Better Than Ezra frontman Kevin Griffin is in an excellent mood as he calls from Louisiana, as his beloved alternative rock band prepare to perform the final dates on their successful return to the road with their “Legends of the Fall 2022 Tour.”
“I’ve had a blast! The tour has gone even better than I hoped it would,” Griffin says. “There’s ups and downs to music [careers] – you’re in, you’re out, you’re forgotten, you’re not forgotten – but our consistent live show has kept some really dedicated fans out there for us. This tour has been proof of that for us that. We can go anywhere in this country and it’s going to be packed, and there’s going to be fans that know our songs up and down.”
He laughs when asked about “The Legends of the Fall” tour name. “Like most things we do, it’s tongue-in-cheek,” he says. “Naming yourself a legend, either you’re really pretentious or you’re having fun. And we’re having fun.” He also notes that he and his bandmates are “massive Brad Pitt fans,” so this is a nod to that actor’s 1994 film, Legends of The Fall. “And many Better Than Ezra albums came out in the fall,” he adds, “so there’s these different tie-ins.”
Better Than Ezra certainly have enough material to choose from for these shows: they’ve released eight studio albums so far, and have earned international stardom with singles such as “Good” and “Desperately Wanting.”
“I know how hard it is to have a hit, and how rare it is to have success,” Griffin says, “so we always have those hits in our set list. I’m happy to play them, and I love the reaction. I never get tired of playing the songs.
“That said, we’ve [also] got to play new songs that fill our creative well and challenge us,” he continues. “We’ve been doing two new songs on the tour. One’s called “Mystified” and another one is called “Fuzzy.” And we have an album that’s coming out in the spring; it’s tentatively titled Super Magick. It’s a classic Better Than Ezra album with amazing songs and new influences and familiar sounds. I just love new music and new bands, and by osmosis, the new music I’m listening to influences me, and it comes out in the songwriting. So I think you’ll hear new influences, but it’ll [still sound like] Better Than Ezra.”
Griffin says he also keeps in mind fans’ expectations as he writes and records new material: “Some of our albums are their favorite albums of all time and they really expect it to be good. So then you’re like, ‘I thought this was finished, but let’s really tweak it.’ You want it to be the best. At the same time, you don’t want to overwork it to where you squeeze out the happy accidents.”
He cites their 1993 album Deluxe to illustrate how the band first learned the importance of putting the songs themselves ahead of any flashy tactics. “It cost $9,000 total to make, and went on to go double platinum or something like that,” he says. “That was a great example of, ‘It ain’t about it sounding perfect.’ It just has to be authentic. It’s got to be great songs and inspired performances. And then, if there’s loose ends and it’s scratchy or it’s got some fucked up ending, we’ll leave it, it’s cool. It makes it feel human.”
Better Than Ezra’s distinctive sound evolved after they first formed in 1988 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and then spent an unusual amount of time perfecting their skills on the competitive Southeastern college club circuit (like R.E.M. and the B-52’s had done before them). “We ground it out for years,” Griffin says. “From our first rehearsal to when we got signed [to a record label], we had been together for seven years and we had been touring all over, just becoming a great live band. So once the music came out nationally in ‘95, we were a really seasoned, tight band that knew how to perform. We’ve worked hard to be good live and entertain you.”
Now, more than thirty years later, that early training is still paying off, as Better Than Ezra’s latest shows prove that they remain capable of captivating audiences. “We’ve been touring every year, but we’ve been doing package tours – which I love doing, but you end up having three bands on the bill and you play like fifty minutes,” Griffin says, “but for your fans who come and see you all the time, they want a full two hour show of the hits and deeper cuts. And that’s what we’ve been doing [this tour]. We pulled really old songs from our first cassette all the way to new songs. So I think it’s been a really cool experience.”
For people who may have missed these latest shows, or for fans eager to experience the band once more, there will be another opportunity to witness Better Than Ezra in action on November 20, when they will stream a show (via Veeps) that they recorded during their recent Chicago tour stop at House of Blues. Tickets to that event can be purchased here.
Griffin promises that the Legends of the Fall tour and the November 20 streaming concert are just the first of many exciting things Better Than Ezra have planned. “Follow our socials,” he says. “We’re going to start putting out tracks at the top of the year. A new album coming, new tour, lots of fun stuff. I’ve got a book that’s coming out, too, in the spring. So, more to be revealed!”
