All Our Exes Live in Texas is one busy alt-folk ‘girl band’ and we cannot get enough of them! Girl caught up with Hannah Crofts upon the release of their new album, following their national tour announcement.
Girl: First of all how are you?! What’s been going on?
Hannah: I’m good! We’re good! Finally slept enough to feel like a human again 😉 We traveled to Kansas City for Folk Alliance International / Did a show in LA and one in NY / Flew back to Australia and played PIAF with Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats / Played Adelaide Festival and THEN SXSW !! Ive been home one week and I have finally recovered.
Congrats on the release of When We Fall. How long have you spent working on this record?
The record took about 3 years in total. When we put out the first single ‘Tell Me’ I don’t think we fully realized we were working towards a record – this band was never meant to go past its first gig – so the process of putting it together was slow and thoughtful. We didn’t want to rush it and wanted to create something we would be really proud of.
Have you been playing many of the tracks live? What has the response been like so far?
We play all of the songs off the record live – for our album tour we are taking Drums & Bass to the major cities too so they will sound similar to the recorded versions. I think it’s been a positive response..?! There’s been no tomatos to the head or booing so that’s a good start 😉
What’s your favourite track on this record and why?
It changes daily. I love I’m Gonna Get My Heart Cut Out – the lyrics are simple and beautiful and really cut into the core of you.
You’ve got several special guests on this album – did you go into the song writing process with each guest in mind?
No not at all, the songs were written well before we recorded them, we then spent a few days work shopping them with Wayne and then thought about who we would get to play on them. Most of the people on the record are just are mates and we are extremely lucky/grateful that they were able to play on the album.
How was it working with Wayne?
He’s a genius. And a legend. And hilarious. But don’t tell him I said that.
Tell me a bit about your musical upbringing. What influenced you as a child, and when did you decide to pursue music as a career?
I didn’t really start playing music until I was about 16 – I’ve always been a huge listener/fan girl and been very obsessive about it. Hanson, Klinger, Something For Kate, Green Day, Nirvana – anything I was hearing on Triple J, that I was getting off mixed tapes from my older sisters. I started dating a boy in high school who was playing Jazz Drums and I started to go down that path – I thought you had to be good at jazz to be good at music for some reason. I studied 2 years of Jazz at WAAPA in WA (where I met Georgia) and dropped out to move to Sydney. I didn’t necessarily think I would be able to have a career in music until we started this band, and how much I loved it, and how we kept getting shows. Now I cant see myself stopping.
You were chosen to support the Backstreet Boys on the Aussie leg of their world tour a couple of years ago – tell me, how did that come about?
We asked our booking agent to put us forward for the tour when they announced it thinking we would never in a million years get it. And then two days before their tour started…we did! Haha totally unexpected and amazing.
What was the experience like?
We are all fangirls of the Backstreet Boys so lost our minds getting to do it – they were the nicest guys and getting to perform in arenas was incredible. You actually couldn’t ask for a better life experience. Also the catering!
As a member of an all-female band, how do you feel about the representation of women in the music industry?
I think it has a long way to go, a lot of work to be done by everyone – musicians, industry, punters etc. I feel positive about it but I also want to see more change!
What have you got planned for the rest of this year?
We are going to do some writing for album two, our album tour in Australia and then hopefully a fair bit more international touring! We just want to keep going and getting to play/write as much as we can.
Bonus fan question: Where did the name “All Our Exes Live in Texas” come from?
Our first show was an Oh Brother Where Art Thou tribute night at the vanguard – we bought instruments, put together a set and then had to pick a name really quickly. We typed in worst/best country song titles and All My Exes Live In Texas came up – we all loved it! It was that or You’re The Reason Our Kids Are Ugly.
All Our Exes Live In Texas When We Fall Tour Dates:
Saturday 10 June: Lizottes, Newcastle Tickets
Friday 16 June: Brass Monkey, Cronulla Tickets
Saturday 17 June: Metropole Hotel, Katoomba Tickets
Friday 23 June: Jive, Adelaide Tickets
Saturday 24 June: Babushka, Leederville Tickets
Sunday 25 June: Fly By Night, Fremantle Tickets
Friday 30 June: Heritage Hotel, Bulli Tickets
Saturday 1 July: Factory Theatre, Marrickville Tickets
Friday 7 July: Howler, Brunswick Tickets
Saturday 8 July: The Workers Club, Geelong Tickets
Thursday 13 July: Miami Marketta, Miami Tickets
Friday 14 July: The Bison Bar, Nambour Tickets
Saturday 15 July: Old Museum, Brisbane Tickets
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