We caught up with Gary Wiseman from Bowling For Soup at Swindon Oasis Centre to chat about how 2007 has been for the band, how they got the title for their current album and anything else we could think of.

Well hello and thank you for taking the time to do this interview.
Yeah no worries.

How did you come up with the name Bowling for Soup?
It’s just from an old Steve Martin record, he was telling jokes about different TV shows and stuff that he had written and one was called bowling for shit and we just stole it and changed the swearing to soup.

How did the band come together?
Everyone was just in other bands around town where we grew up and we all kinda knew each other. Chris ran a coffee shop that had bands play in and that was pretty much the only place in town to play so we all just knew each other and other bands just kinda broke up at the same time and so the band started.

Your current album is called ‘The Great Burrito Extortion Case’, where did the name come from?
We were watching a news channel and on the bottom it said burrito extortion and we were like what the hell is that and we kinda joked around about it for a while and then we just thought we’d call the new record burrito extortion case and it doesn’t really mean anything!
Do you have any favourite songs from the Great Burrito Extortion Case?
I guess I’m gay is quite good….funny song!
(Pauses to pick up a ping pong ball that has been hit over by Erik and Chris)
And why is that?!
Because it’s just fun to say!
Fair enough! You have a song called Val Kilmer, have you ever heard what he thought about the song?
We actually did a TV show, a talk show and he was one of the guests on it and he didn’t say anything about it so I guess he’s fine with it!
(Somebody shouts over saying he has heard it and likes it!)
I didn’t know that! Awesome…okay he loves it!

You did a cover of Fergie’s London Bridge, how did that come about?
We were actually doing it for a yahoo thing and there was a list of cover songs to do and it was one of em and we just thought it would be funnier than the rest of em because you know…it’s Fergie…she’s hot! Maybe she’d like our cover and we’d get to do her.
And what did she think about the cover?
I don’t know I haven’t heard from her. Our people are trying to talk to her people but we haven’t heard back yet.

Your currently on the Get Happy Tour, what’s it like to be back in the UK and how has the tour gone so far?
It’s great to be back here because the crowds are always so good and enthusiastic here so it’s nice to be back in the UK so far it’s been great, we’re three shows in I think and tonight’s the fourth and it’s all been great so far.
And what’s it like touring with Army of Freshmen, Zebrahead and The Bloodhound gang?
We’ve been friends with Army of Freshmen forever so we get along great with them and last night we had a really good night after the show and everyone’s down for partying and having fun so they’re a good group of guys to hang out with so far.

Tonight you’re playing the Oasis Centre in Swindon, you’ve played in Swindon before but what do you think of the place as a town?
You know what, I haven’t really gotten to go around town today we’ve just been here at the Oasis…I’ve seen the cafeteria and the water slides and that’s about it!
You been on the water slides?!
I didn’t go on the water slides but some people have.
Did you have a walk round town when you were here before?
No I don’t think we did that time either! We kinda just got stuck in the venue all day long…real boring huh?!

How do you go about picking your set list when you have so many songs to choose from?
That’s the hard thing having so many songs but we never make a set list we just have it happen as it goes so we don’t really think about it…it’s all in the heat of the moment!
Do you change your set throughout the whole tour or do you play the same set at every show?
Well there are songs that you have to play like we gotta play 1985 etc you know. So there are the ones you have to play but the ones which aren’t singles and what not then we change them up from night to night.
Do you have any favourite songs to play live?
Hmmm….there all fun to play, anything that… let me try and think… no there all fun!

When you’re on long tours what do you do to entertain yourself between shows?
Right now I’m stuck in the middle of Entourage. We have like a hard drive player on the bus and it had seasons 1, 2 and 3 of Entourage…I just started season 3 this morning! I’m hooked!

Do you have any fun stories from the road to tell?
Last night we all sat around and passed around a Jagermeister bottle and I think because of that I’ve forgotten anything after that!

What was it like playing Download Festival this year to thousands of metal fans?
That was a blast and overwhelming because as far as you can see is just a crowd of people and it’s just a rush. It’s kinda weird because time doesn’t really exist, you just play the set and walk off and you’re like ah man, I don’t even know what just happened you know? Time just disappears. It’s a rush!
At Download Festival you had loads of stage props like a giant blow up sheep, do you have any on this tour?
We do have them but haven’t used them every night because some of the stages are too small.
Are you using them tonight?!
We are…not! We’ll see!
Do you know what the stage props are?
We do have the sheep with us, we can use them on some nights but we’re not using them all the time so I don’t think we are using them tonight.

You have played pretty much all over the world but where has been your favourite country to play in?
Different places for different reasons. Obviously the UK because the crowds are great, the kids are great. It’s kinda fun to go to Japan too because it’s just a completely different world and you just have no idea what’s going on there… everywhere kinda has its own special thing.

You are constantly on tour, do you ever get the chance to write on the road or do you wait until the tours over and then start writing material?
We are very un-productive on the road and so it’s best for us to get home, have a bit of rest and then get together and do our writing then.

You are releasing ‘When we Die’ as a download only single in the UK on Monday, what made you choose to release this song over any of the other songs on the album?
Well in the States there was just the right choice to make the next single and it had a good momentum over there so I think we’re just kinda trying to hope that it does well over here too. It just makes sense that that would be the next single for us right now.

You totally love the 80’s but what is your favourite thing to come out of the 80’s?
Peanut butter and jelly in one jar!

Now we’re sure you get this a lot but what is your favourite kind of soup?!
Chicken noodle! I’m boring in the soup area, Chris would probably say something like butternut squash but I just stick with the normal everyday chicken noodle.
What do you think of shark fin soup?!
I’ve never had shark fin soup in fact I’ve only seen it on a menu once!
It’s not good stuff!
I don’t think I’d try it!

What’s next for Bowling for Soup after this tour?
We are actually going to go home and have a little bit of time off and then we will be working on a new record so we have that coming up.

This last question we ask every single band… what animal would you rather be out of a zebra or a giraffe?!
(Thinks hard)…A giraffe.
Why would you be a giraffe?
Because if you wanted to scare yourself you could just lower your head real quick and it would be like taking a roller coaster ride!

Fair enough! Thanks for doing this interview and are there any comments you would like to pass on to your fans?
Thanks for all the support and we love ya!

Interview by Trigger and Charlotte