Indie rock band Built to Spill makes Tucson stop

Indie rock band Built to Spill has just begun a seven-week tour across the United States that will touch down in Tucson on Monday, April 3, at 191 Toole.

After getting its start 31 years ago in 1992, much has changed for frontman Doug Martsch, 53, who spoke about touring and being the captain of an ever-evolving indie rock band.

“I think we played in Tucson just last year. It was in the spring, I think, of last year,” Martsch said. “We have some friends there so it will be nice to see them again.”

Martsch said over the years the band has tried to tour just about every year, but recently their urge to go out on the road has been even stronger.

“There was that time off for a while where everyone couldn’t do anything, so now we’re trying to do it a little extra to make up for some lost time,” Martsch said. “I feel like the older I get, the more often I want to tour because I like it and I’m just not sure how long I’m gonna get to do it or how long anyone will be interested in it. So I try and do it as much as our agent can get us shows.”

Martsch is the only remaining member from the original lineup.

“We’ve gone through a couple lineup changes in the last few years. But right now it’s really fun because there’s a couple women in the band and we have a woman tour manager and so it’s been fun traveling around with women instead of a bunch of dudes,” Martsch said, chuckling.

The current lineup is Melanie Radford on bass guitar, Teresa Esguerra on drums and Martsch on guitar and vocals.

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“Mel (Melanie Radford) played in a band in Boise that I saw years ago and I thought she was really incredible and she was kind of the first person I asked to play when I needed a new band,” Martsch said.

Longtime members of the band Brett Nelson and Scott Plouf quit Built to Spill in 2012 and left Martsch with the daunting task of trying to replace core members, but he’s made the best of it.

Past iterations of the band have been five pieces, four pieces and a three piece made up of Martsch and two Brazilian musicians: João Casaes and Lê Almeida, who he met and toured with in Brazil.

“Those guys were a lot of fun,” Martsch said.

Martsch's songwriting has also evolved and changed over the years, as he tries to play simpler chords without too much extra guitar work.

Built to Spill will be playing at 191 Toole, 191 E. Toole Ave., on Monday, April 3, at 7:30 p.m. with opening acts Disco Doom and Oruã. Tickets are $29.50 each, plus fees. 

Get tickets and more info at tucne.ws/1mzc.