From Wasilla to Woodstock, Grammy Award winning Portugal. The Man returns to Alaska for two sold out shows.

Q&A with PTM frontman John Gourley

I know you’ve explained your name many times before so I wont go in to that. But what I’m sure many people want to know is if you have played shows in Portugal yet?

Yeah we were just there this summer. We played in Lisbon and we’ve played Porto twice before that. It’s a really, really amazing country. I mean the reason why I named the band Portugal anyway, is…that’s also connected to Alaska. It’s growing up there and opening our textbooks in geography and taking “Wow! This is so exotic compared to where we’re from.” Like, it just felt so different from Alaska. And I always looked at Portugal, Spain, places over there in Europe, as well as even South America, like any Latin America country was kinda exotic to me. And I think the European side was just further away. Yeah, so that’s what drew me to that.

How did they receive you playing over there?

Oh, its been great! The first big press we ever did and really like the big piece we ever had. We got like a 5 page feature in GQ Portugal when we first started. I mean the very beginning of this whole thing, that was like 13 years ago. That was like the biggest piece of press we had for like 5 or 6 years. It’s a really really beautiful place, and just amazing people, just amazing food, amazing music. Yeah, it’s a great place.

I saw when you played here at Koots back in 2013 and I am a bit embarrassed to admit this, but I had you guys mixed up with Foster the People so I told my date that we would hear Pumped Up Kicks. I realized my mistake a few songs in when So American played and felt silly afterwards. Do you often get mistaken for other bands? If so, what are some of the groups people have thought that you were in?

We had one that was funny. We were in the airport in South America and Zach kept getting confused for being Mumford from Mumford & Sons. These people took photos with him and Zach is trying to explain it away and the whole time they were like “Yeah sure. Yeah sure, you’re not Mumford & Sons” and he was like “I’m really not.” We all thought it was funny.

The band wagon t-shirts. “I liked Portugal. The Man before they sold out.” T-shirts. Have they been a popular item? Genuine? Ironic?

Yeah, that is probably our most popular shirt. And the whole thing, if you follow this group; we don’t like to stick in one genre. We like to do different things and try different things. That’s the funny thing about the listener –and I was there too, I was there as a fan. And always feeling like when the band changes their sound, it’s “their trying to go for a pop audience.” Every single time, doesn’t matter if we were going from Waiter: You Vultures to Church Mouth, we got the same thing. It was “Oh, you’re trying to appeal to the rock audience now.” And no, it’s just I don’t like playing within a genre. I think that’s boring. I listened to everything growing up. I started with 97.3 Kool FM and oldies radio. That’s where everything started and then, I guess like, finding OutKast in high school. Misty Elliot and Beastie Boys before that. It’s all these things that influence us in different ways. We always make joke about it.

It’s sort of an ironic humor and being able to laugh at yourselves.

Yeah, that’s a big part of who we are.

Your goal is to be career musicians though so selling out means something entirely different to you. Is there anything, or what are some things, that you won’t compromise on when it comes to your career in music?

I mean it’s pretty much everything. Like we are at Atlantic Records now and you might think that there would be pressures involved in being there, but I think ultimately our goals are all the same. I mean, I want to write the best music I can. Not just because money, but because Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin, The Rolling Stones, and Led Zeppelin. That’s what I would want to live up to more than anything. We all have the same goals. Where Atlantic may want the biggest songs we can make, they also want us to be ourselves. Admittedly, it is unique at major labels to have a relationship like that but I feel very luck to work with these people and to be a part of all of that.

I’ve always been the type of person who wants to listen when I meet people who know more than I do about this. Like I never stepped into anything going “Oh, well you’re just some person at a record label, I’m not going to change my music from you.” No, I’m going to listen and say “Oh, are they saying I should restructure this because it would make it fit more into that Bowie world? Or that Beatles world?” You know, there are some good things that you can take from them and I think that’s the thing to take from all of this is that: They’re not trying to change you. Record labels are never trying to change you because it doesn’t do them any good. You could have the biggest pop song in the world, but if you’re singing it and it’s a Rhianna song. Or it’s more of a Taylor Swift song, it’s not gonna work. And that’s the hardest thing to get your head around on the outside when you’re looking at the world of pop music. And just the world of music in general; If you’re not honest with yourself, you’re never going to come across. So, when labels ask you to change your music or to try something different, they’re suggesting that because “I hear something in you that you might not be recognizing.”

Many musicians feel the need to move out of Alaska to have more opportunities for growth. What doors has Portland opened for you that has helped you get to where you are today?

Something to understand about that is it’s not exactly cost effective to live in Alaska and tour. I mean just the cost of getting back home, that was the reason we moved in the first place. The “oh, we can’t afford to tour.” The things that I saw in coming to Portland, what opened my eyes to music was: visiting my buddies who played in Anatomy of A Ghost at the time. Coming down to visit them and seeing $3 shows and sing bands that I had listened to in high school come to Portland and play for twenty people and sell t-shirts for $10. Seeing that made me realize that you don’t need money to do this. You just need opportunity.

And the way you do that, is that you create these opportunities for yourself. You can’t expect to move to Portland and meet somebody at a record label. That’s not how it works. You just have to be self-aware and know what you’re doing is good. And if you know it’s good, then you’ve got to keep trying to that, chase that, and better yourself.

Being self-aware is the most important part. Being yourself and understanding yourself and knowing who you are. Because if you think that you’re someone who you’re not, it’s not going to work. Doesn’t matter if you live in Alaska or Portland or New York or L.A.

Tell me how it feels to be driving down the road or walking in a store and hear your voice come on the radio.

It feels weird. (chuckles) That was never the reason why we started doing this. It’s…. it’s amazing though. It’s not weird like I don’t like it. I love it! The reality is, that’s…that’s amazing.

Hearing our song in Moscow, and Portugal, England, and Germany. Literally every Uber ride, every cab we got in, within the las year, we would hear that song during the cab ride. That’s a really amazing thing and something that you have to recognize as being extremely rare.

“Feel It Still” is still everywhere. Has it gotten old for you yet? Do you ever get tired of it and think, “No, I want to play a different song today?”

(Laughs) No, not at all! That’s one of those things, like, that’s for 90’s bands. The idea that “Oh that song doesn’t represent who I am anymore”. We have this unique experience and perspective because we got to grow up and watch those bands do that. And as Alaskans, we are only hearing surface level. We’re not at you’re show, Harvey Danger.

All I know is “Flagpole Sitta”. If you don’t show up and play that song, I don’t know who you are.

The fans would riot.

And that’s the thing. There are so many egos involved in that. Who am I to say that this song, that connected with millions and millions of people is less credible because what kids are singing along with it? That’s amazing. What makes me happier than anything is seeing kids and having friends send videos of their kids singing that song and remembering “Oh yeah, this is why I love music.” Because I was that kid. And I was singing that song.

Hanging out with The Roots in New York and playing with The Roots at their Roots Jam around the Grammys… all of that and having them come up to us and say “Yeah, that’s my kid’s favorite song. Thank you for putting something on the radio that I can listen to.” It’s…that’s a pretty cool feeling. Like, I would play that song forever. And it connects with so many different parts of me. Because it is “Mr. Postman” and it is this reflective of something that grew up with too and what my parents grew up with. Every time I sing it, I get to remember being a kid living outside of Denali in Healy and riding along listening to oldies radio. I get to have that feeling every single time we play it and that’s a really beautiful thing. I could play that song every day of my life and feel it still.

Many of your songs have lyrics that tend to stick in the head and could easily lead to lengthy philosophical discussions. Do you mind sharing what inspired some of these lines?

“The only faith we have is faith in us”, “There’s a madness in us all”, “Save me, I can’t be saved.”

There’s a side of me that is……I play in a rock band, it’s hard to not be cynical about things. I come from Alaska, it’s hard to not question everything and I think that those lines are just our way of saying:

“Yeah, I really care about this stuff but how real is it? You know. It can’t be any more real than myself and the people around me. And I know that our support group back home in Alaska was the people that immediately surrounded us. It was out friends and family. I was never like, “I’m going to go to church to figure this out. Because my dad has the answer. My mom has the answer. It was always that for me. We just joke about it, that’s how we deal with everything. But there is some seriousness to all of it. I think we are pretty honest in our lyrics, I think we’ve always been that way.

Earlier this year, you were playing shows to help raise awareness for Keep Oregon Well and promoting mental health. I understand you are playing a show this Sunday at the Anchorage Alehouse to combat rural suicide. Can you share some details about that?

I think a lot of where I sit with, as is connects to Alaska and my experience with Alaska, is we have really high suicide rates up there and…. it’s hard to take a step back and realize that we are all different. Like we’re all just a little bit more isolated and the kids that I think are the most vulnerable are the kids in the villages. Because those are the people that I respect the most. Those are the real Alaskans. That is what it is really about. How do we support the native Alaskans and show them how much we appreciate their culture and how much we appreciate them? And that you’re not alone living in a village. Like we would all love to be a part of that.

It’s always really sad when we get those emails and hearing about something happening with another kid. I just want those kids to know that we’re right there too. Like, we all struggle with different things. I mean, I’ve struggled with depression and I’m scatterbrained and I’m all of those things as well. And it’s just, there’s certain things there. There’s a stigma around medication. Where your friends, and even your family sometimes, will say “Don’t take that, that’ll change you.” But if that change is for the better, I don’t really understand…. like ….there is an issue with over medicating and prescribing just to get rid of immediate problems, but there is some really good medications out there that really do help people. I have friends who are going through serious issues with mental illness. Like really serious. And they don’t want to take their medication because they don’t understand that there is a problem. Kanye West (chuckles) is a pretty good example of somebody, uh, who should probably be taking his medications. And that’s for real.

You have these problems and you don’t want to admit it. That’s where it becomes bigger and bigger issues, where you start to feel alone. I’ve taken medications in my life and I have seen it affect me in the most positive way I could ever be affected. I took a step back and said “Oh wow! I was looking at this in the wrong way. I don’t even know how I went down that crazy path and thought that this other thing was the issue. It wasn’t, that was in my head. “ When you have moments like that you realize, that medication and just support groups, and just support from your friends and family. You realize the importance of that. And that’s why we do all the stuff for mental health awareness. It’s to let people know that they aren’t alone and to remove that stigma.

Because that’s what this is about for me. And I know that’s my issues back home. How can we do more for the Native Alaskans? These are the people who showed us how to live out here. We could all take a step back and realize these people have been doing it for 1000’s of years. How do we support them? That’s first on our minds. I mean, that’s every where we go too.

Were you surprised at how fast the shows here sold out?

Oh yeah! (chuckles) I’m surprised every time we sell out shows. It must be the most frustrating thing in the world for management and our booking agent because every time we get booked in massive venues, I call them up and go “Hey, what the hell, man? We can’t fill up Red Rocks, we can’t fill up these venues.” And when I heard that they booked us two nights at the Alaska Airlines Arena, I said: “This is a huge mistake. Please don’t do this!” (chuckles) And, yeah, of course it is a surprise. I hate feeling like that and I’m not trying to sound humble or anything. Its just….I’m always just really thankful. I think the whole band is. It’s so difficult out there. We did years, ten years of touring before we broke on a record in a massive way. Most bands never experience that. And I’ll always be that kid from Alaska who just wanted to play $3 shows and sell $10 t-shirts and screen-print our own shirts because that’s all we could afford. I mean yeah, we might eat better today, but it’s still about that. And yeah, it’s crazy. I would have never expected that from Alaska. We love it. It’s rad.