Belinda Quick
2026-01-21 22:41:00
On the eve of BETTER LOVERS debut Australian tour, the supergroup’s dual guitarists, JORDAN BUCKLEY & WILL PUTNEY, spoke candidly with SPOTLIGHT REPORT about the “supreme joy” of creating music and art, producing and performing with a band which is “checking all the boxes”.
SR: Hello Jordan and hello Will; gosh, it is an honour to be joined by such amazing musicians! How has 2026 been treating you thus far?
JB (mouth agape): Thank you, thank you!
WP: Thank you, that’s very flattering. And, yeah, we had a break, which is nice! We didn’t do that a lot last year, so it was nice to be home for a frickin’ second.
I’m looking forward to this year, to coming to Australia; we haven’t been there in a few years. I was going there a lot in the 2010s and it’s been a minute, so, looking forward to getting back there.
SR: Absolutely, and we are very much looking forward to having you back! The new year is about to really ignite; BETTER LOVERS kick off the debut Australian tour this Friday and, in aptly frantic style, squeeze six performances in just a week. A band of seasoned professionals, for these ‘first time’ experiences is there still a bit of anxiety amongst the anticipation?
WP: I feel like there’s always some anxiety. It gets easier, but, I feel, if you’re not a little nervous about getting on stage, then you’re a little too comfortable.
There’s always something, what’s hard, what challenges or stresses you out always changes, but there’s always something where you’re like “that better work today”, or, “I better not fuck that one part up!” It’s something that keeps you on your toes and makes you a better live performer, so, to me, it would be impossible to not have a bit of that.
These are going to be fun shows; these are the shows I like to play – small clubs, where things get a little crazier (and it’s not freezing), yeah, it’s a good vibe and I’ll be in good spirits for sure.
JB: I do have performance anxiety and I’ve kind of made peace with it, but I think instead of trying to get rid of it, you have to lean into the fact that you love what you do more than how much it sucks to do it.
And, it doesn’t “suck” to do it, but anxiety does and being nervous sucks, and hoping your gear works can suck, so all you can do is just love it even more. Then it’ll be something that people leave being glad they came to see.
SR: I really resonate with both of those things. As a performer many moons ago I found if you didn’t have a few butterflies in the stomach perhaps there was a bit of complacency creeping in; you need a touch of nervous energy to convert to adrenaline.
WP: Yeah, totally!
SR: And, Jordan, I am an Olympic level worrier; even in this scenario, when I was told I’d be talking to the two of you, my first thought was “What is life? Now, don’t stuff it up!” (all laugh) I think, in some ways, it’s a bit of a defense mechanism.
JB: In the evolution of our brains, anxiety was created to keep you alive. You had to worry if and when a lion would attack you, what you had to kill to eat to stay alive. Somewhere along the way, life got easy for human beings but the anxiety seems to have stayed (laughing). So, now we go “fuck, well, it’s gotta go somewhere, may as well be this Zoom interview!”
SR: Of course, this is the Highly Irresponsible album tour. The band’s first LP released to universal acclaim in November 2024, the deluxe reissue on the first anniversary featuring two extra tracks. What was the experience of writing and recording like; did you know immediately you were creating lightning in a bottle?
WP: We had a lot of fun making the record and, I feel like for me, you never really know. It takes a lot for me to be like, “Holy shit, this is awesome, we’re so awesome!” I’m pretty hypercritical of the music that I make; it is kind of like my job anyway, as a producer, to not kind of over-fluff what’s going on, as far as like a new song or whatnot.
We had fun but, still, everything’s under the microscope at the same time. I’m definitely very impressed with the amount of really good work we can do, while not being serious simultaneously (all laugh).
And, that was a lot of the writing sessions for the last record. It really just didn’t feel like work at all, yet we were putting in crazy hours and stuff, and that’s usually a sign we’re onto something pretty good, that the chemistry in the band is good, and I was feeling that the whole time.
By the time we had finished the last record, I thought, “This is cool, I’m getting what I wanted out of this”, and I can usually trust myself nowadays. If this is checking a box for me, it’s probably good enough to be putting out into the world.
So, I definitely felt that on the last record, but, yeah, you never know. The ‘lightning in the bottle’ thing is so rare for me, so it’s more the “Okay, I’ve got a good feeling about this”.
JB: I agree; I felt really locked in. To bring back the anxiety thing, I would argue there was a record low amount. I think this might be the tenth full length album that I’ve been a part of, and there have been some where I’ve been terrified the whole time; where you’re like “Oh fuck, does this suck? Oh no!” And even when the music is great, you’re still thinking, “I didn’t do this or that today”; the outside stuff.
This one just did not have that, it felt very, very right place, right time, with the right people, doing the right things. You know, they call it flowstate, where you’re so locked in on what you’re doing that you don’t even have to think about what you’re doing. It almost feels like you’re being controlled by… driven by the best possible outcome.
I know that’s a bit more of an extreme answer to Will’s but it really did feel like to me that, “Nope, I’m not supposed to be anywhere else right now, I’m not supposed to be here with this or that other person, my kid’s fine, my parents are fine; the weather’s terrible, and we’re snowed in here for a reason, there’s nothing to worry about, so just enjoy it.”
For me, it really was a little bit of a lightning in the bottle kind of thing, but it was also, when you realise in the moment that’s what was happening, so amazing.
I think the world is not the greatest right now, so when you can have these pockets of supreme joy and happiness and bliss, and not feel bad about taking them, which was kind of like the whole month that we did that recording, that’s how I felt.
SR: Each cultivating grand musical legacies, as members of and working with other bands, in Better Lovers each of you wear two hats. Jordan first, describing art as your “solo project, music has always been a group project where the guys I write with make it better”, would it be fair to say that Better Lovers has offered an opportunity to reframe that narrative?
JB: Ummm, yes, absolutely! I think that anytime you do something you’re proud of, it puts another penny in the confidence jar.
This might get a little weird but there are times when I think I should be focusing on the visual art, others that I want to focus on music, and you just kind of go with them. Then there’s those very amazing times where you’re tapped into both and one helps the other.
In fact, we just put out the deluxe version and it has these drawings that I was just doing while we were recording, and it was almost like… You know, I saw an interview with the vocalist of MILITARIE GUN and he put it beautifully. He compared it to a pool, where you’re invited in and, if you don’t make the most of it, you’ll get kicked out of the pool if you’re not creating!
So, when you’re in that space and you’re feeling that, you tend to do your best work.
But, there are a lot of outside factors, being comfortable and being inspired, motivated and being optimistic, realistic and, so, the fact that Better Lovers has kind of allowed me to put some doodles (whether it’s a tour poster or some sketches in a book), I’m just so lucky to be in that environment where I can offer this.
As you said, this is a solo project, and that’s what I’ve always kind of liked about it. I don’t want to say I’m a control freak by any means, but there is a big aspect to my artwork that I enjoy; the fact that I don’t have to rely on anyone else. It’s like, “If this sucks it’s because of me, if this rules it’s because of me, and this makes money (or it doesn’t) it’s because of me”, and there’s something I really like about that.
It also makes me appreciate being in a band more. It’s just a fact that there’s a lot of things that are going to be better because you’re surrounded by help.
I know I’m sounding like Better Lovers band practice is just heaven on earth but, what do they say? ‘When you love your job, you never work a day in your life’, and that’s how I feel when we get together… except when it’s cold and you’re in Europe. Then it really sucks! (all laugh)
I don’t want to paint a fake picture, like everything is perfect. You know, I have struggles with missing my kid and missing his first homerun because I’m like I’m backstage in Ljubljana asking for the wifi password. The reason I bring that up is because you can’t have the great moments without the not-so-great moments.
If everything was great, you wouldn’t appreciate them as much. It is a lot of work too, big decision making, hoping for the best, so that circles back to how much recording was. This is where the hard work pays off, so, to repeat myself, this is where, when you get these moments with this band you hold onto them because I feel like all five of us deserve them.
SR: Will, your turn and quote: “Being a member of the band and the producer is actually a real advantage for Better Lovers.” Others state, ‘if you’ve loved a heavy record over the last 10 years, there’s every chance Will Putney was behind the production.’ It may be ever-changing, you may love both aspects equally, but do you have a preference for production or performance these days?
WP: I guess, if you were to ask me that… it would change, because everything works in a cycle. If you do one thing a lot, for a long time, it always feels like the ‘grass is always greener’ mentality. You’re like “Oh, now I wanna do that”, then you go do the other; fast forward, you’re eight weeks into touring and you’re in Europe somewhere and thinking, “Man, being in the studio right now would be pretty cool. Being with my dog and my wife, asleep in my bed.”
I think the balance of both has done a lot for me, in a good way. Mentally, it’s really nice to get out of the house, because I have a home studio that I work at primarily, so I’m always, like, in the same place. That can make you weird, so it’s cool to interact with the world and get some real world feedback on all this stuff that I do. Like, hey, is this actually cool to somebody in Europe, or to somebody in Asia or Australia, even somebody on the West Coast?
SR: Sorry to interrupt, but, to answer your question, yes it is very cool.
WP: I appreciate that.
But, you know, it is really nice to actually interact with human beings and, when I do come back to the studio, I feel refreshed and, I think, it makes me a better record producer because I am a little more connected to what’s actually happening currently.
There’s something about thinking you know everything, when you really don’t. It’s just a problem; it’s a problem in the world and online, where everyone is a self-proclaimed expert, especially in music. I’ve realised over time that it’s not how it works, especially in my role as a record producer, you kind of have to be on the outside of all of it, think critically and see where the trends are, what people like and don’t like.
That experience of being out of the house has been great for that. So, to answer the question, no. There is no one particular thing I do that I like more, to me it’s all part of being an artist. It comes with the territory and on both sides. Whether it’s about the music I make or the music I help other people make, it all comes from the same place; the requirements that are of me to do both things are very different, but they feel the same, in some kind of weird way.
SR: Well, I think that is the perfect tapestry answer to finish us up today. Again thank you so much for your generosity and time, I know I bit off a little more than I was allowed to chew there…
WP: It’s okay, we ramble! (all laugh)
SR: I hope the journey over all goes fine and we cannot wait to see you; it’ll be such a privilege.
JB: What show are you coming to?
SR: Adelaide, the last night of tour, let’s go out with a bang!
JB: That’ll be a good one!
WP: Nice, it will be very cool. Thank you, appreciate it.
BETTER LOVERS AUSTRALIAN DEBUT HEADLINE TOUR
WITH SPLIT CHAIN + BLIND GIRLS
TOUR DATES:
FRIDAY 23 JANUARY 2026 – CROWBAR, BRISBANE
SATURDAY 24 JANUARY 2026 – HAMILTON STATION, NEWCASTLE
SUNDAY 25 JANUARY 2026 – MANNING BAR, SYDNEY
WEDNESDAY 28 JANUARY 2026 – MAX WATTS, MELBOURNE
THURSDAY 29 JANUARY 2026 – SOOKI LOUNGE, BELGRAVE
FRIDAY 30 JANUARY 2026 – LION ARTS FACTORY, ADELAIDE
Tickets from destroyalllines.com
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