During soundcheck at D.C.'s 9:30 Club before another sold-out show, Bombay Bicycle Club frontman Jack Steadman sits onstage, listening intently. He speaks rarely, noting that the sound is a "little muddy." But after hours of tweaking, a smile breaks out over his face. He nods. They're ready.
But before the club is packed with fans, the British indie-pop group treated USA TODAY to a three-song set, after which Steadman, 22, settled into a bar stool for an interview.
"We've been really surprised about how it's going over here. The tour's been mostly sold out," he says. "We were ready to play shows where 10 people show up — every band has to go through that — but it's been amazing so far."
The crew announced Tuesday that they will return to the USA for another tour, kicking off July 22 at the inaugural Firefly Music Festival in Dover, Del., and wrapping up at Lollapalooza (Aug. 3-5) in Chicago.
Steadman and his bandmates are all good friends. He met two of them, drummer Suren de Saram and guitarist Jamie MacColl, when they were all 15. Bassist Ed Nash joined the group after they met him at a funeral.
The band's sound hits all over the spectrum, from '90s American guitar music, like Pavement, Modest Mouse and Yo La Tengo, to folk and dance. Most recent album A Different Kind of Fix leans on the latest music craze, dance music. "Dance samples replaced guitar on this album," he says.
As the success grows, so does the band's time in the spotlight. Steadman is a self-admitted shy guy and craves alone time. "It's quite easy on tour, as long as you have good headphones," he says. "But we're always in a different city, so I usually take a walk on my own."
