So you’ve managed to score yourself a spot on the BACARDI EXPRESS, what do you think will be the highlight of the tour?
Playing at the Tivoli in Brisbane will be great, it’s always fun playing a hometown show, and that venue is just awesome. Though I think the thing I’m most looking forward to is the jam room on the train, it’s going to be pretty interesting and fun to hang out with the other bands. I mean we are living on a train for a few days!! How cool is that.

How do you feel about going on tour with UK superstar La Roux?
We all like La Roux’s stuff so it will be great to see her live. Touring with other bands is so great because we get to meet them as people (not just as performers) and usually they are just really nice fun people to hang out with. So hopefully it’s something like that!

How would you describe your band’s live performance style?
I would say it is fairly upbeat and energetic. We certainly try to put a lot into each show, because we feel that the live show has to entertain you, so to just be onstage and play our songs in a really rigid way making it sound exactly like the album is not really what we’re into.

If Coffs Harbour is famous for The Big Banana, and Newcastle is all about heavy metal what is your bands mascot/motto?
We used to have this big mouth billy bass in our band room. Does that count? He never had batteries in him though, so he never spoke. I think he might still be in there somewhere.

Which city on the tour are you looking forward to visiting? Why?
We’re definitely looking forward to playing in Coffs because we have never played there before, so that should be good. Its always fun playing new places and venues, especially to play to a new audience.

Do you find the regional crowds much different from the big city crowds?
We’ve had some fun at regional shows; the crowd is usually pretty into it as well. Geelong is the only time we’ve ever had a bra thrown on stage at us. And to be honest I think initially we were just a bit shocked and awed by its presence on the stage.

How does the band prepare for a show?
Well, firstly we get to that city on a plane usually, this will invariably have taken longer than it should have. They we try and get our car from a hire company (that will remain nameless) and they never have the car we ordered, so we wait outside for something to come, we all squeeze into the car that is considered a replacement car like a bunch of clowns and drive hurriedly to the gig where we take large heavy boxes that we have disguised as ‘band equipment’ and carry that up the nearest flight of steps without bending our knees. We then pretend we can relax, but really we are setting up the stage to sound check, which started 30mins ago, and we only have 10mins to check then get our gear off stage. So after bending the time space continuum we realise that the doors are about to open and that we are really hungry and that to get back in time to watch the first band we need to get something now. So we set off looking for something nice, fresh, colourful. Maybe some sort of South East Asian dish, maybe Japanese, maybe a salad. WE BLACK OUT MOMENTARILY, and then wake up walking in the back door of the venue with a kebab in my grasp. Then Michael begins his vocal exercises. Which is just a series of funny sounds and faces.

In your opinion, what makes a tour great?
A great tour is marked by the other bands you are playing with, if it is a tour where everyone just hangs out together and you get to play lots of shows then it is going to be a great tour.

Who is your favourite live performer and why? Where did you see them play?
I saw Billy Joel play a few years ago at the entertainment centre. He was awesome! So many good songs, so many songs!

If you could go to any concert in the history of the world, whose concert would you go see?
I should say a festival like Woodstock, Lollapalooza, or the first BDO. But I think I can narrow it down to The Clash at Bonds Casino - that would have been awesome. Amazing.

How do you feel about spending 48 hours with other bands and media on a train?
It’s going to be great, it will be just like in the festival express, I’m sure of it! But how could it not be a bunch of bands without responsibilities given time, room to jam and three bars! It’s going to be great, I’m giddy with excitement.

Your top ten iPod songs? Any recommendations?

1. Go your own way – Fleetwood Mac
2. Romeo and Juliet – Dire Straits
3. White Guilt – The Bronx
4. Sit Down By The Fire – The Veils
5. Make It Wit Chu – QOTSA
6. True Love Travels On a Gravel Road – Elvis Presley
7. Falling For You – Weezer
8. Didn’t I Blow Your Mind This Time – The Delfonics
9. Could Be Bad – The Scare
10. Free Fallin – Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers

Best travelling songs?
All of these are recommendations especially the Bronx and the Veils, my two favourite bands, and a highly commended goes to Big Star which should have been on the list but was absent from my top ten at the time of writing.

If you were booking the Bacardi festival Express for next year, give us your dream line-up (dead or alive)?
Well, we would open (to get on the train), then Elvis Costello with the attractions circa 1977, The Clash circa 1980, The Million Dollar Quartet (good value for money I thought, 4 for the price of 1), My Bloody Valentine, Pink Floyd circa 1973.

If I saw that line up I would die. There would be no more reasons to live.

If you could create a cocktail and name it, what would it contain and what would you call it?
I have been thinking about cocktails over the last week because it is the time of year and I think Bacardi with cherries and a little coconut liqueur with heaps of ice. But I’m pretty sure that already is a cocktail, and who knows what I’d call it.

What’s next for the band after BACARDI EXPRESS?
I would say more touring and hopefully another album pretty soon, to tell you the truth I haven’t looked past March in the calendar, but no doubt the powers that be have already filled April and May with more fun things to do!

Yves Klein Blue are onboard the 2010 BACARDI EXPRESS. Check out www.bacardiexpress.com.au for more details.