The Last Slice are no new face around the Oklahoma scene. Since their first show in 2008 (a 15-or-so minute set at the King of Clubs in Claremore, OK), The Last Slice have figured out how to do things the right way. Several bassists, numerous tours, and a full length album later they are starting to hit their stride on the road. I got a chance to talk to Jason Ward, the band's trombonist and manager of sorts, before they head out on their Get Weird Southern US Tour.
PiOK: You guys
are getting more and more experience on the road. This is your second tour of
2013. How have your tours progressed from the beginning to now?
Jason: Our first tours (and I'm talking like, 2009) we so poorly thought out and
constructed, I look back at them now and I wonder how we even made it home
without dying of starvation. Seriously, though, now touring is a full fledged business. I do most of our management and booking and have become fairly good
at getting us in the right places with the right people. I wouldn't say we're
profitable quite yet, but we have hit the break even point and for months out
on the road at a time, that's something to brag about.
PiOK: What is
your favorite part of touring with The Last Slice?
Jason: I could say something really cheesy about how I like meeting new people in
different places, but since we've been really hitting the road hard over the
last year, my favorite part of touring has become those few fans that come from
god knows where (we had someone drive 6 hours to see us in New Jersey), just to
see you, and then they scream every word of every song right back in your face.
That's becoming a thing that happen more often than not now that we're
constantly returning to these places, and it just gets more exciting every time
we go out.
PiOK: What is
your least favorite part of being on the road?
Jason: Money. I wish money didn't exist. That's an extreme obstacle for living on
the road for a month at a time, because no one wants to starve.
PiOK: The band
has done multiple tours to both the East and West. Which direction do you
personally prefer to travel?
Jason: East. The west coast is fun in a lot of places, but those places tend to be
way too spread out. The east has a lot of bigger cities just jammed right on
top of each other. Your drive times are less and you can cover more ground
faster. Plus, we've really built a name for ourselves in some spots out there
and that seems to be where most of our fan-base resides now.
PiOK: What is one
thing, other than your instrument, that you have to have on tour with you?
Jason: My phone/laptop. Both of those things keep our business running 24/7. I'm
usually booking or doing something while we're driving down the road just to
make sure we don't miss a beat.
PiOK: Best of luck to you all on tour. I would be doing the readers a disservice if I didn't take this opportunity to ask about your next album. Your debut
full length, Fresh Cuts, took a long
time for you to release and featured a lot of songs from your first few years
as a band. Are we going to have to wait that long for a second album? Have you
started planning it, and if so can you give any details?
Jason: I'm not going to say a whole lot, but no. You will not have to wait so long
for our next album and I would almost guarantee you it'll be in your hands by
this time next year if not
way sooner. The album is pretty much written, it's
just a matter of having a little time off from the road to actually get in to
the studio and get it done.
PiOK: You have
played a few new songs live since your album release party; how are the new
songs coming along
Jason: Currently we've been playing Artificial Crab, a song about how bad
artificial crab meat is, and another one called Chick's a Trip about crazy
girls. Both of these songs are fully complete and have become sort of crowd
favorites. On this last west coast tour, we added another new song called
Strike That Match, which I feel is going to become a permanent addition to our
live catalog.
PiOK: Is there a
noticeable difference in style between the Fresh
Cuts tracks and songs you have written since?
Jason: Oh yes. This is Last Slice 2.0. This next album is going to blow you away.
A list of tour dates can be found on the image below or on their Facebook.
