Just under a week has passed since We Were Promised Jetpacks’ final South by Southwest (SXSW) performance, yet the band has already embarked on a two-month-long North American tour. This schedule, combined with an earlier European tour and a solid string of SXSW shows, means members of We Were Promised Jetpacks have found 2012 crammed with action.
The recent festival in Austin proved to be a very positive experience for the band, according to singer Adam Thompson.
“Oh yeah, we enjoyed it,” he said. “We thought we played well at all our performances, and it made for a good time.”
With such a full calendar, constant travel has become the norm for the Scotland natives, especially in the United States, where the tour stretches from coast to coast.
“It’s a lot of driving,” Thompson said from a moving vehicle somewhere near Colorado. “A lot of watching stuff on laptops, a lot of playing shows.”
The band is currently playing in support of their sophomore album In the Pit of the Stomach, which came out toward the end of last year. Thompson said the band feels happier with the result of their latest album compared to the first, partially due to a longer recording process.
“During the first album, we didn’t really know what was going on,” he said. “We felt like it was more of a big deal. But with the second album it was like ‘yeah, another album,’ but we were more confident, and we had recorded it better.”
WWPJ carries a multitude of genre classifications, apparently falling somewhere between the realms of indie, post-punk, pop-rock, alternative and emo. Yes, some listeners describe their sound as “Scottish emo.” Thompson points out that these labels are not self-imposed.
“I don’t care and it doesn’t really matter,” he said about genre. With a chuckle, he joked, “But we’ll go with Scottish emo.”
In a similar attitude, Thompson seems to not be caught up with how fans react to their live show. The feeling he wants fans to walk away with, in his laughing words: “Eh, that was alright.”
Really, though, Thompson says as long as the band is honest and puts on their best performance, then they have done all they possibly can.
“We’re just up on stage doing something we have fun doing,” he said.
Wisconsin will be new territory for WWPJ, and Thompson admits he has not heard much about the dairy state.
“Well, before we went to bed last night we did watch ‘That ‘70s Show,’” Thompson offered.
Looks like Thompson will have to wait until Saturday to see the 21st century version of Wisconsin for himself. To partake in WWPJ’s maiden voyage into the state, pick up tickets for the March 24 Madison show on The Majestic Theatre’s website.
