Features / One Question Interviews

Lazerbeak (Doomtree)

SPB: What strikes you as the biggest evolution in your production since you started to today?

Lazerbeak: When I first got into producing my biggest concern was always having a stockpile of beats for many artists to choose from. I wasn't custom making tracks specifically for each artist. I just figured as long as I always had a …

Larry Livermore

SPB: How do you generally find out about new music?

Livermore: Sometimes from friends, but increasingly, for the most part, nowhere.

Brandon (Loud Boyz – vocals)

SPB: Another group shares your name when you do a Google search. Assuming you already know this, how did you approach this situation?

Brandon: We got our name from some shitty graffiti a kid put up. And to be honest I didn’t even know someone else had our name is spelled with a z?! lol …

Lydia Loveless

SPB: Who is your favorite pre-1960s artist?

Loveless: Erik Satie. 

As a child who didn’t love practicing piano but loved the idea of being a great pianist, I wish I’d discovered Satie, a composer I’ve heard was not very good at sight reading or the old favorite of our superiors, “applying himself.” The deceptive simplicity of some of …

Ed Taylor (Loose Grip Records)

SPB: There are infinite benefit compilations available. Yet this one [Love Oakland: A Benefit for those Affected by The Ghost Fire] is different because the cause is so closely connected to musicians themselves. How did you seek out the artists involved with this project considering how personal the subject was to many of …

Chicco (LATTE+)

SPB: If you could put together a four or five-piece "all star group" of players from classic punk bands, who would be in it? 

Chicco: Well, it's easy for me:

Ramones first line-up it's the greatest all-star punk rock band ever!

Øyvind (Livstid – guitar)

SPB: If you had your choice, which band would you love to tour with? 

Øyvind: A tour with Livstid and Icon of Evil would be a truly sick affair. They serve their slabs of death in the vein of Bolt Thrower. And if you got a grindcore band as well, Death Toll 80k for instance, then you'd have …

Joey Cape (Lagwagon, solo)

SPB: What is the biggest improvement you’ve made to your touring lifestyle over the years? Is there an area of comfort or economy where you’d drastically changed your approach?

Cape: Surrounding myself with good people.  People who enjoy this life. They need to be happy, patient, and comfortable with constant change and unpredictable situations. A sense of humor is the first …

Kenny Brown (Loud Boyz-vocals)

SPB: How has your musical taste evolved over the years? Do you think your “high school self” would appreciate the music you make now?

Brown: I'm pretty much exactly the same! Loud Boyz is derived from the same punk bands we grew up listening to in high school. Before this band I was in a Dinosaur Jr style …

Laura Stevenson

SPB: What is the biggest thing you’ve learned about performance since moving to a solo approach?

Stevenson: So the biggest thing I've learned about performance since I began a solo-approach. I'd have to say pacing. I used to be oblivious to how important that is, and I would fly through songs when I played solo because I was nervous and not focusing on …

Matt Vaughn (Lesstalk Records, Michael Crafter-vocals)

SPB: Do any of your musician friends have tinnitus?

Vaughn: Yeh, I think a lot of my friends have or will have tinnitus when the years go by. I have been playing in DIY bands for about 10 years now and going to gigs every weekend as well as playing and jamming every week …

Rachel (Lipstick Homicide – bass/vocals)

SPB: Was the acoustic set a Fest 13 a one-time thing or do you sometimes perform acoustic around Iowa?

Rachel: We have done acoustic sets before and Kate plays solo acoustic shows all the time, but that was the first time we've performed acoustically together for several years and most of the songs we played …

Paul Rivera (La Armada – guitar)

SPB: What is the secret to a successful tour?

This question is more complex than it seems. I think the answer varies a lot depending on so many factors like what size of band is touring, what’s the main goal of the tour, and other logistical issues. At the root of it, if I …

Luke Schwartz (Loose Planes, vocals)

SPB: What is the worst stereotype you encounter when strangers discover you’re in a band?
 
Schwartz: The worst stereotype I encounter when people find out I'm in a band is usually that I'm rich. Normal people aren't aware of the fact that musicians are making a fraction of what they were ten years ago. …

Jackson Heath (Lycus, guitar/vocals)

SPB: You manage to build an impressive atmosphere in your records which also enhances your lyrical themes. What inspires your lyrics?

Heath: Having done politically-tinged lyrics in the past, we nowadays are focusing on looking inward and writing based on personal experiences. There’s something special when you write about depression or tough times you’ve overcome and …

Steven Rathbone (Lair of the Minotaur)

SPB: Since your lyrical themes are also rooted in Greek mythology, what was it that attracted you on the subject? 

Rathbone: I have always been into mythology, also horror and science fiction. The Greek myths were once passed on through storytelling around the campfire. Now the campfire has been replaced with the television. And even though there …

Joey Cape (Lagwagon, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes)

SPB: What is the most overdone cover song? 

Cape: "Brown Eyed Girl"

Bianca Barragan (LA Zinefest organizer)

SPB: If forced to choose, what is your favorite LA-based zine (currently active)?

Barragan: After thinking about all the LA-based zines that are awesome, I'm going to have to say that my favorite right now is Razorcake because their latest issue was awesome and I am just now reading through it. Other favorites are DUM DUM Zine, Fair Dig, any zine by illustrator Helen …

Alan Sparhawk, Low

SPB: What's a record you love that would surprise people?

Sparhawk: Barbara Streisand's Greatest Hits

Vinnie Fiorello (Less Than Jake)

SPB: Would you license your music for use in film, sports, or ads if given the opportunity?

Fiorello: We already have been involved in all of the above. Fact for a band like LTJ or hell most bands: you want everyone and anyone to hear what you've done creatively. Licensing songs allows bands to step …