Teenage Bottlerocket’s new album, Tales From Wyoming is absolutely a homage to the band’s beautiful home state, and the songs on the album reflect that. As bassist Miguel Chen puts it, Tales From Wyoming is the culmination of everything they’ve done as a band. With the album out now and a massive run of tour dates lined up through the summer, Teenage Bottlerocket have much to be excited about in 2015.
Interview by Gabrielle DB
Hello! Thank you for taking the time to chat with us. May we have an introduction to Teenage Bottlerocket for those who may not be familiar with your work?
Miguel Chen: We are a punk rock band from Laramie Wyoming, formed in 2001. We love Ramones, NOFX, Descendents and writing and singing about pizza, girls and scary movies
Tales From Wyoming just went live, how awesome is that? Album number six, congratulations!
We are so stoked to finally have it out, feels amazing and the reception so far has been great. We feel very fortunate.
How does this stack up to your previous releases?
I like to think each record we get a little better, so hopefully that comes across on the record. A lot of the same formula, but a little bit more refined
What excites you about this album? What is the take-away from Tales From Wyoming?
The record is sort of a culmination of everything we’ve done as a band. It was exciting to get to work with Bill Stevenson at the Blasting Room. Hopefully the take-away is that Tales is classic TBR with the added bonus of years of experience as a band
With the album titled in homage to your state of origin, what does where you are from mean to you?
We love Wyoming, it’s a beautiful state, small population and there is a great natural beauty here. I like to think we serve as an example, that if we can be from Wyoming and do what we love, than anybody anywhere has it within themselves to do the same
With a change of record label, how was this conducive to a successful recording process?
Rise brought Bill in to produce, in the past we’ve always been self produced so that was a whole new experience. We also had a little more time in the studio than on past releases which gave us more breathing room
A few singles and [hilarious] videos have been released, which tracks do you especially want people to hear?
“I Found The One,” “Nothing Else Matters (When I’m With You)” and “Cockroach” are some personal favorites
Besides the string of tours lined up, any other keystone plans in 2015?
We’re working on even more tours, currently booking through September and October so we will be super busy!
Any final words, references, links, or things to look out for from Teenage Bottlerocket?
Do what you love, let go of what doesn’t serve you and party on my friends. Thanks for having me. www.teenagebottlerocket.com
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