KCSU music director Ria sat down with Jared Swilley of Black Lips ahead of their Dever show at the Mission Ballroom on October 28th, 2025. On this tour the band is supporting Viagra Boys whilst performing songs from their latest album “Season of the Peach”. The two discuss the excitement of touring, the juxtaposition of telling intense stories with a lighthearted sound, and how aliens might react to bird sounds.
Ria Janapati
We are here at the Mission Ballroom, October 2[7]th, [2025]. You are Jared of the Black Lips-
Jared Swilley
Jared, and you are?
Ria
I am Ria, Music Director of KCSU; I've got some questions.
Jared
Cool.
Ria
First one being: You've been doing this music thing for a hot minute now, are there things about being on the road specifically that change for you excitement level wise?
Jared
Oh sure, yeah. There's a different, like, excitement level. I've been touring since I was 16. We drove- the first like US tour we ever did was pretty miserable, but it was still the funnest thing; like, by my standards today, it would be pretty miserable, but I remember seeing the desert for the first time, and that's like, that excitement- I can remember the excitement I felt, like, the first time I saw a cactus. But like, now, you know, I slept on a pretty drive today because I've seen a lot of that stuff. So that changes. I still love being on stage and stuff. But yeah, I mean, just like, anything you do forever, things get boring.
Ria
Are there any cities that you visited a first time and you, like, couldn't wait to go back? Or maybe the opposite, you were really excited, but it wasn't your fav.
Jared
Oh, I won't mention any cities I didn't like, because I figure it's best not to say negative things about people or places. But there's... like, yeah, a lot of cities. I mean, talk about [the] excitement of being someplace. I remember the feeling of the first time we went to Europe to play; I couldn't believe it, like, because it was, it felt really cool. And I wanted to go back to all those cities, and I have been back to pretty much all of them. Or, like, you know, like Tokyo, like going there, I was like, "I have to come back here. It's awesome." So most, most places I would like, I, you know, there's, there's very few places I'd be like, “I never want to go there again.” So, yeah, I like most places.
Ria
I've seen that you guys have come to be known for pulling some antics during live shows, especially more in the DIY spaces. Has there been anything you've really wanted to do during a live show that would just be like a fun little act that no one saw coming?
Jared
There is one that we've been talking about doing... because we've done, like, all sorts of crazy stuff, and we're, like, older now, so I'm not trying to, like, make anyone upset anymore, like, do anything crazy. But like, have you ever seen the Wizard of Oz?
Ria
Absolutely.
Jared
So you know, like, when the Munchkins, like those guys come out as, like, the lollipop... the old guys? We want to- I guess I'm spilling the beans here, but it'll surprise people when we do it. But like, we kind of, like… We have this song that's about eating candy on our new record, and we want to just like, stop in the middle, hopefully, at a really huge show, like something like this [Mission Ballroom], or at a big festival, and, like, drop our instruments and go into the lollipop guild dance and then just start playing again. That's kind of like what we want to do.
Ria
Nice. A little surprise, a little dance break.
Jared
Yeah
Ria
Yeah, awesome. You just have to get the choreography down.
Jared
Yeah.
Ria
And then your newest album, Season of the Peach, I noticed it takes on a lot of different genre influences. There's some rockabilly sound, there's some 60s stuff, some folk stuff going on, just all over the place. So when you're taking inspiration to create something new like that, where do you find yourself looking?
Jared
I'm always looking in the past, and that's just for me. Fortunately, in this band, like all five members [contribute equally], right? So that's why it can kind of seem like it's all over the place, like musically. But, I mean, I only listen to, like, very old music, so that's kind of really what I'm pulling from; I listen to, like, old country and doo-wop and rockabilly and blues and stuff like that, so that's usually... I'm just trying to recreate stuff in a kind of, like, not as good way as the stuff I really like.
Ria
Back on your 2020 album, there's a song called "Angola Rodeo", and that song really interested me in the storytelling of it. It seemed like a bit of a silly take on, like, real life events. So-
Jared
Yeah
Ria
When you're going about doing that. Where do you draw the line between like, not taking yourself too seriously?
Jared
Well, you want to like, not like... or at least with me, I want to be like, if I'm talking about something very serious, and that's a very serious thing... Do you know the story of, like, the Angola rodeo?
Ria
Yeah, it's a prison rodeo.
Jared
Yeah, prison rodeo, and we actually went to it. I'd always wanted to go, and we went, and it's like, you know, it's pretty controversial. I happen to be in favor of it, just because it's like, if you're doing life in prison, or if you're on death row, like, it's the best day of your life when you get to do... They actually do it for like, a few months of the year. But you know, you don't want to be too preachy or too sappy, so you got to have your tongue firmly in cheek. My theory has always been, if you have, like, a really sad subject matter, make it a very poppy sounding song. And if you have really happy sounding stuff, it should be like, darker. That's kind of like how I like to do things.
Ria
Yeah, just flip them on their head.
Jared
And it's still, like... The lyrics are still like, kind of serious; but it's like a fun kind of sounding song. But you know, the Angola Prison is, like, one of the darkest places in the United States. It's pretty rough there.
Ria
I just thought that was really interesting, because on a first listen, if you're not really paying attention, it'll just be like, "Oh, this is a fun little tune-
Jared
There is, like, a big, like, stark contrast when you go to that rodeo, because you are in this just incredibly dark place. You drive in and you see death row, and you see the fields they're all working in, but then you go in there, and it's like, a really happy environment; like the prisoners... It's like, all guys on best behavior, but they've been working; like, they sell their arts and crafts that day. Their families are allowed to come in. They can actually have like, conjugal visits with their family in there. So it's like, it's super dark, ...
