Top Turbowolf tips – yoga and writing lists

Fresh off a tour with their musical heroes Death From Above 1979, Bristol band Turbowolf are now undertaking a European headline tour, the UK leg of which culminates with a hometown show at the Marble Factory on April 22. They are also releasing their second album, Two Hands, this month as well as a limited edition Record Store Day single, Solid Gold.

“It takes us so long to write good music, said singer Chris Georgiadis. “We don’t want to rush it; don’t want to put a bad album out every year instead of a good one every few years.” Besides, they’re time has recently been taken up with touring not only with DFA79 but also Royal Blood. Chris added: “Royal Blood were such lovely guys – they were such high profile shows and a lot of the fans hadn’t heard of us before. Now we have friends in Berlin, Hamburg etc.”

While you might imagine a rock’n’roll band would power their way through relentless tours with booze, questionable substances and take outs it’s a different story in Turbowolf-land. One of yoga and lists. (Talking of lists, we were inundated with requests to include Turbowolf on our top 29 Bristol songs list – sorry guys!)

“I have been getting really into yoga,” said Chris. “It’s a good base to start the day. Yoga and lists. Writing lists is my number one tip; sometimes you can feel like there’s so much to do and not enough time and it’s important to eat well and stay healthy.” So there you go. It seems to be working wonders for these guys.

Hailed as one of the best live bands in Bristol, Turbowolf are now signed to Search & Destroy, a subsidiary of Universal Music, have attracted a growing legion of fiercely loyal followers. Chris said: “We have a really good fan-base. Without our fans we wouldn’t have anything. Our audience is full of all kinds of people from all walks of life – music is for everyone, it’s universal.”

And speaking of their live shows, he said: “We want to get to a point when playing songs live where we can be free on stage – where we are not really conscious of the playing so our energies can go into putting on a performance. Not so much a performance but an experience. We can have fun with it and not get caught up in the mechanical side of things. It creates an energy which is felt by the audience and then they give it back to us. You are always learning as a musician and performer.”

Asked about his relationship with the city in which he’s lived for 15 years now, Chris said: “There’s a few reasons to be excited about Bristol music. I’ve seen Idles, The St Pierre Snake Invasion and Abort Abort and thought they were good.”

“Our favourite venue was the Croft and sadly that’s closed now, but there are plenty of good ones out there – the Exchange and Stag, the Fleece which I read might have to close – there’s a petition people should sign. It’s so important. Without music, without art, I don’t know what we’d do with ourselves.”

See Turbowolf play live at the Marble Factory on April 22. More information and tickets, at: www.motionbristol.com/events/single-event/503-turbowolf