Hailing from Wasilla, Alaska, Portugal. The Man has taken the world of alternative music by storm. Although the band’s lineup has changed throughout the years, founding members John Gourley and Zach Carothers have held the group together. The band signed with Atlantic Records and has achieved many music-world milestones, including a stint on Conan and three appearances at the annual Tennessee music festival Bonnaroo. Their latest album, “Evil Friends,” was the band’s seventh full-length album and a collaboration with producer Danger Mouse. The Bite had the opportunity to chat with Carothers about touring, the band’s sound and air-drumming with Neil Young. Make sure to catch Portugal. The Man in their not-to-be-missed show at the House of Blues on October 8.
How drastic was the shift from small-town Alaska to touring the country?
It could not have been more different…Growing up in Alaska— it was very beautiful. It’s an amazing place. I love it a lot, but also it’s very isolated in every way. We grew up before the Internet so we had no clue about underground music. It just didn’t happen. We had oldies, we had MTV, we had top 40 radio stations, but that was it…The basic rule was if it was cool in California, ten years later it would be cool in Alaska…I moved down to go to college in Oregon, in Portland. I got [there] and Portland was an underground mecca for music, art, and film…I was going to shows every night, and I just dug in deep…I didn’t do anything else, so I think that that’s okay. You know, that mix is really what kind of made our band who we are.
How do you feel your music has changed from your earlier albums up to “Evil Friends”?
Oh yeah, it’s changed a lot…You know we never wanted to be the same band; we never want to make the same album twice…People used to think that we were a lot more experimental back in the old days, when we first started, but that’s not completely true…we’d be jamming one riff and then just quick-cut, time-change and do other things. People were like “Oh my God, that’s crazy!” And it’s not that crazy, it’s just we weren’t that good…So that was a big part of it— we’ve just been trying to focus on our writing and get better…We’ll be trying to push it until we die.
Have you always known you wanted to pursue music or were there previous plans?
I never planned on having a career in music. Ever. I’ve always loved music. I played music my whole life, but I didn’t have my head in the clouds. I was pretty grounded, and I knew that was difficult. When we first started the band, I was like “Oh my God, I’m going on tour! I’m gonna make a record!” But I always thought I’d just be doing it until I got tired of being broke…But it just kind of kept going. I decided that I didn’t care if I was poor. I didn’t care if I didn’t have a job, I didn’t have an apartment. I just knew that that was what I wanted to do…If this band breaks up, I’m probably not gonna do anything more…I’ll just do it for fun.
Artists always have that “surreal” moment on stage, what was yours?
I’ve had a lot of them. My first one was the very first time I went out of town and played a show somewhere else and a bunch of people were singing along to our songs. We were playing in Greenwich in Washington in a basement of some guy’s house. It was packed with people moshing around and screaming words to our songs…The first time we were at Bonnaroo was amazing- it was a sea of people… Every time we play a show something like that happens where I just kind of go, “I can’t believe I’m here.”…I don’t know what THE moment was, but there’s a lot of them and it’s pretty great.
What is one thing you would want your fans to know about you?
Oh, man. I don’t feel like there’s any important things they should know about me. I’m not that interesting of a guy…I can juggle. That’s something that a lot of people don’t know. I’m alright at juggling.
Is there a band or an artist who inspires your music?
Oh yeah, there’s lots of them. I guess the main one that everybody’s got to say is The Beatles…The Beatles paved the way for any and all progressive rock ‘n’ roll recording techniques…So I’d say The Beatles and the Wu-Tang Clan.
What is the coolest thing you have experienced while being on tour?
A couple years ago at Bonnaroo it was John [Gourley]’s birthday. My little brother was graduating college, and I couldn’t go because I had to play Bonnaroo, which was a bummer. But we got to meet Neil Young. Not just meet him, we sat in his Cadillac for an hour and listened to music. I air-drummed with Neil Young on his dashboard listening to “Kashmir” in his Cadillac.
What is your favorite city that you have been to and why?
I like a lot of cities… I really like Paris. I really like Vienna, Austria. I really like Lawrence, Kansas, for some reason. We just went to Tokyo for the first time…I used to think New York City was, like, a major hub of the world. No…Tokyo is a serious, serious place. There’s an intersection there that I just couldn’t believe how many people. Like, all the lights stopped, and it was all criss-crossed and just in one spotlight like 5,000 people crossed the street. I just stood there and watched it for 20 minutes. It was absolutely incredible and just an amazing experience.
What advice would you give to someone trying to make it in the music industry?
I think the biggest one is you have to be prepared to let go of absolutely everything…I mean I dropped out of college, I lost a lot of really good-paying jobs, apartments, dogs, girlfriends, furniture. It’s tough. I never see my friends, I never see my family…You’ve got to be willing to do that and give it your all. You’ve got to work really hard. And you’ve got to be good. You’ve got to have something that a lot of people want to hear… You’ve got to be something that people haven’t heard before. You’ve got to be something exciting, and people aren’t gonna go if you don’t do that.
How many years have you played at Bonnaroo? Is this your first year or have you gone in years prior?
We’ve played Bonnaroo three times. The first time was in 2009. We did this year and 2011 as well. We played in 2009, and it seems like every other year we go back… Bonnaroo’s amazing; that’s my favorite one personally…It’s so much fun. By all means go. Be careful- a lot of weirdos.
