We asked John Gourley, front man of Portugal, the Man, about the off-roading vehicle, stylish sunglasses, and headphones he can’t live without.
I have to have AirTags in literally everything because I will leave it somewhere. I’ve set my wallet on curbs. I just left it there. So now I travel with AirTags. Last time I was in the Apple store and they opened up my phone, they were like, “How do you have so many devices?”
We bring a hot-dog roller on tour with us to feed the house crew and our crew. It’s based on growing up going into lumber yards and hardware stores. It’d be like customer appreciation day and they’d have hot-dog rollers out for everyone. I know it’s a ridiculous thing to travel with, but it’s so fun watching local crews light up when you’re like, “They’re for everybody!” These people help us so much every single day. It’s our way of appreciating them.
Bluetooth listening is kind of integral to tour life for me. I mean, it doesn’t compare to sitting down and listening to music with good headphones, but that’s not really what they’re about. They’re just about accessibility and ease of use; I want to be able to listen to music and have it in my pocket everywhere. I would say that’s No. 1 for me.
I like really nice uniquely shaped glasses and something I can kind of get beat up. I love the little things that accentuate the outfit and the stage. It also makes me feel a little bit like Clark Kent when I get onstage, which is the opposite of what I should be onstage. I should be Superman, but I kind of like to be nondescript.
I have to put this on the list because it’s integral to my writing. I need things that shut off my brain for a minute and allow my thoughts to wander, so I love getting into games. I’m a big Fortnite person.
Another thing I carry with me is a necklace that was given to me by Zoe with our daughter’s silhouette on it. We got one of those drawings made when she was a kid, and she had it made into a necklace. Our daughter has an extremely rare neurodegenerative disease, and everything we do kind of revolves around that and progress in that field. This is my reminder of her every day.
We are a redneck-ass Alaskan family. We like to rally. We were talking about getting a quad, and I was like, “No, no, we need to get an Argo.” It’s the coolest thing. You can go out on the tundra, out on the swamps, on the water; they go on anything. They also make accessible versions and our guitarist is a wheelchair user, so it’s cool that they have an accessible model.
If you want to sit down and really listen to music, these are the greatest headphones. They’re extremely expensive, but that’s the value of music to me. Music is everything. I like being able to listen to music on something that is so well built, and they’re made in the U.S.
Not only does it look amazing, but it’s just a drip-style coffee maker that’s probably the thing we use the most in our house. Every night we have our daughter put coffee in so she can get it all going in the morning.
I recently got to design a guitar, and that’s a great, great privilege. Getting Cleon Peterson to work on the artwork with me was so great. Cleon is one of our great artists, and I love the way he captures humanity.
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