It is a cold March night in Chicago, but there’s plenty of heat radiating from the electrifying stage presence of Vienna Vienna. J Barre, backed by touring band members Elijah Stavely on drums and Aubrey Harris on bass, are a week into opening for K.Flay on the MONO: I’M MAKING FRIENDS WITH THE SILENCE tour. They had absolutely no trouble winning over the crowd, in part because many in the audience came specifically to see them on their first full tour since being signed to Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy’s DCD2 record label. After decompressing from the set, the band took some time to chat with us in a quiet corner of the mezzanine.

Madi: You’re about a week into this tour, what has been your favorite thing about it so far, and what are you looking forward to the most as the tour goes on?
J: I am… my god, that’s hard. I think everything is incredible. I love meeting the fans. This is like, the first time that that’s really happening, which is really cool. Like… we’re reflecting on each other, which is really cool and special and I’m very grateful for that. I love getting the set tighter every show too. It feels like we just get stronger and stronger and that’s always nice, so I’m loving that. The views are great, on the road, so that’s cool. It’s all great, honestly. I’m tired, but like, happy, like deeply happy. It’s amazing. I love it.

M: Of the upcoming cities on this tour, which one is your most anticipated, and any venues you’re particularly looking forward to?
J: I’m excited about New York.
M: Hell yeah.
J: And Chicago today. Unbelievable.
M: Yay!
J: New York will be cool, my sister lives out there, so I’ll get to hang with her, tons of friends out there, and LA is going to be an amazing homecoming. Great way to like, wrap it up, so that’s really cool.
M: Did you grow up in LA?
J: I grew up in Fresno, California, more specifically a town called Prather.
Elijah: Same kind of thing, I’m excited for New York, New York is going to be sick. I’ve heard that venue is really nice, I’ve never played it, so that’s going to be sick, and LA of course, hometown show! I’m not from LA but I’ve been there long enough that it feels like that, so those will be really nice.

Aubrey: I’m always excited for a New York show! My hometown show would be Boston, so I’m really excited to play there, see my parents, it’s gonna be cute. It’s at a venue I went to a lot while I was in college, so I’m excited to play there again. (To J) Where else are we going?
J: Seems like everywhere (they laugh). Every city.
M: It’s a beefy tour.
Everyone, tiredly: Yeah…
A: I’ve never played in Tulsa, Oklahoma, so! That will be exciting! (laughs)
J: And I’ve never even been to Oklahoma at all, so that’s exciting!

M: So how has touring with a band changed things for you, J? What is the most fun thing about it, and what are the challenges… that you can say in front of them? (gesturing at said band)
E: Yeah, tell them J!
J: (laughs) There’s a lot of gear. There’s a lot of gear to load and unload. Load in is a little bit difficult, load out is equally difficult… load out is harder, I lied. But I think there is… (looks at bandmates) I mean like, I feel so connected to y’all when we’re on stage. It’s really magical. I’ve done solo stuff, solo tours, I’ve toured with bands. I feel like something really special happens when we make music.
A: Hell yeah.
E: Hell yeah.

M: In our experience, your music resonates strongly with the queer community, myself and my friends included. Have you experienced the queer community specifically showing up for your shows, and what has it meant to you?
J: I think a lot of these songs, especially “God Save The Queens,” were written for my own empowerment, you know? So like, when I was creating them I was kind of just trying to create what I felt like I needed, at the time, and it’s really cool to have that oneness there. I feel really grateful to have empowerment be a part of my output. That makes me feel… amazing. It’s the best thing I could have hoped for. So yeah, they are showing up, and I’m grateful for that.
M: Hell yeah. How has your patch project been going so far?
J: So far we got a lot of patches. A lot of patches! I was gonna do it each night, where I add them on, but that was too much work, so I’m just gonna throw them all on at the very end of tour and that will be real fun.

In this house we love Dungeons & Dragons, so upon finding out that J is big into it as well, we had no choice but to pick J’s brain about it.

M: So you’ve talked in the past about how playing D&D has influenced your songwriting.
J: (laughs) True!
M: Did you ever use specific music and playlists to enhance your worldbuilding and characters, and how does it feel to have music that can now influence people’s worlds and character playlists? Because I love a playlist.
J: That’s crazy! Yeah, so when I DM [dungeon master] games, there’s always music on. I feel like that’s such a big part of it for me, that’s like, the best part of creating, I’m writing out, I guess like, the book for it, and then building it out around my players, around the characters, and then I get to add the soundtrack. I’ve even made tracks for it before.
M: I love that!
J: Like, I can’t find it, and so I’ll just quickly put something down on like, a synth for like, ambient moments. Music and D&D: they gotta collide. It just brings everyone into it, you know? I know that like, when I’m playing, instead of running the game, when the music is on, and the music is right, I feel much more brought into the world, so it’s absolutely essential. It’s a lot of Aphex Twin right now, because I’m running a campaign that is… this is going to sound tropey, but that’s D&D, it’s a lot of tropes. So it’s like post-apocalyptic I guess? But it’s more like… there’s an AI thing involved… I don’t know, it’s been a long time since we’ve played, but I still need to keep building it out, but it’s also kinda like modeled after… I’m getting deep in the weeds here–
M: Please, I actually DM too, and play, so I am like, so fascinated by this (laughs).
J: Oh, sick. It’s modeled after the walled city, are you familiar with this? Where it’s a city that’s fully enclosed within itself, so the world they’re in right now is a totally closed city that you can get in and out of, but it would take you days to cross through this giant, totally inside space. Which has been really fun. So a lot of Aphex Twin there, a lot of The Neon Signs, you know, classic shit, so, feels cool!

Vienna Vienna has released multiple versions of “God Save The Queens”, including a live version, and most recently a remix by DJ Ty Sunderland. Available now on all streaming platforms.

M: Congrats on the remix for “God Save The Queens” dropping today. What was that collaboration like, and do you have any favorite clubs in particular that you look forward to hearing that in?
J: I go to Honey’s a lot. I fuck with Honey’s in LA, it’s just like a tiny little spot under a Super 8 motel (laughs). I love that spot, I love it love it love it. When I was in Nashville I wasn’t 21 yet, so I was hitting Play a lot which is like, you know, a good time! The remix, I just, I love that. It feels so good. I’m not going to announce anything yet, but… there’s more on the way. Nothing’s official, but there’s more on the way.
M: Oo. We will be seated.
J: It’s not an announcement, it’s… it’s a lead.

With the mysterious promise of things to come, we jump forward three weeks in time, as the gang makes their final tour stop in Los Angeles. They have crossed the entire country, playing twelve shows since their night in Chicago. The trio ends the tour on a high note, surrounded by family, friends, fans, label executive Pete Wentz, and half the cast of D&D show Critical Role. Even with so much going on, they still kindly take the time to meet with us for a second conversation full of reflections, secret handshakes, and the intricacies of ordering from Waffle House.

Ambrose Gatsby: The last time we all talked you said you were most excited for the New York show, so, how was New York?
J: Oh, New York was unbelievable, right?
E: New York was amazing.
J: Yeah it felt good, it just felt like, so amazing. I mean like, my sister was there, so many friends that I knew from New York were there, and that’s always the best. And here too! I love to play for friends. Feels nice.
AG: Yeah! And Aubrey, how was playing at the Paradise Rock Club?
A: Yeah, same thing for me, it was like all my family came to that show, so that was really great to see my parents and play at an iconic Boston venue.

AG: So what was the most memorable part of this tour, and why?
J: (To Elijah) We invented a handshake.
E: That’s true.
J: That’s so tricky. Because obviously the shows were like, amazing, but I’m trying to think outside of the shows.
E: Niagara was cool.
J: Yes! Niagara Falls was sick.
A: Yeah, that was cool. I tried Waffle House for the first time!
J and E: Oh, yeah! First time Waffle House!
A: That was big!
AG: Iconic.
J: We ate Cracker Barrel several times.
A: Big fans.
AG: Was there a Cracker Barrel that stood out to you?
J: They were all just simple and good.
AG: What’s the Waffle House order? Or the Cracker Barrel order?
J: I get the All-Star Special.
E: I also get that. Ok, ok, here’s the Waffle House order: This is the order. All-Star Special, ham, hash browns, chocolate chip waffle, orange juice, coffee, eggs sunny side up.
AG: That is an order.
J: Here’s the other order. All-Star Special. Replace the toast with biscuits. Go for the bacon. Get a pecan waffle. Butter heavy. Heavy butter. Light syrup. The pecans are going to be the star of the show, let the pecans be the star of the show. Scramble the eggs, add some cheese onto the eggs. Now we’re talking.
E: And hash browns!
A: Yeah, don’t forget!
J: Smother. Cover.
A: Yeah, J taught me that one. I go for the breakfast special, that was hash browns, two sunny side up eggs. Smothered and covered on the hash browns, and then I mix it all together like a little hash brown egg…
E: Casserole!
A: Yeah, exactly! It’s like, $6.50.
E: So to answer your question, Waffle House.
A: Yeah!
AG: Waffle House. Of your entire tour! Fantastic.

The last time we spoke with Vienna Vienna, Madi and J talked about how music helps with the world building aspect of D&D — we circled back to that after J had seen a lot more of the world.

AG: So we talked a lot about world building. While you were on tour, were you inspired by anything to write, did you write?
J: You know… I wrote when I could, it’s hard in a van. I couldn’t pull out my guitar very much, and I usually start there. But yeah, I definitely wrote stories, I got like, inspired by seeing what, I think, the fans love. That’s really inspiring to me to know what resonates really deeply with them, and wanting to carry that through, and write for them a little bit. It’s definitely made my world.

AG: What did you learn about yourself while touring together?
J: Oh, this is hard. (After a long pause) I think I learned… that I can do it. I think I was scared that my voice wouldn’t pull through, or that it would start to really weigh on me, to hit it every night, and then it just got better and better. I was scared that I wouldn’t… be able to, that I didn’t have it in me, and it’s really relieving to know that I felt more and more excited and grateful every night. It’s such a blessing. It’s so beautiful.
AG: That’s wonderful. And Elijah and Aubrey? What did you learn about yourselves?
E: I feel like I learned how important food is to me. (laughs) We have this ongoing bit, we have like, a fruit bowl on our rider every night, so usually in the green room there’s an assortment of fruit, and sometimes there hasn’t been, and it’s been like, actually sad. Like damn, I miss the fruit. And I feel noticeably better when I eat at a certain time before the show, just getting three square meals, and figuring that out and stuff. I feel like I have a good routine for most of the other parts of tour, showering, sleeping, etcetera, but food is something that I noticed this tour. Fruit bowls especially.
A: I learned that yes, I absolutely can drive a Ford transit passenger van across the country.
Everyone: (laughing and clapping enthusiastically)
A: I drive a compact car in LA and when they were like, “So you’re going to be driving this!” I was like, “Right! Right. Yup. I… yup!”
AG: The best way to learn is to do.
A: So I did it! Got thrown in. And here we are. Made it in a full circle across the country. It was just me and Elijah driving. So yeah, we did it.
E: We fucking did it.

AG: Awesome. So what music were you bumping on tour?
J: Oh! Hotel California, by The Eagles. Over. And over. And over again. What else?
E: A lot of like, girliepop. A lot of Brat, Kim Petras.
A: (nodding) Lots of Brat.
J: Especially for those late nights, we were hitting the dance music.
A: A lot of 2010s throwbacks. That was getting us going for the late drives. Throwbacks to like, middle school dance parties.
AG: Right, nostalgia will fuel you.
A: Exactly.

AG: What became a tour staple? Any rituals, food, gas station snacks?
E: Oh, the handshake.
J: For sure.
E: So we made a handshake, so we’ll debut that now.
(J and Elijah turn toward each other and proceed to do their special little handshake)

E: That’s the original, and then we have all sorts of variations.
J: Depending on the time.
E: Depending on the vibe.
J: It’s a good way to check in with one another. A good way to catch a vibe.
E: So, that’s been a staple.
J: Also, Taco Bell. We did hit a lot of Taco Bell.
A: We did, yeah.
J: Many many Taco Bells.
AG: Baja Blast Freezes, everywhere you go.

AG: What is one home comfort that you’re most looking forward to getting back to?
J: Oh, my own bed. Sleeping in hotels just killed me.
E: Probably my bed, yeah.
A: (sarcastically) You didn’t love sharing a hotel room with me? Every night?
J: I actually like, when I got home last night, I was like… whoa. This is the first time I’ve been by myself, in like, five weeks.
A: No I felt that too, like, where’s J? (looking lost) Are we good? What’s going on?
J: Yeah I was like, what are we doing? So that’s nice, just like, having a little time to myself, being in my own bed.
E: Yeah, I think just beds.

AG: You collected a lot of patches on tour, and now tour has ended. If you had to choose, do you have a favorite patch you were given? Or anything you’ve collected?
J: That’s tough.
A: If you don’t say the one that my mom got for you… (laughs)
J: (laughs) I really like the Weezer one.
AG: The Weezer one! I noticed that right away too.
J: I like the Weezer one and I like the clown set too, the clown one. It’s so cool that we were all able to make that together, it’s going to be such a nice way to hold a memory.
AG: Yeah, I love that, it was such a cool collectable scrapbook, one you can wear and everything.

AG: So for all of you: What’s next?
E: Retirement. (everyone laughs) Just kidding!
J: I’m doing writing. I’ve got a lot of sessions booked. That’s my big plan, I’d say. And then? I’m gonna try to book more shows. Like local gigs. And get us (looking at Aubrey) to like, work together.
A: The Orange County Fair!
E: Let’s rip it!
A: I freelance as a bass player, so I’ve got some gigs around town, and excited to just enjoy some free time as well.
AG: And Elijah, what’s next? Other than retirement.
E: Same thing, just like freelance as a drummer, more gigs, more networking. I feel like the one person in this kind of crew, that is outside of the network still, so it’s been such a pleasure to meet everybody and be a part of the crew. So hopefully more of that, hanging out, gigging together and stuff. So yeah that’s the plan.
AG: More collaboration together?
A: (shrugs)
E: Potentially…
J: Yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely.

After a long and successful tour, J, Aubrey and Elijah finally get a moment of rest before diving into a future of endless opportunities, but one thing is certain: everything’s fine.