Usually, when we go out, it's because we made a new studio album, and that becomes the focus of the tour throughout the world for a year or so.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
Traditionally the show must go on which is a stupid thing to say, but that in a nutshell is what's going on. We have a new record out; if we won't tour, the new record dies. It's reality - it's what business is nowadays. You just need to tour to sell your albums.
Each album takes two or two-and-a-half years to finish between recording and touring. It's like being with an old boyfriend every single night watching the same things on TV. There is a world out there going on that I'm missing.
If you don't tour, you cannot expect to sell a huge numbers of your albums either. It was both a business - and an economical decision and we wanted to play anyway. We just wanted to get out for the tour when it was safe enough for us.
Each album has its own cycle. We wanted to capture all those feelings and moments for this touring cycle.
The nature of touring is packaging acts together that have strong catalogues of music. It's about making sure that it's a winning combination. It's really about giving people value for their money.
That's usually what happens with AC/DC: you make an album, and then you're on the road flat out. And the only time you ever get near a studio is generally after you've done a year of touring.
When we came off the tour for the last album, we started on this one. We've just been chipping away at it. We're not in that much of a hurry, because when we release a Blur album, that's a three year promotion and touring cycle.
Over time, certain people don't want to go on tour, and that can easily break up a band.
Touring and promoting and recording take a lot of time, it's just getting the right balance that's important.
So we are not doing the traditional album, tour, album, tour, album, tour anymore. We're going to tour when we want to, regardless of whether we've got a record out.