Quick Hit Band Interview: Beers for Fears

Interview with the band. Enjoy:

How would you describe your music? We refer to our music as having Tenacious D sort of vibe, not taking ourselves seriously, with a focus on epic fantasy elements: knights, wizards, dark magic, necromancy and the like.

What are some of your favorite spots, locations, areas in Los Angeles? What makes them your favorites? Some of our favorite venues in Los Angeles are The Satellite, The Troubadour, The Hi Hat, The El Rey, Lot 1 [recently closed] and Casey's Irish Pub. What makes these venues our favorites are that they consistently host amazing local bands and touring acts, they each have their own unique charms and seeing live music at those venues never disappoints!

Own final thoughts:

Interesting fact. We were originally a two-piece act: Victor (Guitar) and Derek aka Dubs (Vocals). After our first show, our buddy Peter Anthony of Polaris Rose/Johnny Stranger asked if we needed a bass player and our buddy Leon, formerly of The Janks, asked if we needed a drummer! And thus 2 became 4!

Interesting fact, part 2. The Janks was one of the first LA bands that Dubs followed religiously. He discovered so many amazing bands through The Janks. It blows his mind that he went from being a fan, to being in a band with Leon!

Quick Hit Band Interview: The Lungs

Interview with the band (with Trevor). Enjoy:

What's the story behind how your band started? Billy (the bass player) and I were texting one day about how much we love Dead Kennedys and Black Flag and we came to the conclusion that we should start a band. Twenty minutes later he sent me a voice memo file of him playing this amazing bass riff. So I called up my brother who’s a ripping drummer and one month later we released a seven song EP. We didn’t even play a show ‘til four months or so later.

Are there any unique, funny, high jinks, mundane, etc tendencies that the band is known for – during sets, band practice, otherwise? We’re obsessed with having cool song titles. That’s how we write music: riff, song title, then lyrics. Also, we drink an insane amount of sparkling water. We’re not sober or anything, we just love that shit. We hope to one day be sponsored by Topo Chico.

Own final thoughts: People always think our band name has to do with smoking weed, it doesn’t. It’s more about just screaming your guts out for what you love and what makes your blood boil. Also, all three of us sing so it all makes sense. Our first full length is called “Psychic Tombs” and it’s coming out this summer!!!

American Barbershop: Spare Parts for Broken Hearts, Speed of Light, Ugly Sweaters

It was off to the American Barbershop to catch a trio of bands. Yes, it is an actual barbershop that turns into a venue at night. I first stepped foot inside the barbershop a few weeks back to catch Disco Shrine's video release party. This time, it was to catch live music. The place was packed with music fans. One thing I noticed that I didn't appear to have noticed the first time I went to this "venue" was the moose head above the stage that the bands played on.

This was my second time catching Ugly Sweaters. The first time was at Broke LA 2017. The band is fronted by a married couple. They're expected a son in the not so distant future. Comment of the set was, "Buy some stuff and we'll put some food in our kid's mouth." This band played with some rocking spirit that perhaps had the baby kicking.

Ugly Sweaters

Up next was Speed of Light. This band is fronted by 3 tweens/teenagers. If ever there was a band name that matched the band, this is it. This band plays at the speed of light. What is actually fun to watch is the bassist. Her eyes show such excitement. One hopes that never goes away. What was cool about their set was seeing Spare Parts for Broken Hearts helping the band out to make sure nothing went awry during the set. This band played a good portion of their set off the stage so Spare Parts for Broken Hearts made sure that wires didn't get tangled or bring down any microphone stands.

Speed of Light

Closing out the night for me was Spare Parts for Broken Hearts. Lead singer Sarah's vocals bring the power of punk. And yet there is a solid melodic sound that drifts through all that rawness. And there are just those moments that just cause you to want to jump and scream. A demand was made for an encore and it was given.

Spare Parts for Broken Hearts

What was especially fun about the night was recognizing so many faces in the audience. It was like a small community of the Echo Park/Silverlake music scene. And unlike maybe a random night out when most people are strangers to each other, I think on this particular night people knew a number of those hanging out that night. A very precious moment to have in the crazy city of Los Angeles.