We called up Doherty today to ask him about the show and when we can expect some new music from the band. While his thick Scottish accent was a touch tough to discern, we gleaned some good information from the band's synth, sample, and back-up vocal master.
Having interviewed Cook last year as a preview to the band's Laneway appearance, it's safe to say these guys are more about doing than talking about doing. While both were cordial, their answers are generally short, they don't offer anything up for free. They seem generally chill and its hard to tell if they're slightly annoyed. A little digging, however, delivers some pearls.
While Chvrches hasn't performed in the city itself, all three of the band's members spent time touring with other musical projects before joining forces to create the creative incarnation we know today. Doherty's made stops in the Motor City, performing with his former band The Twilight Sad.
"I've spent a bit of time in Detroit, on other albums [with other bands] and I'm fairly familiar. I remember playing a show at the Magic Stick and that's got a bowling alley underneath it and I had an awesome time," says Doherty.
Their stop in Royal Oak will surely include favorites from their debut album including "The Mother We Share", "We Sink", and "Gun", but fans of the band shouldn't expect a cover of Prince's "I Would Die 4 U", a former staple of their set list.
According to Doherty, the band retired their version of the '80s hit, saying they just plain got sick of performing it.
While another cover hasn't taken the track's place in their set, he says they aren't ruling out adding one in the future. Can we nominate Whitney Houston's "I Wanna Dance with Somebody"?
Though they don't seem to take a single day off from touring, a new album has been on the collective mind of the band and Doherty says they've been spending their time on the road working on new material.
"It's hard to take things all the way with this band without actually being in the studio," Doherty says. "But what we can do is write the beginnings of new songs, just the ideas, the barebones of songs and then by the time we get off in November we're going to have a massive catalog of stuff to pull from and think seriously about recording for the album."
He also recently got some advice from a big name in the music biz about how to make a successful second album.
"I met Chris Martin from Coldplay the other day, that was pretty cool. He offered me some very nice advice about where to go on the second record, he said not to take too much time off," he says.
Highly danceable and filled to the brim with synths, Chvrches tunes are packed with energy and hard to ignore. You'll catch us on the dance floor getting down, enjoying the old tunes while eagerly awaiting the new.
