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May 31, 2013 By Laura Studarus Is Tropical

It’s Gary Barber’s birthday, but he’s not in a rush to leave his London area flat to celebrate. During our Skype session the Is Tropical member, one of two guitarist/keyboardist/singers, pauses from answering a question about his band’s most recent album to hold his cat Oven Mitt up to the camera for examination. Unperturbed, the oversized feline stretches, showing off an abnormal extra toe that makes her paw look like a human hand.

“She’s really cute,” says Barber with a hint of pride. “She was a stray that used to run around outside the house. Then we started letting her in and feeding her and she didn’t leave. She’s a total squatter.”

It’s a past that Barber shares with his kindred kitty. Before the release of Is Tropical’s debut album Native To in 2011, Barber and bandmates Simon Milner (guitar/vocals/keys) and Dominic Apa (drums) lived together in a London squat. While the setup did mean sharing a bathroom with a dozen or so other artists in residence, it afforded the burgeoning musicians a chance to write, rehearse, and perform without the hindrance of a day job. In defiance of the London chill, the trio delved into escapism, crafting songs about anywhere warmer and more inviting.

Although having moved on to more formal digs (his girlfriend, sitting behind him, smirks at the idea that squat life might still have a lingering appeal), Barber says it’s that draft-induced spirit of wanderlust that informs the band’s sophomore offering, I’m Leaving (out now via Kitsuné).

Produced by Luke Smith (Foals, Depeche Mode), the album expands on the band’s whisky-fueled mixtape sound, dusting their electro-tinged pop with handfuls of fine tropical sand. Thematically, heartbreak, love, and death, are still present in large amounts, but having experienced travel for real on the strength of their debut, the band was eager to translate some of their experiences into song. Barber ticks off an impressive list of tour stops that Is Tropical has managed to pull off this year alone. Including, Russia, Japan, Taipei, and Iceland.

“It’s hard, leaving, but it’s cool,” he says. “We’re one of those band where record stales aren’t important. The important side is the traveling. Making great music and traveling and playing it to as many people as possible on a really global scale.”

While he’s careful to note that every destination holds an appeal, Barber cites Mongolia—where Is Tropical was the first Western band to play in the region—as among the most memorable of their travel experiences.

“We did things other than just playing a show,” he recounts. “We went to an orphanage, and other things that were life experiences rather than selfish band promotion things that every band tries to do. We actually went and experienced the culture and the nomadic lifestyle and things like that, which was absolutely incredible and life changing.”

It’s something that Barber sees continuing throughout the next year. With Ghana, Jordan, and South America on the list of forthcoming tour stops, the band sees no reason to merely haunt their homeland.

“For the price, it’s as expensive to fly to Tokyo and play the same route that someone does as it is to go to Venezuela,” he muses, eyes sparkling with possibility. “You can go anywhere. That’s the idea. We have no restrictions on where we want to play. That’s our approach.”

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