“It was surreal being there,” bassist Johnny Adger says of touring Europe in 2010 with Them Crooked Vultures. “On the first night, [Dave Grohl, John Paul Jones, and Josh Homme] introduced themselves to us. I was like ‘yeah, I know who you are,'” he laughs.
Shortly before dusk outside a restaurant on the Miracle Mile, And So I Watch You From Afar say that birds of a feather do rock together — especially in their native Belfast, Ireland. The members of the instrumental group have known each other for years, and often collaborated in a hip hop-inspired collective dubbed Team Fresh.
“Where we’re from… there were some pretty legendary moments,” guitarist Rory Friers comments. “[Team Fresh] shows seem to rally a lot of the local kids together.”
Currently migrating across the States with Zechs Marquise in support of their latest album Gangs, And So I Watch You From Afar are no strangers to the Interstate Highway System. Having recently completed a trek with Russian Circles, ASIWYFA toured North America a couple years ago with Touche Amore.
Says Friers of the band’s first US run, “We didn’t have much of a reason to come out here, other than we just wanted to tour America. We couldn’t afford it really…I guess we wanted to do it to prove that that’s what we were prepared to do.”
Staying true to their Northern Ireland DIY ethos, And So I Watch You From Afar have plans to begin work on a new album by the year’s end. On the agenda first: a trip to China.
“The tunes that we wrote in our little hometown have somehow got us to China. It’s pretty incredible.”
Left to right: Chris Wee, Niall Kennedy, Rory Friers, Johnny Adger