Quick Hit Band Interview: Cheekface

Cheekface at The Hi Hat

Interview with the band:

What’s the story behind how your band started? Mandy and I kept running into each other at shows in L.A. Even though both of us have played in bands for a really long time, neither of us had been playing that much recently, which we often complained about. You know those people where every time you see them, you're always like, "we should jam sometime," and you mean it, but then you never really do? It was one of those things. But around March of 2017 we got together and wrote a song called "Crud of Life" and it felt like a direction for a project. I was dealing with my psychological world being reorganized by the presidential election, and the recurrence of unrelated depression. The Women's March had happened recently, we both went, and it felt empowering and encouraging in a new way. It felt like time to do something that wasn't too melodic, where the songs were short – sometimes even brutishly short – and the chord changes are simple, with lyrics and style that are honest but not earnest, and with an approach that is political and wry. We wrote a song called "Still Life" right after we went to a Wire show and started pulling in more post-punk and krautrock influence. Then there was a two-chord song called "House Shoes" with the only lyrics being "house shoes." Friends were really responding to that demo, so we fleshed out that approach into the song "Glendale," which is only one chord, and one repeating bassline, and has a spoken vocal with no melody, and has the repeating phrase "Glendale," with a lyric meditation on waiting and death. That one's up on Bandcamp at http://cheekface.bandcamp.com. As the bin started to fill with songs that had a clear aesthetic, the urge to make a record and play shows bubbled, so we tapped Echo who's drummed with a bunch of bands I've liked. Echo is the quintessential great drummer: always gets there on time, smells great, and doesn't play too many fills.

What are some of your favorite spots, locations, areas in Los Angeles? What make them your favorites? I end up at Fred 62's a lot. Future Music is where I get all my music stuff. I have been seen walking around the Silver Lake Reservoir. The Echo is my favorite place to see a show, and Stories is my favorite place for a cup of coffee. The ocean is great.

Own Q&A The song Glendale is not about the city of Glendale. In the song, the city of Glendale is a freaking metaphor, people. You know, like in "Hotel California" where he asks the captain for his wine, and the captain says "we haven't had that spirit here since 1969," but that doesn't make sense because wine isn't a spirit – but it actually does make sense because the whole song is a metaphor?