The Struts Interview At WDHA's Rock The Rock Fest 2024

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Terrie Carr and Mike Anthony interview The Struts at WDHA's Rock The Rock Fest 2024

Transcript

00:00We are live from WDHA's Rock the Rock Fest 2024 and we are here with the struts when I see the

00:13struts coming I think Mike stop me if I'm wrong because I know you think the same thing yeah go

00:19ahead here come the rock stars oh yeah here come the rock stars from somebody who came from a

00:25generation of rock stars and of just loving to see and hear the music together and feel the music

00:34um you guys are total rock radio rock stars and we love that because I think we need that in music

00:40thank you yeah thank you kindly Mike and I were just talking about um seeing you guys at Madison

00:47Square Garden I guess uh for opening for foos was it foo fighters yeah you guys at the garden a couple

00:54years back I guess maybe it was 2018 um when you wow the crowd at Madison Square Garden and it's an

01:01unforgettable show for the opening band that right then and there kind of tells me like bam like

01:09these guys are are going to be the next rock radio star so talk to me about you know you're opening

01:13at Madison Square Garden for someone um you know what is what has that been like for you guys the

01:18last couple of years on the rock radio train especially has has been pretty impactful for

01:23the band yeah I mean uh speaking of sort of like opening up for people we just did like two and a

01:29bit weeks for Queens of the Stone Age uh up in Canada which was in some ways like a very similar

01:38experience where you kind of just have to get out there and um do almost like a festival set kind of on

01:46steroids and and it's kind of like a challenge where you have to get everyone up and jumping

01:53and on your side by by the end of it that's that's the challenge but yeah it's a good challenge to

02:00have yeah absolutely and Luke you do it so well when I think of you know this new generation of you

02:08know rock stars and front men who are out there just killing it with a crowd we don't really get

02:14that many we have bands that have great catalogs of music but you are you are that generation of of

02:21rock star that's bringing it to the fans and we need it we need it we need it so there's such a

02:25buzz around your set tonight and I think any uh festival or any show that you play on there's kind

02:31of this cool factor when the struts are on the bill oh totally it's like people want to people flock to

02:36see you guys and it's like when this lineup was announced you guys were one of the names that stuck

02:41out as wow we got to check out the struts oh wow yeah absolutely absolutely um to get it raised in

02:47hell the first song that we got from pretty vicious I think was kind of like that great anthem

02:51for 2023 and 2024 did that did some of that come out of you know a period of us just being kind of

02:58like in like womp womp womp womp ville you know for for a couple of years you know that was a lovely

03:05voice um you know and then we we get this like amazing I remember the first time I heard it and I

03:10thought man this is like a perfect incredible rock anthem it's got everything it's got those great

03:15guitar riffs it's got that phenomenal hooky chorus um a little bit of pop sensibility but still rocks

03:22was that your idea to come out with something like that first and just tell everybody you know

03:27life is great let's have a good time I'm not necessarily wasn't saying that life was great

03:34particularly uh but I think the real the real goal with that song in particular compared to everything

03:41else on on the record um just felt like it was the perfect song to just show everyone who had been

03:51following the band for a number of years now like oh we're back with something that dare say sounds like

03:58a bit familiar and upbeat and has a lot of like struts quality to it but still was like a little

04:03a little bit different um and we felt like it was a good way to set up a song like pretty vicious for

04:11instance which is a which is way different from way to most things that we've done so it was kind of

04:18the it was the warm-up tact it was it was the I love struts at madison sky garden I love I love that

04:26I absolutely love that well I think that you've been a band and I think is the band is the personalities

04:31of the band are so big on stage people always want to box people into something what are they

04:36are there an alternative band are they this band do they have that sound do they have and I just think

04:43sometimes we just have to look at bands and say no they're a rock and roll band man you go out when I

04:48when I see like I wouldn't go to a stretch show and wear like just my hoodie like I think there are

04:54bands you go to an experience you know when I'm watching like say the rolling stones like rock and

04:59roll circus or something the next day I'm feeling a little bit cooler and I think that you guys are

05:05one of those bands that kind of bring that to the fans I think there's definitely this kind of super

05:10coolness factor uh to the struts and that's so needed in music I mean is that is that a conscious

05:16thing or is it just who you guys all are I don't know Adam and Jed like tell me

05:22I don't think we're cool I think we're cool I think you've got a yeah I mean because I mean look

05:30at Luke he's got what he's got like an ass guy yeah like he just looks like a he looks like a rock

05:35star man yeah or an Austin Poe's could be like think of me and then think of the polar opposite

05:42like I look at you and you're the guy I don't look like after I watch the rolling

05:46rock and roll circus these are the guys I want to look like after I watch the rock and roll

05:51I think when we started the band like there was a lot of bands doing making music and they just

05:56looked a bit you know nothing exciting to watch on stage and I think we when we were playing the

06:01early festivals and stuff we wanted to be the band that you know yes yes yeah look I'm a girl

06:08in the crowd I'm a girl who grew up looking at Bowie and Jagger and all these amazing artists who I

06:13felt so privileged and honored to have been able to see so I want to go out and I want to see somebody

06:19who's bigger than life you know I think sometimes we want to see people who are cooler than us

06:22definitely you guys are cooler than us and that's the beauty of a strut set no you look pretty cool

06:28right now I like the outfit oh thank you thank you very much I might borrow that for this stage

06:32tonight I'm not cool enough for a cat suit for me it's more like a kitten suit you know like I'm

06:35and you guys are also coming back to Jersey doing a headlining show with the stone pony summer stage

06:42stone pony summer stage loves you guys so I'll look for that date in August I want to make sure

06:47that everybody knows that if you're here to see the struts tonight and they're on the bill and you want

06:50to see them doing their headlining show they're going to be at the stone pony summer stage

06:53and Luke you've also talked about yourself as kind of almost like a psychotic songwriter

06:58um I remember reading like a little quote like where you know um and I love I love that because

07:02it's kind of like you know the mind is all over the place talk to me about your songwriting process

07:07too because you always seem like an upbeat guy yeah oh no I get terribly miserable really yeah you

07:13don't look like a miserable person yeah you got that big smile on and you just it's all an act

07:18it's an act okay I got that I got that um no but I guess the the process with a lot of the lyrics

07:25especially with the last couple of albums were mainly uh drawn from like a lot of true experiences

07:34and I think the psychotic uh reference and or or the way I've been kind of described or I've described

07:44myself is uh it's something that you can't really turn off from time to time so it can I can be inspired in

07:53in very odd situations inappropriate situations where I shouldn't be and and I've had to sort of

08:03step away and be like no I have to write this down otherwise I won't forget it right that's the only

08:08psychotic part of myself I think I hope so I think that makes for a great song though it makes it does

08:13it does makes for great songwriting and there always seems to be such a great synergy with you guys you

08:18know when you're on stage performing live there's a great chemistry are you guys as good friends uh uh

08:23uh on stage and off stage as as you appear to be yeah I think so I would we all live in LA and

08:29to be honest we spend so much time together we tour a lot you know we're we don't really stop so when we

08:36do have the time off tour I guess we if it's a we might go a week without seeing each other but that

08:43doesn't feel like a week is it you know we've been in each other's pockets for so long right right um

08:48yeah no one takes it personal yeah that's the thing we're not like where's everyone if you need a little

08:53down time nobody takes it yeah we know if we want you know we all live like within half an hour of

08:58each other so we can just get you know pick it up where we left off so it's cool you know we we've

09:03been doing this for so long now and I don't think we could do it for this long if we weren't friends

09:07yeah absolutely we've seen so many bands come and go for many different reasons but I think it is a

09:12testimony to how well like a unit can work together because there's some we say there's

09:17so much there's so much more to being in a band than just being good at your instrument or being

09:21a good vocalist like it's such a holistic picture for anything long term yeah so I think that's kind

09:28of like how the four of us yeah you're married to three other people like that's exactly what it's

09:33like I see more of these two than I do my wife no question about it absolutely no question about it

09:38you know and you've got those days where you don't want to see anybody and yet you've got

09:42a jive with everybody and it's it's it's not it's not an easy thing but man you guys are just killing

09:47it out there an amazing band of rock stars music needs it radio needs it and uh we are so psyched to

09:56have you on our thank you no we appreciate you guys thanks for the support yeah thank you absolutely

10:017 15 tonight get here for the struts I don't want to hear anybody call me tomorrow when I'm on the air

10:06and be like I missed them we've been giving you set times we've been letting you know and the struts

10:10are definitely one of those bands that everybody wants to see tonight they bring it live if you've

10:16not seen them yet you will be blown away guys thanks so much for stopping by thank you very much

10:21so appreciate it the struts on the rock the rockfest stage and let's play the band on the rock of new

10:27jersey 105.5 WDHA

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