SXSW 2013: Fitz and the Tantrums on the Perils and Upsides of Touring

By Eric Helton | Rolling Stone – Fri, Mar 15, 2013 10:15 AM EDT

Michael Fitzpatrick and James King of the indie-soul rockers Fitz and the Tantrums sat down in the Rolling Stone Rock Room to talk about the exhaustion of touring, but also about the band bonding that comes with it. "The first thing we did after three years of touring was sleep for about six days straight," Fitzpatrick confesses. "And on the seventh day, he planted a succulent garden," King quips. 

The band's lengthy tour — after which they wrote More Than Just a Dream, which is due out in May — did a lot to bring the band together. Says Fitzpatrick, "We ride our highs and lows together. This literally happened: we were in one of those party buses with a stripper pole in the middle being driven back from the venue to our hotel and somebody's weeping over the loss of a parent, and we're all holding that person, comforting them, because we're all we have when we're out in the middle of nowhere."

Interview by Eric Danton; text by Joe Pinsker

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This article originally appeared on Rolling Stone: SXSW 2013: Fitz and the Tantrums on the Perils and Upsides of Touring

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