We recently caught up with Rob of the Dublin indie-pop band The Winter Passing during their tour with Moose Blood in the UK and Rob opened up about tour life, new music and what 2016 has in store for the band.
You are currently on tour with Moose Blood in the UK. How has it been so far and how has it been different to past tours you have done?
Tour has been great so far yeah. I guess the main thing that’s different about this tour is every show is sold out and they’re all in big venues. I mean, we’ve played sold out shows before & big venues but this is definitely the biggest UK run we’ve ever been part of since starting the band. But we’re road dawgs, so for the most part, this tour is much the same as any others we’ve done.
Prior to this current tour with Moose Blood, you were out on the road with Losing Sleep. What are some positives and negatives of touring that some may not realize?
The positives are easy I think. We’re here to perform and play shows so that’s obviously the highlight of every day. Meeting new people and experiencing new culture are my favourite things about touring.
There’s a lot of finance & overheads that go into a tour I guess so that can be considered a negative. Not adapting your body & mind for the touring schedule can be a problem also. Having expectations is a MAJOR negative when touring. I feel like if you expect nothing, you’ll achieve more!
How has social media impacted your band (positively or negatively) and why do you think it’s important to have a social media presence?
I think social media has impacted TWP very positively over the past few years, but I think touring with the band helped the social media if that makes sense. In this day and age, social media is very important for any band trying to network their music across the world. I think it is beneficial, but not a necessity.
It sucks that all the social media platforms oblige you to spend money in order to “reach” more people. It can be a very overpopulated market in that sense where nobody is actually listening to the music, just looking at stuff with their eyes. It’s beneficial and accessible for people to discover new music via social media websites, but I’m still a firm believer in people reacting more to new music based on seeing it live and going to shows and also going to your local record store and purchasing music.
You released your debut album last year, are you guys writing/working on any new music currently and do you have plans to release anything later on this year?
Yes, we’ve been writing a lot of new material as of recently. We’ve got a lot of new ideas and the addition of a new drummer has brought a whole new dynamic to the band. We may release something new this year, but I’m not sure right now.
You are signed to 6131 Records, an amazing independent label! What are some perks of being signed to an independent label like 6131 Records?
Yeah we’re signed to 6131 Records, they handle all our affairs in North America. The biggest perk of being on the label is mainly just how supportive the people at the label are towards us. They give a shit about us which many labels do not. It’s also really cool to be part of a label with so many incredible bands & artists.
After this tour with Moose Blood ends, do you have more touring plans in the year?
Yeah we’ve got more tours and shows booked throughout 2016, you’ll find out about them in the not too distant future I’m sure.
