(May 2009) - PCM recently attended a live concert where Syndey native band, The Howling Bells , who are currently on tour with Coldplay, were nice enough to grant us an interview. Two staff members got the opportunity to speak to band members Brendan Picchio and Juanita Stein in their dressing room backstage after their performance in Camden, NJ.

The pair graciously welcomed PCM into their private lounge where we sat and chatted with them about touring all over the world, their music and what it's like to open for such a well-known band like Coldplay.

PCM certainly took notice of the group's tranquilizing and approachable nature. They casually answered our questions while the atmosphere backstage buzzed around them with people preparing for Coldplay to take the stage.

Howling Bells seem to be a part rare breed of musicians that exist today in the music industry - ones that are driven by an untarnished love for their music and aim to share their sound with the world. They were unassuming and personable.

Okay, we'll stop talking, check out some Q&A from our interview with The Howling Bells below, we dig em'!

Q: We took a look at the tour dates scheduled for you guys and you are all over the world! Here in the U.S., it seems like you have a show every other night, do you sleep?

JS: "Ha! Well usually I don't anyway so this is not a big deal to tour like this."

BP: (laughs) "We were just saying when we were having dinner at catering earlier, being on tour, you have to be desperately hungry and famished to eat and exhausted to actually sleep."

JS: "To get into the bottom bunk and be thrown around on the bumpy road on the bus, you have to be pretty tired to actually fall asleep. Our drummer Glenn could sleep through a hurricane though."

BP: "I've seen Glenn actually fall asleep right at the moment of takeoff when we got on a plane, it's crazy!"

Q: Do you guys have a strict set list? How do you guys work out as a band what songs you want to play live for audiences?

JS: "In this tour, we have a planned set list. We've played the same set list pretty much the whole time on this tour with a little alterations."

BP: "The closer you stay to one set list, the easier it is to have nothing go wrong. The stage managers certainly appreciate that. It doesn't really feel repetitive though."

JS: "After awhile, you have to have some routine, there are so many people that go into making the show go well. The lighting guy needs to know what to do, for example, you know?"

Q: What are your plans for post-Coldplay tour?

BP: "Europe. European festivals in England."

JS: "After that, fingers crossed, we'll come back to the U.S. and do our first headline tour here."

Q: After being on tour with Coldplay and The Killers, do you guys notice a spike in your website hits and more friend requests on MySpace, etc?

JS: "Yes, since the beginning, I've always dealt with our MySpace and I make sure to respond to people. Almost instantly, we went from a quiet period in England and then bang, the second we started this tour, it went up like crazy!"

Q: You've played live all over, do you notice a difference in American audiences versus say, Australian or British audiences?

JS: "American audiences are polite! When you play for Coldplay's audience, everyone is cool and happy to be there so that's good. "

BP: "In Australia, they are much more stern, arms crossed! (laughs) American crowds are pretty enthusiastic. I don't understand the mentality to pay money for a band and then just stand there."

Q: Who does the majority of the writing for your band's songs?

JS: "For the first record, I wrote all the songs. For this record, our 2nd record, it was pretty much equal. We've been writing a hell of a lot on this tour."

Q: When we say the word, "pop culture," what is the first thing that comes to mind?

(almost in unison)

BP: "Warhol."

JS: "Andy Warhol."