Passing through: Sweet Talk

Sweet Talk are a rowdy group of road-dogs from Austin, Texas, who have spread rock n’ roll’s good word to all corners of the country. They’re bringing their guitar-worshipping brand of power pop to Tulsa for the third time this Saturday (Sept. 6) at Soundpony. Frontman Stephen Svacina was kind enough to shed light on their past visits, and their return to Tulsa.

What made you think the drive to Tulsa would be worth it? Last time you played in Tulsa, you dudes pulled an all-nighter to make it here. Care to elaborate on the drive?

Well, originally we wanted to come to Oklahoma because of the world famous beer. Once we realized we were thinking about another state, we still decided to come. Our bass player has played in OKC before and said it was great. Everyone involved with the Tulsa show seemed really nice, which is important. Atlanta was the worst show of tour. We cleared the room and failed at talking to girls. After a few too many beers we set out for the drive to Tulsa at around 3 a.m. (Don't worry we had a completely sober DD.) Some of us started feeling bad and the spins eventually set in. Our drummer puked in a bag, which set off a chain reaction that caused me to puke right next to him. We were freaking out but then our guitar player just grabbed the bags out of our hands when we were done and threw them out the window. Old pro.

Is Tulsa as cool as thought it would be?

I wasn't sure what to expect when going to Tulsa. I have honestly never inquired too much about the city, just knew it was supposed to be cool. I thought it would actually be more like a college town. Tulsa was great but it seemed like the community is what set it apart from other cities for us. There was just a killer mood from the second we arrived. Everyone was nicer than they had to be. Sometimes people put forth the bare minimum but that definitely didn't happen at our show.

How does Tulsa differ from bigger cities you’ve visited while touring?

There is something about Tulsa that reminded me of Denton and that was kind of the open-minded nature. In a bigger city little cliques might form and if you are into a particular style of music you might go out 4 nights out of the week and only see that style. In smaller towns, you have to be more open to other styles of music because there isn't room for individual scenes. I was very surprised people were into our band because we were so different than the rest of the bill at Soundpony. That's what's cool about small towns.

Why do you dudes drink vodka?

Vodka is cool because it doesn't make you as crazy as other liquors but still gets the job done. You can't take shots of vodka, don't ever trust anyone who does. Mitch can drink ungodly amounts of Vodka.

Is there a gas station/band resource better than QuikTrip that you know of?

QT is pretty great. I don't know if you have RaceTrac but that place is cool too. Flying J's are great on tour because they have so much insane funny bullshit to look at. Czech Stop in West Texas is the best gas station on the planet.

What did you think of the Pony Shots?

T mac from Norman bought the hot dog shots for us. They were pretty good. Mine was leaking, not sure if it was hot dog juice or liquor. It probably took them lots of bad combinations and vomiting before they found the correct liquor to go with that.

What are you looking forward to when you’re back in Tulsa?

WE WANT TO COME BACK TO TULSA AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. I NEED MORE HOTDOGS.