As we’ve talked about many times before, FIDLAR is one of those new bands you need to know. We showed you why multiple times and at Lollapalooza, we caught up with the Los Angeles punk rockers to hear the method behind their madness. Though the storm threw a wrench into all of our plans, we managed to chat with Max and Brandon about why they prefer house parties and moshing, and what it’s like touring with The Hives.
DK: Was the crowd as crazy or as energetic as you would have expected?
Brandon: Probably not as crazy as the whole tornado thing. We had just finished playing and went to go to an interview and the power cut out and we were confused. Being from L.A., we’re not used to that. We’re used to earthquakes.
Max: And even earthquakes don’t happen so often. Maybe once you’ll feel it and that’s it. We don’t have those disasters where you need to evacuate, knock on wood.
Brandon: It was crazy because it was totally nice weather out when they said we had to leave. Then like an hour later the sky exploded.
DK: What did you think of the set and the roaring mosh pit that opened up?
Brandon: I was surprised. I was really stoked to play Lollapalooza, but we were playing at 1 on a Saturday at a festival, so we had low expectations. Going to the show, thinking also that we played the night before and it was a late night, we didn’t know how we’d be able to get going that early. It ended up being a rad crowd and you get so fired up when you see that.
Max: We come from playing house parties in L.A. we don’t play festivals like this.
DK: What does that tell you?
Brandon: We’re very, very lucky and fortunate about everything.
DK: The one thing that crowds can pick up on immediately is authenticity. That’s one the things that they can relate to.
Brandon: There’s not very much bullshit in this band. We just do what we want to do.
Max: I’m still blown away how everything is going. We literally played a house party and a DIY in L.A. three weeks ago and now we’re playing at an organized festival.
Brandon: We’ve all done music for a while and played at different venues. Especially in L.A. there’s so many different venues where you have to pay to play and you’re playing with weird bands that don’t make sense. When we were starting out, we wanted to play our own shows, like a house party, where everyone could come and it’s free.
Max: Underage kids could bring 40s and hang out. It’s just a different vibe. Everyone is having fun and there’s no restrictions on anything.
Brandon: It’s better than being at a 21+ show at some lounge or something charging $12 to come in, I mean, I wouldn’t go to that show. I like going to see bands at house parties.
Max: We like the rowdiness of it. Once in a while you’ll get that at the venues. When we were starting out, no one would come to our venue shows since no one knew who we were. That’s why we like house parties. All of these kids would get rowdy and that’s what’s fun when they’re having fun with us. It’s not like a bunch of hipsters if you know what I mean.
Brandon: I’d rather buy a 40 and kick it in the driveway than pay $8 for a drink. This last party we played in Fullerton, a guy got onto the roof and got 20 feet into the air and jumped into the crowd and they broke his fall.
