The Rions are finishing 2024 on a serious high.
The Australian indie rock band are ripping through their biggest-ever headline tour, from Darwin to Fremantle and everywhere in between. After wrapping their debut UK and Europe tour with Pacific Avenue (read their Artist on Artist interview here), they’re back home with their second EP, Happiness In a Place It Shouldn’t Be, featuring hits like “Sweet Cocoon” and “Physical Medicine”.
With festival slots at Beyond the Valley and Lost Paradise to close out the year, we caught up with the band’s guitarist Harley Wilson to reflect on their wild ride and what’s next.
Beyond the Valley will take place at Barunah Plains from December 28th-1st Jan 1st. For more information, visit the official website. Find The Rions’ upcoming tour dates here.
Rolling Stone AU/NZ: How’s the Australian tour going?
Harley Wilson: It’s been amazing. I’ve said this every tour for the past couple years, but it just gets bigger and better and more exciting every time. We’ve now got a crew of four, and us four, so the eight of us are just spending every weekend together, having the best time ever. It’s about to get even more psycho, because capital cities start this coming weekend. It’s what we’ve been warming up for this past month.
This is your biggest headline tour yet, right? How’s that feeling?
It feels so good. With every tour we are improving in all aspects. The main thing that improves, you know, [is] how much fun we have, and then if the size improves and we just have fun for longer. So, you know, sometimes it can be daunting when we look at a list of dates, and that just goes on forever. But anytime it’s an Australian [tour] it’s just like, yeah, keep them coming.
How have the crowds been around Australia?
Really good. We’ve been playing in a few places for the first time. We went up to Cairns and did a few North Queensland shows, and [they were] just amazing, like they were parking out, and people were so energetic and knew all the words. It’s just crazy to think we have fans in these areas of the country we’ve never toured before.
How was the UK and Europe with Pacific Avenue? Do you have a favourite memory or venue from that tour?
Definitely London. London was probably the craziest show. It felt the most like home. There were a lot of shows on that tour [where] you’re playing in this really small room to not that many people, especially in Germany, but then playing London and also Amsterdam, they were the two biggest shows, and it felt like all of the positivity that we get playing here… plus the whole thought in the back of your mind, like, “Holy crap, we’re on the other side of the planet right now and people know our music.”
Did you manage to get any time off to explore while over there?
We had a few days off in London when we arrived, so we just tried to explore as much as we could. Only Noah [Blockley] had been there before, so we were kind of just taking it all in. We also had a day off in Amsterdam, which was amazing – traveling around, checking out the architecture, and soaking in the bike culture. The rest of the tour was very fast-paced, constantly in and out of the tour bus and waking up in a different place. But that’s enjoyable too.
What helps you get through a massive tour like that, being away from home?
Being surrounded by each other is a constant reminder that, no matter how far away we are, it’s still the same team, and everything feels familiar. It’s funny how touring can shift your mindset – it’s not like a holiday but more like you’re in another country doing something you love. If I went anywhere on the tour without them, I know I’d see it completely differently. There’s something about being on tour – it doesn’t feel like work, but there’s this weird grey area where you’re like, “Wow, we’ve made it this far,” and yet, it’s hard to fully take it in.
Congrats on the new EP you released in September. How has it been playing those tracks live?
It’s been great. We’ve had this music in the works for nearly a year, and it’s such a privilege to finally play it for people who’ve had the chance to listen and decide if they like it. We’re so used to playing songs before they’re released or, if they are [released], just to people who don’t know them. So now every song gets such a strong response. And “Sweet Cocoon” is huge. From the moment we wrote it, we knew it would be so fun to kick off a show with it – just come in swinging. It’s been so energetic from the get-go, and having the opportunity to do that has been amazing.
How would you compare the EP to the music you first put out as a band?
It’s interesting to look back because, with each release, there’s always at least a year between them. At that point – and even still now – we’re maturing into different people every year, and the songs reflect a different version of us. This EP was written during the height of everything we were experiencing at the end of last year – the ‘Minivan Tour’ and playing the biggest shows we’d done at the time. It’s cool to look at it like journal entries. I remember feeling a certain way or what made us take a particular direction with a song, and now it’s just a nice memory in song form.
You’re closing things out at Beyond the Valley. Are you excited for that New Year’s Eve slot?
We’re so excited. We’ve never played Beyond the Valley, and it’s been one of the big targets we’ve dreamt of since we started playing festivals. New Year’s Eve is such a fun time of year, and it’ll be great. I think Ice Spice is playing on the same day as us – I can’t remember. Yeah, that’s the hype. One of the best parts of playing a festival is getting to see other artists on the same day, so we’ll try to meet as many people as we can and just take it all in.
Any other artists you’re keen to see or friends you know who are also playing this year?
Royel Otis. I’m not sure if we’re on the same day or not, but they’ve been a band I’ve wanted to see live for a long time. We work with the same producers, so there’s a close link to the man who helps record and write their music, Chris Collins. We’re excited to finally meet them. If we are on the same day, great! If not, that’s a shame, but seeing them live is definitely a bucket list show.
Do you get Christmas off? What are your plans this year?
I think we do have Christmas stuff lined up. It’ll be a nice little two-week break after the tour before the New Year’s festival starts. So yeah, it’ll be great to just spend a few days at home and see family around the country.
And what can we expect from The Rions next year?
We’ve been working super hard on a lot of stuff this year, and as shown in many of our past projects, the songs we put out often reflect what we were experiencing at the time. That’s exactly the case now – the stuff we’ve been playing around with reflects parts of our lives from this year. So yeah, I’m not sure how it’ll go, but I know it’s all real, deep, and meaningful. It’s such a privilege to take it all in and try to get the most out of it.
