Words With: Two Gallants

It’s been a busy few months for Adam Stephens and Tyson Vogel of Two Gallants. Just this summer they’ve managed to play countless U.S. club shows as well as the Noisepop Festival, South by Southwest, the Carling weekend, several UK club shows, signed on to a new label and managed to start (and finish) recording their next full length album. How do they find time to do it all? “Well, we don’t really like to do anything else.” says Adam, “We’re kind of, in some ways, used to it.” Back in their native San Francisco for a week off after playing shows across the UK, but with a New York showcase and a trip back to California on the horizon, Gigwise found a rare, spare moment during the duo’s hectic schedule to catch up...

“It was kind of surprising, having been really…kind of, unknown, going over there. And then people were really coming out and really paying attention. It was cool.” said Tyson of their first ever tour outside of the states. “Hopefully we can play over there again.” Their appearance at South by Southwest this year seemed to have caught the eye of more than a few people. It was this performance that really got the ball rolling overseas for them. Someone at Rough Trade in London liked their first CD, 'The Throes', enough to put the album for sale in the shops and even set it up as an “album of the month”. Once festival dates started showing up, Adam and Tyson started booking other shows around the UK including an acoustic show in the Neal’s Yard location of Rough Trade.

Alternating between acoustic shows and electric shows when the mood hits them, performing is what the Two Gallants seem to do best. They’ve built up a pretty strong reputation for making the most of any room they play in, regardless of size. “You can play in someone’s living room and if there’s fifteen people there, it can seem like a concert hall,” says Adam. Even after hundreds of shows, they are still occasionally surprised out on the road. “It’s not this grand nationwide following.”, adds Tyson. “Sometimes we’ll show up and totally not expect anyone to come out and a lot of folks will come through…it’s pretty cool. It feels pretty amazing coming into a strange town and have people expecting you.”

For their next outing in the states, they are playing shows with their good friends Holy Ghost Revival. The sounds of the two bands work well together, but Adam really puts the emphasis on compatibility of a personal level, over that of a musical one. “The most important thing, I think, on being a long distance tour,” he says, “is getting along with the band you’re with…even if the styles don’t completely match up. If you like these people, it makes the tour a lot more enjoyable.”

After the tour, their newly finished album should be released pretty soon. This time around, the Two Gallants are putting out a darker, more acoustic effort with some sparse additional instruments like horns, piano and cello. “We’re not trying to make up for anything we’re lacking,” they say, “we just sort of expanded on certain things…certain parts of songs that we just heard.” Tyson mentions that they’re “not trying to come off as a ‘big’ band.” But rather to “let the song just be more natural and be what it is.” They expect to keep the shows as intimate, however. There are no plans to add any new musicians to the stage show, other than the occasional friend showing up to play here and there. And, contrary to older rumors that still rear their head from time to time, they plan to stay a duo.