Interview With Diarrhea Planet

We had the chance to talk to the guys from Diarrhea Planet in advance of their SXSW and NYC shows, here’s how it went:

Okay, so you guys are obviously known for your crazy live absurd shows. What’s the most insane stunt you’ve pulled off at a show other than your dangling guitar solo last year at Gov Ball.

It wasn’t even us, it was the crowd! This happened on two separate occasions. The crowd will form a huge human period. They were like 5 deep on the bottom. It was taller than us on the stage.

That’s gotta be pretty cool to play to.

It was SUBLIME. It’s happened twice. First time in Greenville, SC with Baby Baby. They were just wild. Really got everyone amped and riled and in such a state. The second time was in Indianapolis. This place where Jordan grew up playing punk shows. The fan base there is rather young so these kids show up and go nuts. It’s terrifying sometimes. Crowd surfing during sound check. Just going NUTS.

Diarrhea Planet at Gov Ball 2014

I love that such a memorable story came from almost my hometown. We have a surprisingly strong scene there. Glad you had a good time!

We didn’t know what to expect because the venue (Radio Room) was just out in the middle of nowhere kind of off the highway but everybody came out and just partied so hard.

So you guys released your latest EP in the fall, Aliens in the Outfield. What can we look forward to from you guys this year?

We’re working on an album right now. Writing has been a slow process this time. We don’t want to rush this one. I think we’re shooting for the studio this summer and hopefully have it out by fall or early winter. It’s all pretty tentative at this point.

You guys are still riding high on your latest release so rush there. We’re all still enjoying it.

Yeah, we toured on “I’m Rich” for two years and we’re still picking up momentum so we’re not too worried about taking our time and making the best record that we can. Especially on the heels of JEFF the Brotherhood “Wasted on a Dream.” They’re our labelmates and pretty bad ass so we really gotta bring it this time. That’s gonna be a hard one to follow.

Diarrhea Planet at Gov Ball 2014

So next week at SX is a big one! Tell us about that. You’re playing there with your labelmates there as well?

We’re very excited to play the Infinity Cat showcase with JEFF. It’s gonna be a blast. Last year it was so much fun. We were in the Parish upstairs and it was such a tiny stage. One of the smallest stages. I don’t know how we did it.

There are too many venues in Austin to keep straight. I think this year the IC showcase is at Swan Dive.

After SXSW, you guys are going to be back in NYC at Bowery Ballroom on 4-4(BUY TICKETS HERE). How many times have you guys played NYC now?

Oh, too many times. I think we’ve played NY more than anywhere else. I want to say we’ve played there at least 10 times now.

Diarrhea Planet at Gov Ball 2014

What’s been your most memorable show here in NY?

That’s actually really hard to say. They’re all so much fun. But I’ll never forget the first time we played Shea Stadium. It was our first tour, totally lost, all very stressed out. Finally found Shea after a couple wrong addresses and Patrick Stickles comes running out and is like, “Come with me, there’s no time to explain!”

So we sprint up two flights of stairs and we get to this big room and Titus Andronica is set up back when they still had Amy in the band playing fiddle. They just launched into it and played Ghost with a Boner. We were all just caught off guard and it was such a perfect moment. I teared up a little bit! I’ll never forget that. It was really special. I think it was summer 2011.

Where do you guys like to hang when you’re in Brooklyn or the city?

Oh, there’s so much happening, we don’t really have time to hang out. We always have press obligations and just the general logistical nightmare. Last time, we had a really great time hanging out at Death By Audio. RIP. It was the biggest logistical snafu. The sprinter’s turbo had gone out. We’ve had so many damn repairs on that thing and it picked the worst time to finally go out.

We were trying to taxi gear with JEFF the Brotherhood van to Santos Party House and then get all the way back. We took the train out to Coney Island to the Mercedes dealership and get a loaner van. It was such a mess. Yeah so one of the nights we were staying at DBA, the building was getting gutted while we were trying to sleep and there were pieces of ceiling like falling down hitting people sleeping. It was pretty brutal. But good times! We love that place and it’s sad to see it go.