I’m going to admit this at the start. While I am predominantly chatting with Jack Pierce, every so often his brother Pat will contribute something to the conversation, and try as I might, I can’t for the life of me tell their voices apart.
They’re both exuberant guys, ready to laugh and break into song at the slightest provocation – from Pearl Jam’s ‘Black’ (which they both fervently believe is the greatest song ever written) to ‘Nobody Likes Me (Guess I’ll Go Eat Worms)’ – but unless you’re one of their parents, good luck separating the two over the phone.
Having returned from playing to a surprise ten thousand people at The Netherlands’ Lowlands Festival, the Pierce Brothers are now embarking on a sweeping national tour stretching coast to coast. It’s an exciting time for the duo, but their folks are still waiting for the pay-off.
“We bought them dinner last night,” says Jack. “It’s a total role reversal from when we were starting out. But it’s weird, we’ve got so much happening but we have so little money.” They both laugh. “There’s a running joke in our family. When we were younger we said to Mum and Dad, ‘When we’re famous, we’re going to buy you first-class tickets around the world.’ And they’ve been onto us ever since. ‘You guys said when you were famous. Nothing about when you were rich. You two were stopped in the street last night by a fan, that’s technically famous. Where the fuck are our tickets?”’
The most immediate hallmark of the Pierce Brothers – both in conversation and in performance – is the incredible energy they project. Jack’s speech is fast and enthused, like he is being drip-fed coffee, and the reputation of their live performances has quickly become the stuff of legend. The trick now is to keep those energy levels up over an incredible twenty-eight shows.
“It’s something we were actually talking about the other day. We were just playing up in the Sunshine Coast, and we were both so exhausted before the show. Because we’ve done so many gigs we’ve kind of found a pattern, where we’ll go into the green room, both really tired and watch a movie, just sit there very quiet, not really talk much. Feeling so, so tired. But then we walk out and see the audience, and it’s like, right, our job is to play our music, but the way we’ve always done our music is to play it as excitable as possible.” Jack laughs. “It doesn’t matter how tired we are, the moment we’re out there that’s all forgotten. We just jump around, so much so that at some shows I’ve walked offstage and just collapsed. I haven’t realised how exhausted we were, because it’s just so easy to forget about it out there.”
Should you find yourself just missing out on one of their gigs, however, there’s a strong chance you might find them the next day busking on a nearby street corner. It’s a passion that was instrumental in developing the band’s appeal, and is something that neither sibling feels will ever be far from their hearts.
“I think busking is always going to be a very important part of performing for us. It’s like at a festival; some people might know us, and that’s really fantastic and humbling, but a lot of them won’t. So the best thing we can do is put on the most amazing show we can, and just jump around, make ’em dance, because that’s what we’re here for. And if they get into it, we’ve done our job well. If they don’t get into it, it doesn’t matter, they didn’t come here just to see us.” Jack laughs again. “We’re just trying to impress people before they walk away.”
Catch them alongsideTimberwolf atNewtown Social Club onThursday November 6, tickets online.
