originally printed in 2011.

Words by Julian Casablancas. Photos by Chris Searl.

‘All tours start with a sense of excitement. There are the shows, which are the focus of the day, but strangely, after a while, they are something that happens in amongst all the random stuff that seems to come, endlessly, as you try to get to the end of the dates. From the best sandwich you've ever had in your life to the rude security dude who uses the little power they have to kill a Happy Birthday chorus, the days are full of tiny, endless, fascinating and inane moments. And rarely do you talk about the shows, but about the randomness...’

‘Not a huge fan of the automatic encore. It's so staged and kinda insincere with the clapping etc. In Brisbane, after an encore, they'd started breaking down the gear but the crowd was so insistent we went back out while the crew rushed to reboot computers and repower amps. That's how it should be... that's a real encore, I guess.’

‘I never really get to hear how we sound out front. Our engineer is amazing (so I’m told), but it's never quite what you imagine it to sound like, especially at sound check when the room's empty.’

‘The Farah Bass - Russian made American Girl.’

‘I'll Try Anything - and, more specifically, I'll sign anything. People talk about hair metal in the 80's and how girls were crazy etc, but it's still kinda like that now.’

‘It's not true that all airports and hotels seem the same - they're not. It's just what you do in them that make it seem that way. The band was a slave to Hungry Jack's. From airports to 3am drunkenly eating alone, we now call it Lonely Jack's. Those who eat it, lie in an emotionally lonesome den of regrets... traveling is mostly formalized waiting.’