INTERVIEW: Stand Atlantic On Their 'WAS HERE' European Tour

Get ready to dive into a fun, candid conversation with Bonnie Fraser and Miki Rich, where we talk all things tour life, creative risks, and even their go-to ice cream flavours! From ferry rides to fearless songwriting, they give us a peek behind the scenes of their latest album and their current tour.

Strife Magazine: Let’s start with the most important question: how are you guys?
Bonnie: We’re good. We had a weird sleep last night, going through the tunnel and taking the ferry. Feeling good, though. It’s a beautiful day. We’ve been really lucky with the weather on this tour.
Miki: I actually had a better sleep last night, got up at 4 a.m. for the ferry, but afterwards, I passed out. Longest sleep I’ve had, woke up at 2 today, so I’m feeling good.

Strife Magazine: This is the first show on mainland Europe, right?
Miki: Yeah. The UK was great. Pretty much every show sold out. I’m not sure if tonight’s sold out, but it’s close. This is one of my favourite venues to play.
Bonnie: We played here last summer. It was one of my favourite shows ever. So I’m excited for tonight.

Strife Magazine: Your artwork is always very interesting. What’s the story behind this one?
Bonnie: The idea of the artwork wasn’t that interesting at first. I originally wanted it to be super white and minimal—no band name or anything. Then I found out The Beatles did that already, so good thing we didn’t! I would have ripped them off without even knowing. But as we got the title and songs together, the image of us lying dead on a white background came to mind. I’m very visual, and the contrast of red on white really struck me. We’d never done anything like that before, and I didn’t want our name on the front, just something different. Making it was fun too
Miki: Less messy than I expected. It’s funny because, just before that shot of us lying there, we were all laughing and goofing off. It turned out really cool.

Strife Magazine: You mentioned wanting to do something different, and there are some tracks on the record that are a bit different from what you’re used to. How do you feel the music has progressed?
Bonnie: We’ve always pushed the envelope a little, with one or two weird songs on each album. Miki: We never go in thinking about genre, just making good songs. I think we’ve become less scared with each album. On earlier ones, we might have dialled things back a bit, but now, with the fourth album, we’re even more fearless.
Bonnie: We had a long time to write this one, in LA, Manchester, and Sydney, which was cool. We wanted to take risks we hadn’t taken before, but still keep some tracks that people are used to from us. It’s about blending genres and making something fresh and exciting, not following trends.
Miki: Our main fanbase understands that even if we release a pop song, it doesn’t mean it’s a pop album, and if we release a heavy song, it doesn’t mean the album will be all heavy.
Bonnie: We’re always aiming for the best song possible, with strong hooks and meaningful lyrics, no matter the style.

Strife Magazine: Do you ever worry about taking those risks?
Miki: Sometimes, yeah. For example, rockstar was a bit scary at first because it has a reggae-pop feel. It didn’t seem like us, but the chorus is one of the strongest and catchiest on the record. At the end of the day, a good melody is a good melody, no matter the genre.

Strife Magazine: You’ve been collaborating a lot. Does that help expand your sound?
Bonnie: Definitely, but it happens naturally. We write the song first and then think about if a certain artist would suit it. We’re never set on having someone specific; it’s more like, “That would be cool.” If they vibe with it, great, but we don’t write songs just for features.
Miki: A good example is the Polaris track. It wasn’t written for them, but when Jamie came on, we adjusted some parts, and Dan helped us write a heavier section. It wasn’t planned that way, but it turned out great.
Bonnie: We’ve known each other for years, but it never worked out before due to scheduling and other things. This time, it finally did.

Strife Magazine: On the last record, all the collaborations were over Zoom, did you go into the studio this time?
Miki: All the overseas artists did them themselves. Lyndsey flew over and we got to do the music video. Unfortunately, Bruses couldn’t make it because of a visa issue, but we made it work.
Bonnie: It was fun to collaborate with artists for the music videos as well, we’d never really done that before.

Strife Magazine: You’ve been doing this for a while now, with four records. How do you think the industry has changed?
Bonnie: It’s proven more and more that you can do whatever you want, as long as you have people around you who believe in it as much as you do. We’ve been lucky to have the same team since the Sidewinder EP, and we really value that. Just because you’re growing doesn’t mean you’ve outgrown your team. You can all grow together, and that creates a different kind of camaraderie.
Miki: When we were making our second album, we had label pressure to try new producers, but we stuck with our team. We’ve had the same producer and mixer for all four albums. They understand our sound and don’t need much instruction anymore, which is great.

Strife Magazine: It sounds like you’re very loyal to your team.
Bonnie: Yeah, very much. There’s always the temptation to try new things, but the people who’ve been with you from the start get it. They know the story, they know the sound. It’s tempting when something new is presented, but the reality doesn’t always match. We’ve stuck with what works for us.

Lightning round:

Strife Magazine: Favorite European city to visit on tour?

Miki: I like the Netherlands—Amsterdam and Eindhoven. Prague is awesome too. It’s like walking through a dollhouse, so different from Australia. We always walk around for hours there.
Bonnie: I also love going to Italy. I think it’s because it’s the only place that gets sun during winter tours, and I’m like, “Oh, I can see God again!”

Strife Magazine: Favorite song to play live?

Bonnie: For me, Killer Cobra.
Miki: Sex on the Beach lately. Every time we play it, I’m reminded how great it is.

Strife Magazine: Last one, favourite ice cream flavour?
Bonnie: Chocolate for me.
Miki: We have this ice cream in Australia called Golden Gaytime—it’s honeycomb with cookie crumbs. The slogan is, “It’s always good when you’re having a Gaytime.” It’s childhood ice cream for us.

Stand Atlantic‘s new album WAS HERE is out now!