“Everybody who has been with us from the get-go seems to understand it and like it.”
Eric Butler
US alternative rock outfit Mom Jeans are returning to Australia after a three-year absence early next year for the Sweet Tooth Tour with fellow US rockers Microwave.
The band’s latest album Sweet Tooth, released at the start of this year, saw Mom Jeans deviate from the emo foundations that launched their first two albums, instead focussing on more of a late 1990s, early 2000 style pop rock and pop punk nature.
So named because the band members universally refer to the new sound as “ear candy”, Sweet Tooth saw Mom Jeans strike an even bigger market and justified their decision to spread their metaphorical wings somewhat.
HEAVY caught up with frontman Eric Butler to find out more.
“Nothing too crazy,” he laughed when asked what Mom Jeans have in store for the tour. “It’s been so long. Especially now, but in general it’s so hard getting across the ocean and trying to play gigs, so we’re more or less trying to give whoever manages to make it to these shows their monies worth as much as we can and make sure that we take advantage of the time and play as many songs as we possibly can in the amount of time that we have. We try to treat every tour like it’s the last one we’re gonna get to do, and we try and leave it all out on the field in that respect. We’re gonna give it our best, and we’re gonna play loud and have a lot of fun. We’re gonna play a whole bunch of songs from our new record and a bunch of old ones too. We don’t play any favourites in the catalogue, so we’re gonna practice as much of our songs as we possibly can and be ready to take requests. That’s our goal.”
In the full interview, Eric talks more about the run of shows, why they are bringing Microwave with them, the reception to Sweet Tooth, how their fans reacted to the sonic change, why they changed things up, memories of previous trips Down Under and more.
