As Blanche DuBois once said, “Whoever you are, I have always depended on the kindness of strangers.” Sure, things might not have turned out quite so cheerily for Tennessee Williams’ tragic heroine, but for Brisbane blues rock trio Transvaal Diamond Syndicate, the idea is fundamental to their survival.

The TDS fan base is a sprawling, hands-on affair, and when the band members have found themselves in need of help, their fans have been ready to step up. It’s a useful group to cultivate, especially when faced with the varying fortunes of life on the road.

“It’s been really up and down lately,” lead singer Christian Tryhorn admits. He sounds focused but weary. As it turns out, that’s with good reason. “We got our second tour van this week, after the first broke down outside of Brissy. But this second one has broken down around ten times, so we finally pulled over yesterday outside of Wollongong and had to get a tow truck to the gig, directly to the Spring Street Social in Sydney. We unloaded all the gear from the tow truck and then went in and played the show, and now we’re just kicking around Sydney while it’s in getting fixed. It’s been interesting. The shows have been really good, but the logistics have been a fucking nightmare. I hate to ever cancel a show, so you’ve just got to dig in and find some way to get there.”

It’s kind of rock’n’roll – stepping out from the tow truck and right onto stage – but when so much of your livelihood depends on touring, finding yourself with a broken down van is a serious setback. This is compounded by the fact the lads are right on the cusp of releasing a fresh double EP, The Shadow & The Shackle, after successfully funding an Indiegogo campaign. Lead single ‘The River’ has already dropped and offers a fine taste of the split sounds to come.

“They [the EPs] are definitely complementary. We grew up in the grunge and heavy Aussie rock era of the ’90s, and that’s always been a big influence. And then I hit 30,” Tryhorn laughs. “I started listening to blues, to the slide guitar for the first time, and that came together. That was my new passion, but I still do love rock. Up until now we’ve been trying to blend those two styles, but I thought we might be polarising our fans a little. So the EP we finished a few weeks ago was the heavier one, and that’s called The Shadow, and the blues one is called The Shackle.”

As a result, the next half of the year is shaping up to be an important time for TDS. With their transport dramas, not being able to hit the road would see them skating thin ice – but it’s at exactly times like these when the connections they’ve made over six years of touring come to light.

“The first van broke down outside of Brisbane, only an hour into the trip, and we had these five gigs booked down south. We were totally stuffed, we didn’t have the money to pay for a hire van or flights, so we put the call out and one of our fans got in touch. He had a couple of weeks off work and had a van, and he could take us! It’s crazy stuff. We’ve been on the road now and had people who’ve heard about the new van breaking down, and they’ve come up and bought us drinks, put us up at their houses. This guy who’s a mechanic went out of his way to come and have a look at the van. All the little things like that, particularly this weekend when you realise that you are under a bit of pressure and things aren’t going that well, if you’ve established good relationships with your fans, they can put their hand up to help. It’s all karma.”

Karma doesn’t always come easy, of course. There really are few bands out there who work so hard and with such passion as TDS. This latest tour will see them undertake three months of intense gigging, from Wollombi Music Festival to headline performances across the country. Vehicular hurdles notwithstanding, it’s the kind of roaming lifestyle that makes you long for the open air and bonfires, music and strange conversation. Most people would find the idea appealing, but it takes some serious effort to keep that life rolling.

“We’ve got here through hard work, really busting a nut for six years, playing 150 shows a year all around Australia,” says Tryhorn. “We’ve met so many awesome fans, it’s all been about connecting. These are the people who put us up. Like, we never have accommodation plans. We rock up to a gig and meet people, maybe stay up a little later than other bands and we always end up at someone’s house on a couch. Times that by five years, and we have a good network of fans now, and I wouldn’t want to do it any other way. Just flying in and flying out, do maybe three or four weekends of big shows a year, it’s not us. I’d like to continue the kind of relationship we have now, if we can. Keep touring, while still being able to take a step back every now and again.”