Yesterday I sat down and called Louis Leimbach for a chat about their upcoming tour and a bunch of other things. Tickets are still available to all NZ shows – information at the bottom of the page.
Kia Ora Louis!
What made you 2 decide, okay we’re going to start a band?
I think there’s a few events. Ollie played in bands all through High School. He really wanted to do that and was playing with more hardcore bands. I was sitting on the side, not in bands and not really into that scene. Then his band members kept leaving and bands kept breaking up or reforming. He kind of just sucked/forced me into it and put me on stage. That’s how we formed. We played together for fun and then things started looking pretty good so we took it more seriously and that was about 8 years ago so yeah.
How would you describe a Lime show?
It’s definitely a bit of a party. We feed off the audience a lot. If their having a real party and their real boozy then we’ll go along with it. Or if their sitting back, crossing their arms and really listening, we’ll play a more intimate show. We feed off the audience but they’re all pretty different.
What are you looking forward to most about the tour?
I love coming back to New Zealand. We went over there for the first time maybe 2 years ago I think and we had a surprising reaction at the shows. It happened because we forced our management team to get us over there and they were like there’s going to be no one at the shows, it’s going to be a waste of money, don’t do it etc. We said we want to go to NZ and there’s people messaging us to come over. So we just came over and it was small shows but the Auckland show sold out. We also played a uni party in Dunedin and people were singing our words back. It was a pretty good feeling.
Do you have a favourite show that you’ve played? One that stands out in NZ.
We love going down to Dunedin. We played Sound Splash, I think that was one of our first shows there. We met this girl backstage and we had never heard of Dunedin but she told us we should come down because it’s a beautiful part of the world. We stopped in there, not to play a show, and fell in love with Dunedin. We stayed with her and her boyfriend at the time and ended up booking a show there which was really great. So yeah pretty much my favourite place in the world for sure.
What are some items that you have to have on tour?
The only one is, I hate forgetting a toothbrush. Pretty much the only thing. I can wear the same clothes for a week. We get by with anything else. Wear your underpants one side, then flip them over the other side and then no underpants. But like if you have no toothbrush you’re stuffed. The finger doesn’t work. So yeah toothbrush and I like to bring my laptop as well.
You also create artwork. How long have you been creating artwork for?
Since I was about 18. Both my sisters were into art. I was in high school and I had like maths and all those boring subjects. They were like why don’t you do some art? So they kind of pushed me into doing that and I just fell in love with it. I studied fine art. But I probably wouldn’t call myself an artist. I’m not really in the art world. I’ve been doing it for a while. I’ve been doing Lino cut, that’s what I do for the band at the moment. I don’t know if you know what that is, but it’s a carved out piece of linoleum and then it’s essentially like a big stamp that you press. You can use it as many as you want until it falls apart.
It’s a meditative process. You sit there for 15-20 hours doing this one thing and then you press it and it’s either good or it sucks. It’s a long process and you don’t know what the result is going to be. But yeah I love it. I like that about it.
What made you guys decide to use your artwork for your band stuff? Was it just an obvious decision?
The phone cut out but he explained he was sort of forced into it and now he’s the “band artist”.
What music do you personally enjoy listening too?
I listen to a range of music. This morning I woke up and put on The Teskey Brothers. I don’t know if you know them, a band of brothers from rural Victoria. They kind of play Otis-Reading-style music. It’s amazing. I’m definitely listening to them a lot. I love 90’s Hip Hop. I love The Strokes. A lot of soul music mainly. If there’s a good voice & melodies, I’m into it.
If you could start a rumour about yourself what would it be?
I like fake band feuds. Like when people think bands hate each other. There was one, I think it was The Kooks and The Arctic Monkeys. There was always this competitiveness about them. I’m sure it wasn’t true. You either liked one or the other. You chose a side. I like that. We’re trying to start one with our friends band called Sons of the East. We hate them!
Hair care! What are your tips and tricks? Though I get the feeling you’re going to say nothing.
My mum cuts my hair, or my brother, or anyone who’s around really. We don’t really have any hair care. Ollie’s girlfriend’s mum cuts his hair. I don’t know. We swim in salt water most days so maybe that has something to do with it. No care for hair.
You guys have been touring non-stop! Why the constant touring?
We love it. We’re trying to do it so we can quit our day jobs at some point. Music’s pretty hard to survive off, if you’re in a band. All our friends when they were in their late teens or early twenties were all like, I’m going to spend a year in Germany & Berlin. Or I’m going to backpack through Southeast Asia. And we didn’t do that. We just focused on making this band a thing. So it was always our goal to travel with music and have a purpose travelling. When we were travelling to Europe on this last tour, which we just finished like a week ago, it felt good. It felt like we were there for a reason and we weren’t wasting our money. We’d have a show everyday and see these beautiful cities. I guess that’s why the constant travelling, just to explore. Playing a lot of shows is very tiring but it’s great.
How different are shows in Australia compared to NZ?
I think both have these loose crowds where everyone parties, has a good time and is very vocal. But I feel like people in Australia are like looser in a way that they vomit on themselves whereas NZ people are like loose in that their losing themselves which is probably the better one of the two. I love that. I also feel like in NZ you feel like everyone’s your friend straight away. I think they’re more open than Australians. There’s definitely a closed-off feeling with Australians. They have this stereotype of being friendly and open but I don’t know if they really are. Especially in the cities, everyone’s a bit introverted and scared of being themselves.
Do you have anything to add?
We’re just keen to get over there. We love New Zealand so much! We’re very excited to be back!
Thank you for chatting with me and enjoy the rest of your day!
You too!
THE ROBBERY TOUR
Thursday 3 October – Mrs. O’s @ Lincoln University [LIC/AA] – Christchurch, NZ
Friday 4 October – Powerstation [LIC/AA] – Auckland, NZ
Saturday 5 October – The Hunter Lounge [LIC/AA] – Wellington, NZ
Supported by triple j, Chugg Music and Select Music
Tickets – http://www.limecordiale.com/
