Chicago – With Riot Fest approaching, we thought it would be a great time to catch up with one of our favorite bands: Diarrhea Planet. Best New Bands last spoke with the Nashville six-piece in 2015, backstage at Chicago’s Lincoln Hall, when the guys were touring – as per usual because these six men might just be the hardest working musicians around – and diligently working on album number three. In our in-depth interview, guitarists Jordan Smith, Brent Toler, Emmett Miller, and Evan Bird, bassist Mike Boyle, and drummer Ian Bush got serious, discussing the music they’ve been creating and the changes musicians and the music industry are experiencing.
Fast forward to 2016 and Diarrhea Planet is of course still touring hard, but DP has now released that precious third album, titled Turn to Gold (Infinity Cat Recordings). The band also performed on Late Night with Seth Meyers, showing the world just how to get down with four guitars with “Ain’t a Sin to Win.” The guys are #winning alright (insert tiger blood joke here), and to top it off, Diarrhea Planet is performing at not one, but two Riot Fest stops, in Denver and Chicago. Best New Bands caught up with drummer Ian Bush to talk about Riot Fest, the band’s love for Chicago (don’t worry Denver, the guys love you, too, because well, Colorado voted right), and mixing his two loves: music and illustration.
Ian, how are you? How’s tour going?
Doing well! It’s going good. The last couple of days have been pretty incredible, to be honest… We’ve been in Montana, we were in the Black Hills, saw Rushmore. Done a lot of really cool shit these past few days. It’s been great!
I’m so excited you guys are playing Riot Fest! I remember tweeting at Riot Fest that they should have Diarrhea Planet play, and what do you know! [laughs] I’ll take all the credit – no, I’m just joking. I’m sure you guys are thrilled to be playing such a rad fest, and with that both the Denver and Chicago dates. Will you get to enjoy any of the fest dates or are you guys basically in and out for both?
I think for Denver we’ll be there for a bit, and a few of us are trying to stay in Chicago to catch The Hives… It’s one of the best lineups this summer, so we’re going to try to take in as much of it as we can!
Nice! I’ll be seeing you at the Chicago stop. I know you guys have been to Chicago a ton. What do you enjoy most about the Windy City?
Honestly, the people in Chicago have been really good to us, coming out to shows in droves for quite awhile now, and it allows us to play some really cool venues, like Lincoln Hall. It’s been really, really fun for us. I think one of my favorites was this past New Year’s, with two nights with JEFF the Brotherhood, we had Juiceboxxx one night, and Tenement the other night. It was a blast! That was super, super fun.
Oh yeah, I photographed the New Year’s Eve show, and that was a good show! I also saw you guys at another Lincoln Hall show. That’s when I first interviewed DP. I remember you were pretty new to the band still – it was like early 2015 – and mostly just chilled in the corner.
Yeah, this will be my second year, this January.
Now you’re such a fundamental member, having brought your music and artistic skills to the band. How much input did you put into the new album Turn to Gold?
It was kind of the first record that everybody did as a unit. In the past, Jordan and Brent and Emmett would come in with songs pretty well flushed out, and everyone would add their own parts and make it a Diarrhea Planet song. But for this one, we had some songs that were pretty structured but a lot of them were just skeletons, and we came together and all added our input… I’d say seeing them do the last couple of records – Loose Jewels, Aliens [in the Outfield], and I’m Rich [Beyond Your Wildest Dreams] - this one was definitely more of a band effort. As a whole, I think it’s the most cohesive record that they had done, and certainly being a part of that, I got to add to it, [where before] I was playing parts that other people had written. I got to write my own parts, and we were all in it together.
I found myself really relating to “Hot Topic” because the Chicago neighborhood I live in is gentrifying. Though, that seems to be a major problem in most major cities these days, with reversed white flight and an ever growing economic divide. Has gentrification in Nashville affected the music scene greatly?
Yeah, but I wouldn’t say in an entirely negative way. It’s definitely different than it was ten years ago, even five years ago. With people coming in, there’s the influx of people coming in with a lot of money, buying condos, and whatnot – that’s kind of the negative side – but on the plus side, you have a lot of people moving into town who are creative and driven, who want to be a part of the rock music scene or DIY music scene. I would say it’s definitely way bigger than it’s ever been; it’s not the same small, little family that it used to be, but I would say it’s growing in a positive way as more and more bands are either relocating or getting turned on to Nashville that would be in other cities, otherwise. I don’t know if they would’ve had the platform to get going like they have in Nashville now because people are hungry still to see a lot of music, and there’s a definite push in the creative people of Nashville to support local artists and bands. I think the gentrification side – there’s definitely parts that are frustrating, like rent hikes and stuff like that, but you do get a lot of people who are very excited to move to town and bring a different flavor. It makes it interesting to live there – at least for me. “Hot Topic” is about a certain era – the end of that era of the Nashville music scene and the negative stuff that brought on that end, but it doesn’t really touch on the positive side of gentrification.
I think what always continues to surprise me about Diarrhea Planet’s music is how beautiful it is at times, and this is especially true for Turn to Gold. There are so many moments where the melodies just leave you smiling and the glistening guitars put you at ease. It’s interesting, six men, who rock out so hard in person, creating this magical ear candy, that is so beautiful, especially on record. Do you have a favorite track on the album? And do you ever find yourself in awe of the music you make?
Yeah, not to sound like I’m inflating my ego or anything, but I really do love listening to the music we make. I was a fan before I was in the band, and then joining was kind of like a dream come true, in a way. I think we all definitely strive to make very pretty, beautiful music. I really appreciate that compliment. I think with that, my favorite songs on the record would be – Ooh, I love “Dune.” I think “Dune” is a definitely ugh – I think if you’d only listened to Loose Jewels and then you heard “Dune,” you’d be like, “Okay, what the hell is this band doing?” For us, I think it was a natural progression, and it’s a lot more dynamic than a lot of stuff we’ve done in the past. Same goes for “Lie Down.” I love that song, and “Headband.” I really love “Headband.” I’d say those three are the ones I consistently listen to because there’s the jam outro part of “Dune” that’s a treat to play every night, same goes for “Headband” starting out like a machine gun and then going into four-part guitar harmonies, and then at the end giving into this softer, what kind of feels like waves are crashing on you at the end of this long odyssey of a song.
Before ending this, we need to talk about the sick eye candy you make. I saw your new t-shirts on Facebook. How does it feel bringing your two passions together with illustrations and making music?
It’s definitely something that I’m very grateful to be able to do. Forever, I just drew as a hobby, and I looked at people like Perry Shall, who did a lot of the DP album covers – I just love his stuff and loved how he was able to play in bands and also illustrate and make art. In the past couple years, I’ve been working really hard, trying to get better, and you know, when DP was like, “Will you do shirts for us,” before I was in the band, I was like, “Hell yeah, I’d love to!” It’s a dream. If I can keep doing that and hopefully do more art for more bands and hopefully just keep making art in general, that would be the best!
That would be sweet. Help keep the dream alive for Ian and the rest of Diarrhea Planet, by catching DP at Riot Fest Denver on Friday September 2nd at 1:45 p.m. on the Nicole Hoffman Stage and at Riot Fest Chicago on Friday September 16th at 12:45 p.m. on the Rock Stage. Tickets for Riot Fest Denver can be purchased HERE, and tickets for Riot Fest Chicago can be purchased HERE.
Turn to Gold is available for purchase on iTunes and Amazon, thanks to our friends at Infinity Cat Recordings. Follow Diarrhea Planet on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and follow Ian Bush’s Instagram account dedicated solely to his illustrations: @tuff_gus.
Photography by Sarah Hess.
Sarah Hess
After attending The School of the Art Institute in Chicago, Sarah went on to study education at Dominican University, earning a degree in history. When not teaching, writing, or taking in a show, she is most likely to be found with a camera to her eye or hanging out in a darkroom.
You can follow Sarah Hess on twitter at @Sarahhasanh and view her music photography on her website: smhimaging.com.
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