The Coathangers have been touring their garage rock-punk style for ten years. With a new album, 'Nosebleed Weekend', the US band will return to Australia this October.
Stephanie Luke, known as the Rusty Coathanger, explains how the band has developed over time. “It’s a natural progression, everything we do from the song process to playing live; it’s just that natural progress that happens over time.”
There is a distinct difference with this album as the sound is more refined while still staying true to the girl's style. Stephanie says having input from a producer helped to push their sound forward as well. “We had a producer this time that helped us out, they pushed us creatively. We would practise the songs over and over again before we would record them,” she says.
“We spent months practising the songs. We would practise from sun up to sun down, which meant we really pushed ourselves forward and made that progress.”
‘Nosebleed Weekend’ was released off the back of their successful fourth album, ‘Suck My Shirt’. With their music in demand, Stephanie says there is a sense of pressure that is unavoidable. “Yeah, there is always a sense of pressure. You always want people to love it, but if they don’t there isn’t much you can do. We just cross our fingers and hope it goes over good,’” she says.
“We just keep our heads down and just do what we do. We just stay true to ourselves and that’s the important thing for us when making music, to show our true selves.”
Touring is a large part of the band's life and something they thoroughly enjoy. Stephanie joyfully talks about their upcoming Australian tour. “This will be our second time touring in Australia and it’ll be amazing to go back and play. It’s a great feeling that they want us back, that’s a big thing for us,” she says.
“Touring in the States and in Australia is kinda the same really. The people are great. The shows are great. The only real difference is we will get to see another part of the world, which is amazing. The flight is a difference too. It’s a bitch of a flight to get there, but it’s amazing we get to go back so that’s not too bad!”
Performing live and touring different countries has not only made the girls extremely close, it has also had a hand in developing their style. “You miss friends and family and the niceties that you take for granted like having your own bed, time to yourself and being able to watch shitty TV on Netflix. But the trade-off is we get to play and meet new people and friends, so it’s worth it.”
Along with entertaining a crowd and performing, Stephanie explains the girls really enjoy getting up close to the cities they visit. “We really enjoy the days in between when the locals take us out to go on hikes, see something famous, try new things and food. That is really a blessing to be able to see different places and make connections with people.”
Stephanie explains the band will continue creating along their current path. “After Australia we will tour more. We are gonna shoot some videos for the new songs off the album [and] play a bunch of shows. Next spring we will tour Europe and the US again and then eventually we will start writing new material.”
Written by Ellen Cook
The Coathangers Shows
Sun 2 Oct- Yours & Owls Festival (Woollongong)Wed 5 Oct - Northcote Social Club (Melbourne)
Thu 6 Oct - Newtown Social Club (Sydney)
Fri 7 Oct - Black Bear Lodge (Brisbane)
Sat 8 Oct - The Northern (Byron Bay)
