Earlier this week, Portugal. the Man dropped a new single called “Who’s Gonnna Stop Me,” featuring “Weird Al” Yankovic. As guitarist Eric Howk tells ABC Audio, even more new stuff is in the works.

“We started out with some pretty good bones,” Howk says of the fresh material. “We’ve been working on new stuff ever since Woodstock came out. So we’ve got a lot of frameworks of things already.”

Woodstock, which spawned the mega-hit “Feel It Still,” is Portugal. the Man’s latest album. Of course, a lot has changed in the world since Woodstock dropped in 2017 — namely, a global pandemic that’s turned every aspect of life upside down, the music industry very much included.  As such, Howk and his band mates have been working remotely on the new tunes.

“Obviously, it’s a little bit trickier with everybody at different stations,” Howk explains. “We’re trying to get creative with it, using technology, but obviously that slows things down a little bit more than having everybody in a room with instruments in their hands. So, we’re working on it.”

Howk adds that PTM is trying to maintain the “direct organic collaboration” you get from working together in person.

“That’s what makes music special, is the conversations and all that,” Howk says.

“We’re figuring it out,” he adds. “We’ll get there, and we’re figuring out how to make an organic, digital sort of thing happen. We don’t wanna rush it, we don’t wanna force it, too, but it definitely does kind of change things.” 

In the meantime, you can catch Portugal. the Man perform during the #SOSFest in support of independent music venues, taking place October 16-18. The band is also working with HeadCount to encourage voting.

By Josh Johnson
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