Back in the UK recently for what would be their final 14 live shows this side of the pond as Bowling For Soup, I took time out with bassist Erik Chandler before the band’s Cardiff show to find out why this really is their ‘Farwell’ UK tour, and what happens next for the Texan power poppers everybody loves.

Thank you taking the time to talk with me today, so let’s start with the reason you are here in the UK right now. How’s the ‘Farewell’ tour been so far?

It’s been fantastic. You know the cliché is to say that every show is better than the last. But every show has been on par and there haven’t been any stinkers…. yet. We’re using a set list for the first time on this tour, just because we’ve got so much lighting and production to get it all worked out and down pat by the time we shoot the live DVD in London on the last show, and so we had to do that. The shows are getting easier, not better but easier coz we’re all relaxing to the feel.

 

The shows that have gone by we’ve adjusted the set order slightly to where it feels best. Last night we got the final set locked down for the DVD and last night was the first night we did it in that particular order. As we were walking offstage, everyone was like, “that’s the one, that’s the set.”

 

Are there any surprises in the set, or will be a ‘Greatest Hits’ set?

 

Not necessarily the ‘Greatest Hits’. There are the hits, but there are also, I think, about five songs off the new album. We’re doing a set that includes 30-35 songs, so we’re doing 2 to 2 and a half hours.

 

So this is the Bowling For Soup ‘Bon Jovi’ Last Big Rock Show set?

 

Yeah exactly that. Our initial plan was to do a 3 hour show, and that’s why we only brought one support band with us this time, but as we started to look at it, it was not feasible due to curfews and door times and we’d being having to open the doors at 6 O’Clock, and that doesn’t work with the way we live on tour, 6 O’Clock is just not compatible at all.

 

As you mentioned the ‘Farewell’ DVD already, correct me if I’m wrong but didn’t you also record an acoustic show at the Union Chapel in London?

 

That will be a separate DVD, and then throughout this tour we are filming a more documentary style DVD as well.

 

So will the DVDs be funded via PledgeMusic like ‘Lunch, Drunk, Love’ was?

 

We haven’t discussed that yet. I doubt it. The PledgeMusic thing was more of an experiment for us. Owning our own label we could’ve done it anyway, so we were like “let’s see what it’s like to get fans intimately and viscerally involved in the album making process” and then let’s see how that effects our relationship with them – will they enjoy it? It was cool though, as almost every day we had fans in the studio with us. Normally when people who aren’t involved in what’s going on are around it really puts a spur in my tail-bone. But everybody was super-fucking-cool and very respectful of what we were doing, and not talking all the time while we were listening to vocals to make sure pitches were right etc.

 

Although there was one person, at one time who made a particular comment about how something wasn’t right. When it was said six icy stares turned back and (they) were like “OK not my place, I’ll shut up.”

 

As this is being billed as the ‘Farewell’ tour – will this really be a final tour or a KISS style ‘Farewell’ where we’ll see you back in a few years?

 

The plan goes like this right now. This will be the last time we will tour this country in this capacity, just with wives, kids, cats, dogs and families. It just doesn’t make sense to us anymore to be 4,000 miles away from home to play 26 dates in row, as that puts stress on life in general. I mean we’re not getting any younger. We’re just trying to keep ourselves healthy and keep our relationships intact. At the same time we don’t wanna run it into the ground. We don’t wanna be playing to a couple of thousands now and then three years later playing down the street in a pub to 40 people. We don’t wanna tarnish the memory of what we done for the fans or us.

 

So will the Acoustic tours be still going ahead?

 

It’s a possibility, nothing has been planned yet. Those tours are short anyway and we only come over for a week at a time, so they might be possible in the future.

 

In regards to your solo project, I hear a distinct ‘90s alternative/guitar rock/pop – Lemonheads/Gin Blossoms style sound. Is that the way your future releases will sound?

 

Yeah, very much so. That’s a great observation. It was very much intentionally written that way. That’s my golden age of music, you know. I mean if people like The Killers and The Strokes bring back ‘80s pop in a updated fashion, then why can’t we bring back great ‘90s alternative guitar music back and introduce that to a new generation?

 

So 2014 will be the band’s 20th anniversary and as I understand it there will be a ‘Greatest Hits’ album released in celebration of that fact? Will it be newly recorded versions of old songs?

 

Yes, that’s exactly what it will be. Hopefully it will include songs from all 14 albums, but all re-recorded for sound quality reasons. The stuff we recorded in 1994 is not going to sound anything like the last album. The idea is that it will be a more of a ‘Best Of’ rather than a ‘Greatest Hits’. We want to include stuff that is out of print and people are unable to get.  We haven’t sat down to discuss it fully yet. It is highly possible that it could be a two disc career retrospective.

 

Thanks for your time today Erik it has been a great honour, we’d also like to thank you for the great music and the great shows over the years too.

 

Thanks Dave.

 

 

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