carothers, Noah Gersh, Kyle O’Quin and Kane Ritchotte have successfully produced seven albums and three EPs. Through Atlantic Records and producer Danger Mouse Portugal. The Man released “Evil Friends” at the beginning of the month.

Currently touring around the states to perform and promote, the ‘Man’ Gourley spoke to Orange County Concert Guide from Indianapolis.

OCCG: How would you personally describe yourself from other artists in your genre?
JG: Well it is rock n roll. That’s to say it is all about expression and voicing our opinion when we have them and doing whatever we want.

OCCG: You are part of the Live Nation’s one to watch tour. How is it to work with Live Nation and to be part of that?
JG: I mean it’s cool. It makes touring more affordable. And that’s not saying they are giving us hundreds of money. But being part of their tour makes it more affordable. It’s all been good.

OCCG: Have you played in orange county before and if not what are you looking forward to?
JG: I believe we have. We have toured a lot. I mean we have toured so fucking much. It’s something where I can’t even place half of the towns we have been to.

I love to just go out and eat local food. That’s what the band has always been about. When we go out of town we are all about supporting the local businesses. Not just come in, grab your bag of money and run out. You spend money at local businesses and local shops and you have to respect people’s community and that’s what we do.

OCCG: You played at Coachella. What was that like?
JG: Coachella was cool. It is massive. I think some of these festival, Bonaroo and Coachella are different…on opposite ends of the spectrum.

Coachella it is all about who is there. “Lindsay Lohan is here, holy fucking shit. I can’t believe it! That is just how it is and there is something very cool about that. You are really part of this world you never get to see.

Then you go to Bonaroo and it is raining, it’s muddy and dusty and people just don’t care because that’s what it’s all about. Being in the mud. I think all of that, the festival experience in general it’s always exciting and its always a different experience. I loved Coachella this year.

OCCG: Have you had a defining moment in your career thus far?
JG: Yea. We never expected to play at any of these festivals. I never expected to play at Coachella. (laugh) for whatever reason I did not. It doesn’t happen… it just wasn’t on my list. It was on my wish list. The wish list you write down because you feel like you need to write down. But you never really expect to do it.

OCCG: So what can fans expect at your show?
JG: It’s all about interpretation. I want to play our songs the way they need to be played that night. And we play bits of everything. I think it’s more of us being visually excited as well. It will look cool, sound good. (Laughing) Is that like the coolest thing I could say too. It will look good and sound cool?

OCCG: And how is it going to look good? Do you do anything out of the ordinary?
JG: Yea we have projections. Set up is very important to me. I’m a movie nerd and a music nerd. I think the visual element is a huge part of what we do.

OCCG: Do you all contribute to designing that?
JG: I do all the visual stuff with friends of mine. I’ll draw a lot of things, I do the album covers and all the t-shirts. Then the stage stuff was designed by Dirt Empire in New York.

OCCG: Do you have a favorite song to perform? If so what is it and why?
JG: I think the setlist is one of the most difficult things to put together. And it ends up just being something that flows really well. That’s my favorite thing of touring is putting a set list together that flows. And a lot of people don’t really understand the importance of that. So I just want to say trust. Trust us that we are editing ourselves and figuring out what will work out best live, and don’t be offended if your request isn’t met because our setlist will be better because of it. Who knows sometimes we throw in some request.

OCCG: What is next for the band?
JG: We just released our album Evil Friends with Atlantic Records and produced by Danger Mouse. We will probably work on some live music and who knows maybe we will put out some EPS. I think I kind of want that rolling out.

OCCG: How was it working with Atlantic Records and Danger Mouse?
JG: It was amazing. Atlantic is the best label. I love them, they are like family and they have amazing history. As for Brian, Brian is the best producer around and I will stand by that.

OCCG: What tips can you tell starting artists? From your own experience.
JG: I’m going to give people plain white advice. Get ready for a lot of disappoint, a lot of failure, a lot of hard work, a few shining moments of hope and feeling of reaching that goal for a split second before you fall back down. Know what you’re doing is good. Be self-aware. Like if you don’t believe in it it is not going to work. If you believe in it and it is not good…fuck man its still not going to work and that sucks. That is the shittiest side of music.

OCCG: What do you guys do for fun outside of music? While you’re on tour do you guys go out and do things?
JG: Yea, we watch movies. A lot of movies. We watch ‘It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia’ and ‘Arrested Development.’ We watched This is The End last night. We are big fans of comedy.

Yea I guess our fun thing when we aren’t on stage (laughing)…I guess our fun thing is just talking shit. Just talking shit all day long. That’s what happens when you hang with five dudes. ALL DAY, EVERY DAY.

OCCG: How is that?
JG: You make serious, big deep connections. I mean they are like real relationships. (laughing) You are basically in a relationship with however many people you are on tour with. And right now it’s ten, ten people are on tour with us right now. All the shit talking it is just finding humor in the everyday. You get up on stage and you really think you’re that fucking cool. But you’re not. Nobody is. Everybody gets off stage, sits down on that tour bus and it may sound cool but it’s just a bus. It’s just where you are living.

OCCG: Who would you collaborate with if you haven’t already?
JG: We’ve done a lot of that. I think I’d like to do something with Slo-Mo. I really like what he does.There is something about that scene that is really punk rock. EDM or whatever you want to call the electronic music. It’s all internet based….

Punk fucking died out when people started putting studs in their leather jackets.

OCCG: Random question, what is your favorite drink?
JG: You have an easy band here. I’ll give you three and I won’t give you a favorite because they are all on the same level. We roll Pabsts, Tecate, or Modello. And that’s a pretty strict drink.

OCCG: So beer fans?
JG: We are pretty punk in that respect. It’s cheap light beer and I guess we drink Bourbon as well. Straight up Bourbon.

OCCG: Anything else you would like your fans to know?
That we love you …which is a no brainer.