Common People, an indie rock group, made their ACL debut Friday, Oct. 9. The band gave us a glimpse into their mindset, reflecting on life on tour, their feelings about ACL and so much more. You can catch our conversation with them below!
Can y'all just introduce yourselves and the position you play?
Nicky: Hi, I'm Nicky. We're common people, and I sing and I play guitar.
Sam: I'm Sam, and I play guitar.
Y'all are performing later on today at ACL, making your first ACL debut. I just want to go more to your brain. Do y'all have any jitters? Like, what are we expecting? How's the thought process like? How are y'all feeling?
Sam: You know, I'll speak for myself, but I feel like we don't really ever have jitters for a show. It's more excitement. But definitely with the festival, there's always a lot of stuff going on right before you play. So I think the last thing we're thinking about is the show.
Nicky: I totally agree. It's normally like everything else going on around the show that we get jitters about or we're thinking about. I wouldn't say we're nervous. I think we're just so excited. It's like the anxious excitement energy. You know, that's what we probably have right now.
Have you all ever done any shows in Austin before?
Nicky: We have. We did a show in March with Rainbow Kitten Surprise at the Moody Amphitheater Outdoor. We love Austin. It's such a cool town. That was such a sick venue, but this is all of our first ACL. Like none of us have even been to ACL, so we're just over the moon about it. We can't wait.
When y'all got that opportunity to come perform at ACL, what were y'all thinking about it?
Sam: We were on tour in February, I want to say, or early March. And we got a call from our agent, and she told us [about ACL] and we were just like so excited. I mean, it's definitely just crazy. It's crazy being here. I feel like I haven't even gotten the chance to appreciate it. We've been running around, but it's just awesome. We love it.
Nicky: It was. I mean, it's one of those calls you get where, in the non corniest way possible, it's the biggest pinch me ever. You know what I mean? Like it really is. And it's one of the festivals that we've always wanted to go to, just to go, you know. So being able to play it is a dream, really.
Have y'all had the chance to walk around, catch any other sets today?
Nicky: We have been so busy. We haven't been able to do anything. We had a video shoot yesterday. But we did play a show, one of the after-hours shows, on Thursday night at Brushy Street Commons.
Nicky: I've been fucking that up. But with RC Drive, and so we hadn't seen them before, and so being able to do a show with them was really cool. They're super sweet and they rip, so that was really fun. And you know, I actually did catch a little bit of Charli XCX last night.
Sam: I didn’t make it.
Nickyi: Yeah, Sam didn't make it, but I was there. And that was killer. She puts on a killer show.
Take us more into your sound. In one phrase, how would y'all describe your vibee? More so what do y'all bring to a “Common” set? If you get my drift.
Nicky: Prog Grunge.
Alexis and Sam: [Laugh]
Nicky: I'm kidding. I'm kidding. That's Sam's brother's bit.
Sam: My older brother.
Nicky: That's a good question. In one phrase? I think just like high energy singable songs that people can hopefully find… Ideally, if you can find something in the music, that's great. If you can find something in the lyrics, that's great. Just hopefully trying to give something to grab onto that someone in the crowd can like grab onto, and give it with a little energy and and some love. I think that's really what I would say.
Speaking of tours, I know y'all currently started your tours this past September.
Sam: Yup.
What are any highlights of that? How's life on the road? Y'all have some pretty cool openers.
Nicky: We have a pretty big highlight.
Sam: Couple highlights. No, I mean tour’s been great. We were out with this band Porchlight, who's so kick-ass.
Nicky: So sick.
Sam: We love them, and we played in the Pacific Northwest with them, and played a show in Portland. And two hours before our set, our van got robbed. And our trailer, and all of our gear was stolen. So it was definitely an eventful start.
Nicky: Like this week.
Sam: Literally four days ago. But it's been so much fun. I mean, like, if you told me that before tour that we would get robbed a week in, I probably would think that I would be in a worse place than I am now.
Nicky: This is gonna ruin the tour.
Sam: We honestly rubbed it off really quick, and we're just excited.
How do you come back from that? Getting robbed.
Sam: It’s hard.
Nicky: It’s a “show goes on mentality,” you know what I mean?
Sam: We got lent some gear for the show.
Nicky: They let us use their gear, and that was huge, because we got to play. And then honestly, it's one of those things where you don't even have time to be sad. You know, it's like next, next, next show, and we got to find a way. And it's definitely going to be a story. In the moment, it was not fun, but it's going to be a story where we got to wear with a badge of honor, you know. It's nice that we have something worth stealing, you know.
What can we expect from y'all's performance today? I heard that there might be someone special?
Nicky: Yeah, there's a little something special going down today. It's hard to even talk about it because it feels so surreal to us. You know, it's like we can't even believe it. I might not even believe it till we go on stage and it happens.
Sam: There’s part of me that's like, “is it gonna happen?”
Nicky: “Is he gonna show?” But no, we've been very lucky. Like one of our biggest mentors, and our label head, and our producer, is Brad Schultz of Cage the Elephant, and through him, we've gotten very close with Matt Schultz as well. And Matt is going to come out and do a Pixies song with us today. And being at ACL, playing at ACL, those are all crazy things on its own. And to do it with somebody, you know, like Matt, where we've looked up to him and their band, and Brad's band since forever. We’ve, I’ve watched Cage the Elephant sets, being like, “wow, it would be so cool to play at that festival or play like to a crowd like this,” and to be able to share the stage with someone like that is one of the greatest gifts we've ever received in music. So we’re gonna bring a lot of energy, and it's gonna be amazing.
That's beautiful. Didn't y'all open up for them on their last tour?
Nicky: We did. We opened up for them last fall I think at three shows. And then last summer at Lollapalooza after-show, we opened up for them. Oh, in L.A. as well. And that's one of those bands where you go out and you watch the show, and you're like, "we got to keep rehearsing.”
Sam: That's a tough band to open for, let me tell you. Because you'll get off stage and be like, "I think that was great. Like, I feel really good.” And then they'll get on, and you'll be like…
Nicky: And then there’s kind of like fire shooting in the air and they’re jumping in the air.
Sam: And you’re kind of like, “shit.” But, anytime you get to play with a band like that it inspires you and stuff. It's the best thing you can do.
Is there any other bands that also have that same effect on you? Like performance-wise? Or that would be a dream to open or play alongside them?
Sam: We mentioned earlier, Rainbow Kitten Surprise. We were out with them for a while and they're an unbelievable band that just has unbelievable music. And their fans are the sweetest people ever and they definitely inspired us a lot being out with them. You know, Deftones.
Nicky: Deftones. Queens of the Stone Age is another one we've been listening to a lot, but there's so many bands right now with people our age that are just killing it. You know, like here and across the pond. Like, we love Wunderhorse. We love Geese. Like all these bands that are coming up right now that are just killing it, and like we're just excited to be sharing the lineup with so many bands, starting out, doing their thing, and just bringing it. So it's a really cool time to be playing music, honestly.
Is there anything that you want to say? Any last words? Any last thoughts?
Nicky: Yeah, I would say, before Sam comes in here, we released a song last week called “Shapeshift.” We're super pumped on it. Check that out. Come see us on tour if you are in the same city as us ever. And hopefully we make it our way back to Austin as soon as possible because we didn't get barbecue when we were here, and we need to get that for sure. And Sam?
Sam: I ditto, I ditto that.
Nicky: Yeah, he dittos it.
Image captured by Dusana Karam