With a new video to their latest single, 'Patches In The Sky', Balloons Kill Babies are currently in the middle of a national tour.
The instrumental band from Brisbane have clocked plenty of tour miles... here they share some of the truths they have found from a life lived on the highway. “Over the years,” begins Christian 'Twiggy' Carter, “we've been lucky enough to tour around this lovely, sunburnt country of ours, whether it was due to playing in another band or filling that most vague of spots, the roadie; we've learned a few things along the way that will always remain true, no matter what... and we'd like to share them with you.”
5. Roadworks Are Everywhere
All you need to do is hit the Bruce Highway for more than an hour and you'll discover roadworks. Drive a little further and you'll discover more roadworks... in fact the further you drive the more roadwork sites you'll come across, each of them forcing you to stop for what seems like forever, counting down the minutes until one of you finally snaps.
4. Dodgy Truck Stops Often Provide The Best Sustenance
Ok, so that's not entirely true. However, you'll find that after your first eight hours of driving your tastes start to shift and the only food that's worth eating has been sitting under a heat lamp for two days, in its own grease; or looks fresh but you're not quite sure if it's real. You will find these foods start to comfort you, even if it's just to smooth out the hangovers.
3. Musical Variety Is A Necessity
There's only so long you can go from gig to gig, listening to loud guitars, loud drums (loud everything!) and still keep your sanity. It's at this point in the trip all the childhood hits come out. Suddenly even the most brutal metal band is singing along to Seal, All Saints or Whitney Houston... and doing a pretty good job of it too!
2. You'll Learn Things About Your Band Mates & Crew You Wish You Could Unlearn
I guess this kinda ties in with finding out everyone in the van likes listening to Seal, but it's almost guaranteed someone will let loose something a little too personal. This usually isn't some, big horrible thing, just something you really didn't need to know, like peculiar bathroom habits or those interesting little kinks that make us all special.
1. It's Totally Worth It
You'll spend hours in a cramped van with a bunch of other smelly people, scoffing down truck-stop food, singing All Saints, listening to awkward stories while sitting at roadworks for an hour. Sleep will be a distant memory, your ears will constantly be ringing but it's totally, 100 percent worth it and the minute you get back home you'll want to hit the road again.
{youtube}b5raYWcw11k{/youtube}
Balloons Kill Babies Tour Dates
Fri 17 Jul - The Bald Faced Stag (Sydney)Sat 18 Jul - Tattersalls (Penrith)
Fri 24 Jul - Worldsend Hotel (Adelaide)
Sat 25 Jul - Luxor Live (Melbourne)
Sun 26 Jul - Brunswick Hotel (Melbourne)
Sat 1 Aug - New Globe Theatre (Brisbane)
