You might have heard the delay-drenched, slacker-glam track “It’s On” in the closing credits of a Girls episode, or the flirtatious, pop-punk cut “Try Me Out Sometime,” airing in an ad for HBO Now. Or maybe you saw Broncho open up for Guided By Voices in LA last year, and you’ve been patiently awaiting new material since.
However you first discovered the Norman, Oklahoma, four-piece, chances are good the group’s blend of dream-pop, punk and garage-rock won you over. And they’re ready to do it again September 12 at the Bunkhouse. The Weekly caught up with frontman Ryan Lindsey to talk about sharing a bill with Billy Idol and recording a follow-up LP to 2016’s Double Vanity.
You’re on tour and you’re working on a new album. How do you find time for both? We were just working on it, and when I’m doing that I wish we weren’t touring, because I just want to stay in that world. But it’s nice to get a change. We’re just kind of putting together a puzzle I guess, and we’re essentially still at the beginning of the record. I feel like it’s a gamble. Records can either come together really quickly or take a while. I hope it just happens.
What was it like opening for Guided By Voices last year? That was definitely one of my favorite tours. They were great, the nicest dudes. I can’t think of a band we’ve gone on tour with that’s sucked. When you’re with a band like [Guided By Voices] … I think they’re so cool that I couldn’t imagine them wanting to talk to me (laughs), so it’s fun when they do. I think the more bands you play with at any level, the one thing that’s constant is everybody just loves to hang out, and [GBV] are no different.
You’ve played Las Vegas a few times. What do you make of it? The first time we played there was Beauty Bar, a long time ago. Then we played Bunkhouse, and then we opened for Billy Idol at Cosmopolitan. It was f*cking great.
I just love Las Vegas in general, because there’s so much showbiz. There’s effort [put] into everything. Everything’s trying to be as big as possible, so seeing that version of all these different things—the most showbiz version of whatever—is, for me, a great thing.
There was one trip where I was totally broke and we played a show and we just kinda cruised the whole Strip, and then we ended up just getting drinks bought for us the whole time—just meeting people, and they would just start buying us drinks. I really think you can go there with nothing and have the best time.
A few of your songs have been used in TV shows and commercials. How has that helped the band? I think anytime anybody wants to use our music, it’s a way somebody’s going to hear it who wouldn’t have otherwise. I’ll get hit up by somebody who has a class project who wants to use a song, and they obviously don’t have a budget or anything, but I think it makes sense for people to use it. You never know how somebody might listen to you. That could be the best way to hear us, in a school project. I’ll totally sign off on it … if they seem like a nice person. I can’t imagine a way that someone could ask for a song and be a dick… but if they were I would probably [still] say yes (laughs).
Your latest Instagram post is about another Norman, Oklahoma, band. Why is it important that you maintain those connections to your hometown? I think it’s just natural, because so many of my friends have bands or are songwriters, so it’s just very natural to always be in contact with my friends. I have friends from all over the map, and every one of them is somebody that I can learn from, or just have fun with. There’s also bands that we’ve toured with a lot that feel like family. They feel like a friend that I would go home and hang out with. Billy Changer [also on the Vegas bill] is a band that we tour with a lot, and it definitely feels that way for me. I love their music. I love them. They write great songs.
Broncho with Billy Changer. September 12, 8 p.m., $10-$12. Bunkhouse Saloon, 702-982-1764.
