They’ve already wowed Halifax—now they’re off to conquer Europe
Erica Eades, Assistant Arts Editor
“Check out that guy over there – I’ve been sitting here trying to figure out what his deal is.”
John Mullane is talking about the man a few seats away from us who has been having loud, exaggerated cell phone conversations for the better part of an hour.
That’s the problem with interviews in coffee shops, says the In-Flight Safety frontman: too many distractions.
But it’s no surprise that Mullane is having difficulty concentrating these days. Between writing an album, signing with an independent record label in the UK and planning a wedding, the Halifax-based musician has a lot on his mind.
Now the band will be adding touring to their already packed schedule. Their March 4 show at the Paragon is part of their east coast send-off for a tour that will take them to Texas for the South By Southwest (SXSW) music festival, and then on to Europe.
“We feel really lucky with our career right now,” says Mullane of being chosen to represent the Maritimes at SXSW. “We know a lot of young bands who are struggling to get heard, and I totally understand that.”
The European tour is the result of In-Flight Safety’s recent signing with Conehead UK—an opportunity that came about after a friend overseas began passing their album around.
“He just happened to find, miraculously, two different people who were into it enough that they wanted to pick our record up,” says Mullane (the guys have also signed with German label, Waggle Daggle, which may or may not be the name of a bizarre sex act).
“We’ll be playing with a lot of crazy German bands with leather pants and stuff, I imagine,” Mullane jokes as he discusses their upcoming shows in eastern Europe.
With a yet-to-be-titled album in the works, the band will also be using these tours as a way to test out their new material.
Though Mullane stresses that the album is far from being finished, he believes it will sound significantly different from their previous work. Drawing influences from bands they idolize such as the Smiths and Interpol, Mullane says audiences can expect an increase in dueling guitars; with keyboardist Daniel Ledwell taking a break from the keys and taking on the role of second-guitarist.
The new album will also be much lighter than their 2009 release, We Are an Empire, My Dear, which the band recorded independently on their label, Night Danger.
“Our last record was sort of a darker place,” says Mullane. “This one is a bit more ring-y.”
After spending a month overseas, In-Flight Safety will return to the east coast for a series of ECMA shows in Charlottetown. But just two weeks later, they’ll be heading back to the UK to perform at festivals in both Brighton and Liverpool.
“I’ve been fantasizing about getting a flat in London, so I can just stay there to shop for jeans when I’m not playing,” jokes Mullane, “but that’ll be too expensive.”
With a growing international fan-base, two European record deals, and a fourth album underway, I suspect that dream may become a reality any day now.
In-Flight Safety will be playing tonight (Mar. 4) at the Paragon Theatre on Gottingen Street.
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