While in Australia recently for a run of festival and headline shows, we checked in with longtime friends of the AU, Grouplove. Sitting with Christian Zucconi and Andrew Wessen in Sydney, the lads open up about how their trip back Down Under had treated the group.

Coming off the back of their biggest US headline run yet, Zucconi reflects on the venues Grouplove were able to take charge of.

“The shows were great, we did these giant venues in the States that we had never done before. We’re going well.”

“There’s one in New York City, the Hammerstein Ballroom. We sold it out, which was awesome. I used to work there as a kid, I used to stock dressing rooms and stuff so it was sick to be back there. I hadn’t been back there in ten years or something.”

Of course, known for their hectic live shows, Andrew and Christian give a nod to the fan favourite cover of Beastie Boys‘ “Sabotage”.

“I don’t know how that came into the set.” Zucconi says. “I think we were going to do a Rage [Against the Machine] cover and then we decided that “Sabotage” would just go off harder. It’s more up our alley, I’d say.”

“”Sabotage” is just one of those that is a real ripper.” Wessen adds. “We’ve been trying to get that out, but it’s hard to replace.”

Returning to Australia not only with current album BIG MESS in tow, but baby Willa on board as well, both Zucconi and Wessen acknowledge the special place this part of the world holds for them.

“This really is like our second home.” Wessen says. “It sounds cliche but it’s the first place we signed a deal and it’s the first place we really had any buzz or anything. It always does feel like a homecoming in a way. We just got to go to Tasmania for the second time, played Party in the Paddock and it was so fun. It really felt like we were stepping out of Woodstock in 1969, people were crawling out of our tents in the rain…pissing behind cars, running around in space pants. It was wild.”

And so what’s next for Grouplove? A new album is already in the works, so fans can be expecting the band aiming bigger and higher once again.

“It was fun to really write from your subconscious as a group,” Zucconi says. “…just really go in there together for hours and hours. We knew we had it in us.”

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Photo: Yana Yatsuk.

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