Having joined the Fat Wreck Records family earlier this year, Cali five-piece Pour Habit is heading our way with NOFX and Bad Religion.

The raucous punk triple-header will give Pour Habit a break from recording their new album, parts of which will be getting a run on our stages. Before boarding the plane down under, the Fat Mike protégés checked in with FasterLouder.

You’re flying out to Australia very soon, which will mean the album is put on hold for a bit. What stage is it at?
Right now, the album is just waiting to be recorded. We just got done doing pre-production with Fatty (Fat Mike) which was amazing. We are looking to get it recorded in November and let me tell you we can not wait.

What’s your approach to recording? Do you guys just get together in the studio and thrash out ideas?
This time we had a little rehearsal space where we would get together and yell at each other every day. But really, we like to be pretty prepared when we go into the studio. This time will be awesome because we will have more than a week to do the album so, for example, the drums will not have to be done in one take. We can listen to parts to make sure they are the best we can do.

Will the new album have a similar feel to Suiticide or are you pushing for something different?
I think we will stick to the roots but this album will be a little different. We have all grown musically and as a band. When Suiticide was recorded, we were a four-piece and were really learning and growing as a band. As time goes on you get way more locked in with your bandmates and can come up with different ideas. I think the new album is cool because it has a lot of different styles on it. We can go from technical thrashy stuff to reggae. Basically we have to feel a song kicks ass. To be on the album, if a song we wrote was a person, you could not call it a bitch. I don’t know if that makes sense!

There’s a quote from you guys about how Suiticide brought together a range of influences like Pantera, Green Day and Meshuggah. What – if anything – has been an influence this time?
This is what we have really learned over the past year especially. I think a lot of bands are full of shit. I know that when I love a band I truly – œbelieve’ them.

There is nothing fake about what they are delivering. So with us there is no image or fantasy. We are five best friends who have had a tough go at it but have one goal. I mean we just want to play music that we love and we believe in. Hopefully it can mean as much to other people as it does to us.

So, what’s the story behind how you came to know Fat Mike?
We were getting help from Jordan from Strung Out – who, by the way, is the greatest guy. He was able to get us two shows opening for NOFX in California and it kind of went from there. Basically, Charles beat Mike in a hotly-contested and very controversial match of thumb wrestling and it just went from there. Mike is a really nice guy. I mean, I was pretty star-struck when I first met him but he really treats everyone very well. So basically we got to play the show and kind of became friends.

Are these Australian shows the first you’ll play with NOFX, or have you been sharing stages at home?
We have been lucky to share the stage with NOFX a few times. We did the Cali shows but we also got to go to Europe with NOFX and The Flatliners. That was freaking awesome! I mean, one day you are playing every weekend at a bar or club and then all of the sudden you get to go on tour to Europe with NOFX for two weeks. Those shows were awesome. We met a lot of amazing people and came back with some funny stories which may include accidentally setting off fire sprinklers at a hotel at 4am, a fire department safety lesson, and a 10-mile walk lost in Newcastle.

Are you prepared for the debauchery of Pour Habit, NOFX and Bad Religion sharing a tour bus?
I actually heard that we will be having bible study every night so it will probably be a relaxed tour.

As well as the NOFX/Bad Religion shows, you’ll be tearing it up at your own intimate gigs here. Is it the down and dirty club shows where Pour Habit is happiest playing?
There is nothing better than the smaller shows where you can be close with the people. You can really feel everyone’s energy and it is so much fun. We love playing these types of shows and partying with everyone after.

What kind of onstage tomfoolery can we expect from Pour Habit?
Anyone who has seen us live would know this question would take a long time to answer! I can say that there will probably be breakdancing, face-humping, ball tapping, and laughing among other things.

Anything in particular you want to achieve when you get down to Australia?
We want to make a lot of friends and not get banned!

Pour Habit support NOFX and Bad Religion around the country and play three headline shows of their own.

NOFX/Bad Religion shows:
Thu 24th September – Metro City, Perth
Sat 26th September – Thebarton Theatre, Adelaide
Sun 27th & Mon 28th September – Palace Theatre, Melbourne
Wed 30th September – Hordern Pavilion, Sydney
Fri 2nd October – Riverstage, Brisbane

Headline shows:
Tuesday 22nd September – Arthouse, Melbourne
Friday 25th September – Syke! Adelaide
Thursday 1st October – Hermann’s, Sydney Uni