Kiwi pop-rock band The Beths say New Zealand will always be home, despite their growing US fanbase.
Speaking to 1News, bandmates Elizabeth Stokes, Tristan Deck, Ben Sinclair and Jonathan Pearce said they're heading to the US today for their second tour this year.
The group said despite travelling to the US multiple times in the past two years, they have no plans to move.
"We really like living here, we've kind of come out of the local Auckland music scene and I guess the wider New Zealand music scene, so it feels good when we can be away and then come back and still feel kind of connected to all of our friends who are making awesome stuff back home," Stokes, the band's vocalist, said.
Auckland pop-rock band The Beths say New Zealand will always be home, despite their growing US fanbase. (Source: 1News)
Asked what the appeal of performing in the US was, Stokes explained there are only so many gigs you could perform in New Zealand.
"If you want to play a lot of shows, you kind of have to go elsewhere."
Sinclair, the band's bassist, described the US as "a nation with a love of music and art".
"They also have a lot of venues, and a lot of people that love going out and watching music so we're completely taking advantage of that."
The group said they make it clear to their US fans that they're a Kiwi band, and joked that Americans love to make fun of their accents.
"We get people saying that when they sing along to our music in their car they sing along in a New Zealand accent, which is great, I don't think there are many American people impersonating the New Zealand accent."
"We have such a wonderful audience and they come pre-primed to our gigs to know like who we are and our Kiwiness," Pearce said.
Everyday Americans aren't the only ones loving the band's music, earlier this year former US president Barack Obama added The Beths to his 2023 summer playlist.
It's become a yearly tradition for Obama to put out a playlist of his favourite songs from the year — made up of modern hits and beloved classics.
For this year's edition, he included the likes of Leonard Cohen, SZA, Janet Jackson and The Beths.
He recommended 2022's Watching The Credits, a single released ahead of their album Expert in a Dying Field.
Deck said it was an "unreal" experience to receive such recognition.
"That was totally wild that some art we collaborated on was presented or discovered by the [former] president of the United States, it was a pretty wild feeling.
"I think it takes a lot of effort to get any kind of audience with him, even post presidency, so I'm just blown away that we managed to take up three minutes 30 of his time."
The group are performing across the US in October before heading to Indonesia in November.
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