Interview: My North West

Trying to stay healthy on tour can be difficult, but Camila Grey and Leisha Haley of Uh Huh Her have developed creative strategies to stay fit. “There’s this thing that we do, called bus surfing, because the bus is constantly just moving around it’s really difficult to walk down the corridor…It’s really funny…If you don’t fall over, then you win. We do bus acrobatics like on the bunks, there’s a lot of bus gymnastics that go on,” says Grey.

Further, in the effort to stay healthy, Grey says they fight the normal rocker tendency to load the fridge with beer and instead opt for plain soy. “That’s the hardest thing to do, is really take care of yourself and eat proper meals like at proper times during the day…Your schedule’s really off, your sleeping schedules off, your eating schedules off. So, we try our best to stock the bus full of soy milk and good food, but it’s kind of difficult.”

In Grey’s mind the benefits of being on the road outweigh the difficulties. “I love the kind of randomness of it…When you’re on a bus, you play your show, you go to sleep, and you wake up in a new city everyday, and so you never kind of know what to expect. It’s like the whole box of chocolates reference. It’s like you never know what you’re going to get, which is kind of exciting.”

Since the release of their debut album Common Reaction in May, Uh Huh Her has been developing their sound on the road. Grey says the change from when they first set out is considerable. “It’s changed massively. I think we’re just such a better band at this point. We’ve done a couple tours and we’ve got our legs…We’re involving a light show and we’re turning everything digital, so it sounds a lot like the record, and that was kind of the goal, to make the live show kind of a reflection of the record.”

Packed shows and tour stops have also been the first time Uh Huh Her is meeting many of their fans. “They’re really excited. They’re so sweet and so giving, they give us all sorts of crazy fun gifts…They’re the coolest fans I’ve ever dealt with, that’s for sure. There’s a level of excitement there I haven’t ever really seen.”

When discussing the relationship with band mate Hailey, Grey says they collaborate as much as possible. “We’re a duo, we just split everything fifty-fifty.” When asked if there have been any big fights on the road, “You’re in such close quarters it’s bound to happen, and people, you know, get their period…We’ve had a couple little tiffs, but we easily squash them.”

Band mates Hailey and Grey have their differences but Grey explains that those differences enhance their collaborative efforts. “It’s definitely interesting because we’re coming from two insanely different places.” Grey cites Hailey’s acting background as one of the differences that serves to elevate their live show. “When I was going to shows as a kid, I’ve always admired the people that kind of put a little bit of theatrics into it, and certainly being in a band with an actress, that’s the case with this. So she’s kind of taught me, hey you know dress up a little bit, you know, let’s make it a little more theatrical because I’m, you know-I just care about the music man.”

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(@My North West)